Help me help my sister

[71HANKER]

Hey guys i have a problem and hopefully you can help. My little sister has a pos chevy truck and i got roped into trying to fix it, and i trust YOUR opinions. This truck has 232,000 miles on a 4.3 Liter v6, and a really anoying tick tick tick at idle. It goes away at about 2000 rpms, and returns at idle. The flywheel isn't cracked, i adjusted the valves, tried to bleed out the lifters, eventually replaced the lifters, checked for exhaust leaks, checked all rocker arms, pushrods, distributor gear. The tick is loudest underneath at the oil pan. It has good oil pressure at all times, 30-35 psi and runs awesome. I don't think it has a spun rod bearing because it doesn't do it under a load, just at idle. Just really annoying tick. I was wondering have any of you ever heard of the oil pump gears breaking and causing a tick, i ordered rod bearings for her and when they come i will be pulling the pan and checking the rod bearings and the oil pump. She swears she never ran it out of oil but who knows. She really loves that truck and i want to help her out, shes just a high school kid, without much money. Im thinking either messed up oil pump, rod bearings or piston slap, in which that case she can drive it till it blows. Im sorry, i know its not a chevy forum but my ford has NEVER caused me this much grief and i need help. Thanks, Dale.

[70_F100]

It has good oil pressure at all times, 30-35 psi and runs awesome.

The oil pressure on that engine should run about 30-35 psi at idle, and about 60 once the RPM's are slightly above idle, say 900 or so.

I was wondering have any of you ever heard of the oil pump gears breaking and causing a tick

I've worked on a LOT of Chevy engines in my time, and I've never seen oil pump gears break in any of them. If they were to break, because of the way the pump is designed, it would lock up the pump immediately.

i ordered rod bearings for her and when they come i will be pulling the pan and checking the rod bearings and the oil pump.

How did you know what size rod bearings to order, and why on earth would you order them without checking the old ones first????

[DuckRyder]

What year is it, some of the later ones have VERY loud injectors. A 4.3l Chevy truck could be anything from a 1988 S10 to a 2010... (at least I think they still use them).

Mechanically it is 3/4 of a SBC, so it is a simple engine...

[TNIceWolf]

If it is any help.....I run a 4.3 in an 89 S-10. It has the same tick you descrbe and always has since i boght it close to five years ago and it only has 130,000 on it now.It is my daily driver and pretty darned reliable. The ticking seems to quiet a bit with a fresh oil and filter change and some slightly thicker oil than 10W30.

[Manny]

Kinda a little out in left field but what about the timing chain chevy's can be bad about some timing chain slap, and with the tin front covers it can sound bad. I've done 3 4.3 timing chains in my time never can say i've seen one slap but could be for sure. From my experience it's like duckryder said it's 3/4 of a sbc so they are simple and pretty good. My

[71HANKER]

Yeah i know its crazy this truck runs good for a v6, despite the tick. I put a shift kit in the 4l60e trans for my sister and she loves it when it chirps second gear. I was thinking about the oil pressure being low, with a little low oil pressure and high miles on the rod bearings, i think they might be the culprit. It sounds loudest right under #4 cylinder. Now i also want to check the timing chain because ive seen those wear out bad on old chevy's. the oil pressure gauge only goes to 60 psi. When i started it tonight it went to about 50psi =no tick, idled for a minute, oil pressure slowly went to about 40psi and about that time i dropped it into gear and started hearing the tick. Any other time it will tick as soon as it fires up. When you start driving down the road the tick slowly speeds up and quiets with rpm and then fades away at about 2000 rpm. I do the oil changes in it and i run 10w40, because of the high miles, but it call's for 5w30.

[mr_josh]

Just a thought: sometimes a minor exhaust leak between the manifold and head will sound like a valve ticking. Just a thought...

[cdeal28078]

A friend of mine bought a new chevy a couple years ago. It had a v6 so I figure it is the same engine. His had a tick at start up until warm from the beginning. After taking itback several times chevy told him it was piston slap and wouldn't hurt anything. They told him it was typical of the engine. Here returned the truck.
So I wonder if it could be piston slap?
clint