J Strickland wrote:
> Not to toss goo into the ointment here, but a serpentine belt can make a
> clicking noise that sounds just like a tappet. The problem may not be
> anywhere near as serious as you are thinking.
>
> I can't imagine your car having sticky lifters at this early age. If it does
> in fact have lifter problems, the odds are very good that a chemcial
> treatment will fix it. When I was a kid, it was common practice to used a
> pint or so of automatic transmission fluid in the crankcase to free sticky
> lifters. The problem in those days is largely gone from the picture, but
> tarnish from the oil would clog the passages inside the lifter, and prevent
> the moving parts from moving freely. The ATF is highly detergent, and would
> clean the tarnish, allowing the lifters to operate freely again.
>
> Today, they use stuff like Marvel Mystery Oil to accomplish the same goal.
>
> Usually the sticky lifter will free itself as the motor warms up. If yours
> continue ticking, then I'd be looking at the belts before the lifters. There
> is Belt Dressing that can be applied, but the belts should probably be
> replaced.

He could just run the engine for a *short* time with the serpentine belt
off to see if the ticking is gone.

I assume (ass-u-me) that he (or anyone for that matter) could tell the
difference between a ticking sound coming from outside the engine and
one from inside. They do sound quite different...

-Fred W