Valve clatter on 6.2L?

[Stray Cat]

I recently noticed a noise that sounds all the world like a valve tapping on my 6.2L TD. It is not present at cold start, begins to tap after about a minute; it gets louder until the engine warms, then quiets some, but is always present. It follows the RPM of the engine, and is loud when accelerating...almost un-noticeable when cruising at speed. I looked in my two engine manuals, and neither mention a procedure for adjusting the valve lash. Is there an adjustment? If not, do I have to replace lifters to correct? My books suggest that it is necessary to remove the heads to do this...is that true? It just started and the heads and valve train are just over a year old with only about 8-10K miles on them. I am planning a trip of about 1.2K miles in a few weeks to visit family after Christmas. Any concerns about making that trip with the tapping?

[DmaxMaverick]

Problem lifter noises will generally increase after warm up (except for initial noise immediately at start). An easy solution in many cases is a quart of ATF in the engine oil for a couple hundred miles.

Does the noise go away when on compression, like going down hill in gear or slowing down? If so, the problem is more likely an injector(s). Could also be an injector line that has come in contact with the valve cover, or something. The injection pulses in the line can resonate, in time with the injection event.

Another possiblility is the harmonic balancer. They have a way of causing noises that sound like other things.

A Diesel engine can make noises that are similar to a gas engine, but are rarely caused by the same thing.

[Ratau]

Stray Cat

The noise you hear sound like a cam follower that gets sticky. Do like DmaxMaverick said with ATF and flush it by doing 2 or 3 quick oil changes to get rid off the sludge.

If you push the manual advance on the bottom right side off the IP by hand when the engine is cold the diesel rattle will almost disappear, then you could pinpoint the noise.

Danie

[Stray Cat]

Thanks Dmax and Ratau! I got another tip from a friend to check for exhaus leak. I will begin checking it out to isolate the cause. I will let all know what I find.

[Stray Cat]

:mad: DAMN!!! :mad: Driving smoothly down the freeway today and the engine seized. I got it towed home, pulled the oil pan, and found that the bottom of the #4 piston disintegrated. A portion of the bottom of the #3 cylinder was broken off, a piece was shot through the side of the oil pan, and there are hundreds of pieces, varying in size, in the oil pan. It looks like I need a short block. :mad: DAMN!!! :mad: