My car has 136,000 miles on it and seems to run decent. just recently the driver side valve train starting making alot of noise.......loud ticking even after warm up. The noise is coming from some where over there but not sure what it is. My oil pressure never gets past half way under full throttle and at idle its about a 4th the way up. Car seems to run pretty strong but I am not sure what to expect since I 've only had the car for six months. What do you guy think?????

 

I guess it's a collapsed lifter.

 

how or what would be the easiest way to tell??

 

could be loss of compression in a cylinder. have a reputable shop check each of the 8 cylinders for compression, won't be too expensive. If that's the case you'll probably need a rebuild, or an engine swap.

 

Do you guys know of any reputable shops in the bay area because I am pretty new around here.....wouldn't loss of compression cause a big loss in horsepower?

 

If i was gonna fix a lifter shouldn't i just do the whole valve train since it all stock. My other questions is I am on a tight budget but I have a feeling my car is gonna need a rebuild, what exactly should i do.......bore it out or keep stock bore and go with a bigger stroke and what is the cheapest you could get every thing done at. I not real familar with these motors and I have already done a search......nothing is very specific as far as rebuilds are concerned.

 

I would just swap the valvetrain out... but if you are going to do a rebuild, I would probably just do a 355 with some beefy rods and stock crank if it is still in good condition... If your not going to make big power number (400+ rwhp like me then the stock crank with some nicer rods and pistons and a small cam should be fine for you... If you are going to do that route then I would probably just get the GM performance parts LT4 Hot Cam Kit.. Includes cam, springs, locks, retainers, and 1.6 roller rockers. Should be a decent setup to make around 330 or so rwhp reliably, esp with new rings and bearings.

Good luck!
Mike

 

could be an exhaust leak...
if your thinkin rebuild id go with the summit forged rebuild kit 500 gets you everything you need except crank rods and valve train
forged pistond should make life perty easy so you can spray perty hard
and the stock rods and crank are perty freakin strong for stock prolly good to over 500hp in most casses so rebuild with lt4 hot cam kit and summit rebuild and you should be all good for around 1k