Hi I have an 87 dodge pickup with the 225 slant 6. About two years ago, a ticking sound started coming from the motor but it was intermittent. it always seemed to be worse in the winter time. this winter, the ticking sound is almost constant. sometimes it stops when the motor revs up during acceleration but it soon starts ticking again. my brother thought the valves might not be getting oil but my oil pressure has always stayed around 40-50 psi which is within factory specs (30-70). and there seems to be plenty of oil on the springs and rocker arms. i wondered if anyone else has had this experience and what the cause of the ticking might be. thanks

what type of lifters does it have

bp

_________________
pekingese parker all bark no bite and piddles on the carpet..... bad puppy

umm it soundj just like an exaust leake to me but could be a colapsed/cloged lifter. if you cover the exaust pipe with your hand does the sound come around? if so you have an exaust leake.

i'm not sure what type of lifters it has. I have a haynes manual but i couldnt find anything about the lifters. i know that 87 was the last year of production for the 225 in the pickup trucks. how would i find out what lifters i have? also the ticking sounds very much like a mechanical part in the motor itself. i need to check the exhaust but i am fairly certain the sound is coming from the motor itself. thanks for your replies

From the discription it sounds like a collapesed hydraulic lifter.
I would go buy a valve cover gasket then pull off the valve cover for a look.
Do you know if the oil pressure is OK
Look to see if a good flow of oil is getting down to each lifter.
DD

The 87 truck came with hydraulic lifters. There will be no adjusting screw in the rocker arms. You *might* be able to tell this by looking in the hole were the oil fill cap fits.

Like the other people said you might have a bad lifter. Other possibilities are clogged oil holes anywhere in the rocker shaft, rocker arm, and the hollow pushrod. Any of those being clogged will block oil flow to the lifter.

the other suggestions are probably correct, but sometimes you can get a ticking or snapping from a bad plug wire. If it were doing that it would probably be running kinda rough, with a loss of some performance. It would be easy to check, just run your fingers along the plug wires, while the engine is running.

_________________
'66 Cuda 225/4spd
'66 Dart GT convertible 225/auto
'64 Dart GT 340/4spd

Shame on you Bud!!!!

The devil made me do it!

_________________
'66 Cuda 225/4spd
'66 Dart GT convertible 225/auto
'64 Dart GT 340/4spd

Bud, your a bad man!

Easy way to see if your plug wires are arching... works better when dark. Get your engine running, and get a spray bottle of water, (adding a bit of salt may help), and spray along all the wires. If the plug wires are weak in any areas you can see the arch shoot across them to the nearest ground.

Arching wires usually produce a crisp sparking sound, not a dull ticking or anything similar to rod knock.

I ran my fingers along the wires with the truck running but didnt notice anything so i touched the positive and negative terminals of the battery to make sure i still conduct electricity. you know i've been told i was born at night, but its a good thing it wasnt last night with the advice you guys give. actually i replaced the wires about a year and a half ago. i'm fairly certain they are still in good shape. thanks for all the advice, well most of it, it has been a help already.