My truck has not ever let me down and has always ran like new, but as of about 8,000 miles ago it began to start sounding like an "old truck". I know our trucks don't have lifters but the best way I know to describe it is lifter tick. It is audible through the front tire wells at idle. But if I rev it in park or neutral the sound goes away and returns at idle. I can however hear it echo off of walls or objects I am beside upon acceleration.

Is there anything I can do to quieten down this "lifter tick"? Truck runs great, the sound just annoys me.

 

Honestly sounds like an exhaust leak. Does it go away after it reaches normal operating temperature?

 

No it's at all temps. I know it's not an exhaust leak. Just had the manifold gaskets replaced.

 

Yep, I bet it's an exhaust leak...doesn't matter when the were replaced. Test it with a shop vac to sure. The manifolds have to be torqued a certain way when installing new gaskets (from the center out) or you can have problems later on. The manifold may not have settled correctly, - may have loosened back up as well. It's also fairly easy to strip the thread chamber in the heads IF your not careful. That usually happens if you don't clean the thread chambers first, if the studs come out vs just the nuts.

Does the noise change at all during warm up?

 

If it's another leak, it doesn't sound anything like it did before I got the gaskets replaced.

And not really. I've got the semi-typical engine noise before the oil gets fully circulated but when it warms up the sound I'm hearing is more noticeable.

If this maybe makes a difference it all started when I decided not to change my own oil one time and took the the local express lube and the guy put in 10w-30 instead of 5w-20 like I normally run saying that a high mileage truck like mine needed it. Didn't feel like arguing so I let him. Two days later the sound started. I immediately changed it back to 5w-20 with a new filter but the sound stayed. Not sure if that could've caused it or it was just a coincidence.