My 390 (actually in a Galaxie but what the heck?) just started making noise in what seems to be the upper driver-side of the motor. My limited knowledge is pointing me at potentially a hydraulic lifer that failed. It was running quietly when I recently started the car then 10 minutes later, while still idling (I was heating up the motor for some light degreasing), it started making a ticking/clicking sound. Now I get the same sound at every start-up.

If it is as lifter, could I cause more damage running the engine? In other words, should I have it towed or drive it to the shop?

Is there anything else I can check without totally dis-assembling the top end of the motor?

FYI: There is plenty of new synthetic 10W30 Motor oil in the engine (maybe 2 hours running since the last oil change). 70,000 original miles on the car.

Any help would be great!

 

Does the sound eventually go away?
I had the same problem in my 82..the problem would go away after a bit of warm up. Turned out to be the lifter was failing. if you want to try to isolate where it's coming from and don't have a autmotive stethascope just get your hands on a peice of solid bar stock or something similar and pressit against the motor where you think the sound is coming from then the other end to your ear...move it around till you locate the sound..The sound will vibrate up the barstock. I used to use an old socket extention for this too.

 

Thanks burningman. The noise came on all of a sudden and I was affraid it might be something that would cause more damage so I shut her down. Between your reply and some other stuff I've found in the last few days, I feel more comfortable running the engine longer to warm up and try to locate source of the noise.

 

Glad I could help..hope that is your problem (easy fix) and not something more complicated.

 

Cool! I used a 1/2 pipe to listen for the tick/tapping when I started the car. It was definitely coming from the head area. I allowed the engine to warm up and it quieted down. I guess the noise just really scared me when I heard it the first time. The car has been in my family since new 1967 but I never heard that sound before. I'll keep an eye (ear) on it. I was planning on eventually doing a teardown on the engine anyway, just not quite yet.

Thanks again for your help!