Hello,

I hear a ticking sound from the left side of my 3800 that I only hear when the car is moving. It sounds like a lifter tick tick tick but I don't hear it when the car is idling in drive or even in neutral.

Aside from that, car runs great. It's a 1996 with only 70,000 miles.

Any thoughts as to what it could be? And if it is a stuck lifter, is that something that should be addressed? I really don't want to invest money in an engine rebuild on this thing and I can live with the noise if it's not that dire.

Thanks in advance for your insight!

 

"Ticking" can be due to an exhaust leak. Have you checked that possibility out?

 

Y'know, I'm glad you said that because I thought of that. Maybe an exhaust manifold gasket. I'll look into that. Thank you!

 

If its not exhaust, in my old v-6 I had changed the fuel injectors and noticed a tick sound. It ended up be natural for those fuel injectors but I only noticed it because I tend to listen hard after you fix something and that sound was always there but I was just noticing it then.

 

My 3800 has a tick on the passenger side. I thought maybe it was the pcv valve in the upper intake.

 

If the ticking increases with engine speed, it's probably not the PCV.