2007 VE SSV L98 lifter tick

[Alexmarshall99]

Hi all,
First time poster. For all of you trying to identify the dredded LS lifter tick I think I've got a video for you.

It annoyed me that I couldn't find any decent videos of VE commodores with this issue, so thought I'd put one up.
The car has 90k km (900km from me). Knock on wood I don't need a new engine/ rebuild...
But if I do atleast you'll know what you'll be up for haha.

I'll post another video on request as well as a follow up video after the work has been done/ engine rebuilt, etc.

 

[Freedon]

doest sound like it to me, more of a cherp, has it been serviced? if so is it still 5-w30?

 

[Alexmarshall99]

It was serviced just before I bought it, I believe 5-w30 was used.
The tick increases in unison with the RPM.

 

[rjp]

My L98 lifters lasted until 240k before they went. (07 Caprice). They sounded more like metallic clunks than the slight ticks in the video. From the research I did at the time, it seems that noisy lifters don't occur until the car is over the 240k mark.
What condition is the belt in? They can sometimes make that noise.

 

[Alexmarshall99]

I'll get a better video up tomorrow of the sound. The sound is usually louder than in that video. It's very noticeable driving past buildings or other cars.
I hope you're right and it's something else unrelated, I've also seen people talking about their cars needing a new engine after 60-80k km due to a lifter munching out a cam lobe.

 

[J_D 2.0]

I'll get a better video up tomorrow of the sound. The sound is usually louder than in that video. It's very noticeable driving past buildings or other cars.
I hope you're right and it's something else unrelated, I've also seen people talking about their cars needing a new engine after 60-80k km due to a lifter munching out a cam lobe.

From what I understand the lifter problems at low mileage are normally on the DOD models and the L98 doesn’t have DOD. That’s certainly why I bought a VE with an L98. Less crap to go wrong.

 

[Immortality]

Damn those engine covers do a great job of masking engine noise from the top of the motor. No wonder Holden mechanics never hear anything unusual....

When was it last serviced?

 

[Alexmarshall99]

Damn those engine covers do a great job of masking engine noise from the top of the motor. No wonder Holden mechanics never hear anything unusual....

When was it last serviced?

They sure do hahaha, the ticking got really loud once it warmed up just driving 5 mins down the road to the shops. Got back parked it up and it was almost gone, then sure enough after sitting at idle for a minute or so the ticking came back with a vengeance.
Almost certain its sticky lifters.

Last service was 900km ago haha. Might give the mechanic who serviced it a call and see what they thought.

 

[Banjo79]

I can't say what the downsides are, but a bottle of Nulon lifter free works a treat in mine. Really drops the volume of the chatter/knocks/chirps and I don't even use a full bottle to get the results. Bandaid solution I realise. Does anyone know the downside of using it?

 

[Alexmarshall99]

I can't say what the downsides are, but a bottle of Nulon lifter free works a treat in mine. Really drops the volume of the chatter/knocks/chirps and I don't even use a full bottle to get the results. Bandaid solution I realise. Does anyone know the downside of using it?

Thanks for the advice, I've gone down the route of minimising driving until it gets looked at in a few weeks. If I get the noise again in the future I'll be sure to keep that in mind.