I've been banging my head against a rock for the past month trying to figure out what a ticking on the passenger side engine is. I even went as far as getting the timing chain, tensioners, etc, along with the phasers completely redone on the truck for 2,100 bucks. I get the rig back and take it for a spin and noise is still there. What else could it be. the truck has 204,000 miles on it and the mechanic said the other thing it could be is a loose piston, which I am having trouble trusting the guy considering he charged me so much on a job he wrote up himself. He diagnosed it as a timing chain issue, and it wasn't so what does he know. What other factors could it be or is it actually a loose piston? It goes up with RPMs so anyone with any knowledge, I would love to hear what I should expect in the future with this truck. I love the truck to death but it has been giving me plenty of issues lately and it's getting old. Thank you in advance!

 

I had a loose spark plug cause a tick on mine, drove me nuts for years until I tightened it back up, sometimes its simple stuff. However with the mileage you have it could be other things as well. when you had the timing done did he replace the roller followers and lash adjusters?

 

Passenger side exhaust manifold is either cracked or broken stud... PITA to get to.

 

I would check the spark plugs for tightness... A lot of people don’t know the plugs in these trucks need to be torqued to 25-28 ft lbs. They run the risk of backing out.

 

Looking at the bill, I couldn't tell you. He did the camshaft sprocket and the phasers so who knows. I asked him to do the solenoids and he didn't cause they looked good but to give you an answer, probably not which I have seen to be a problem as well.

 

So, trying to not jump to conclusions here but if you verify that the spark plugs are all secure, make sure there are no manifold leaks like Techrep mentioned me next step would be valve train. These engines are known for eating roller followers and if the mechanic that did the timing job is worth a crap he would have checked them when he had the valve covers off. Perhaps it might be worth giving him a call and ask if he recalls checking them.

 

My truck was ticking too (bought it cheap a few months ago), I wanted to replace my VCT solenoids first cause they were shot anyways i thought (had the rough idle after the engine warmed up).
Talked to my mechanic and he said that might not be the issue and he was right, he recommended putting in the delete kit. So he did that for me, 1 camshaft was pooped and 1 rocker arm as well. Got them replaced, plus new chains and tensioner arms (cast iron).
He also mentioned that the timing was advanced on both sides. So he tuned/programmed them? Something like that.
While he was on it he checked my spark plugs and mentioned that they should be done too. Ended up breaking 2.

So now she runs super smooth and quiet.

What kind of oil are you using? Lots of people have said that going 0W30 helps with noise too (I'm also using 0W30).

I hope my repair experience can give you some help.

 

Yes look for loose plugs . Then see if exhaust manifold leaking . You can take a tank type vacuum put it on tailpipe to pressurize the system and feel for it or use soapy water .
You could have bad rollers on cam ,mine threw one at 130k it was one of two intakes on number 8 . If you are having borderline oil flow from factory oil pump its best to put a melling hv pump in that will help everything ,of course get rid of plastic tensioners and put steel ratcheting ones in from melling -no seals to blow out . When timing job is done its important to drop oil pan and get broken plastic guides pieces out and clean oil pu -it gets blocked by ground up fibers from guides. Many people fail to drop oil pan -its harder on a 4x4 .
its best at your miles to replace all rollers and lashs after putting the hv oil pump in . Oil starvation causes wear in valve train . I just put it at the timing point and pull both cams then change all lashs and rollers that cost around 265 for all . Then I put it back down on rollers with the cams in the proper orientation carefully watching rollers and slowly in sequence torque them to 89 inch pounds at the timing point -crank dot at six .
Vcts are a maint item and should be changed at your miles . I assume that its a 2004 ,they are easy to change .
Most of us do engine flushes , I do mine every other oil change . This engine hydraulically controls cams with dirty engine oil -no extended oil changes get that combustion dirt out of there.

 

Here’s a video of what I’m dealing with. I’ve checked the bill and he didn’t mention lash adjusters on the bill and I’ve now noticed that he’s busted the stud off of the valve cover where the coils bolted on. So i wouldn’t put it past him to blow by the lash adjusters.

 

Can you narrow down where the ticking noise is coming from? My 2004 has 170k miles on it and has ticked off and on since 100k. Listening with a mechanics stethoscope is easiest but using a long screwdriver held to one ear will work as well to narrow the problem down. Without the stethoscope it’s difficult to isolate where the tick originates.

My valve train is relatively quiet, so my tick comes from down in the exhaust pipe a few inches behind the exhaust manifold on passenger side. Usually a couple cans of Sea Foam in the gas tank will quiet it down so I assume my tick is a fuel injector issue. It’s a cheap temporary fix but at least I’m pointed in the right direction.