Tick Fix?

cavibird2005 · Mar 6, 2011

So I recently purchased my 1st Ranger, Had S10's b4 this. Don't think I'm goin back either

The truck only has 81k on it and was ticking something terrible. So I drained the oil and put 1 qt ATF and 3qt of oil in to clean things up. I'm going to drive it this way all week and change the oil and filter on Sat.

Its Already a lot quieter! And seems to get quieter as I drive it.

My question is, Has anyone tried Lucas Oil Stabilizer?

I have heard this stuff is awesome, But only from the guys a Napa. I'm thinking about throwing a Qt of it in and and than 4qts of Quaker State 5/30.

Sound like a good plan?

sjr53 · Mar 6, 2011

I've got 2 BII's. the 88 has lifter tick or knock. The 86 is quiet. I've tried a quart of ATF mixed in on the 88 & then changed the oil with a quart of Lucas. I also put a quart of Lucas in the quiet 86. After 2 weeks, both were having ticking noise. I changed the oil in both and am back to just the 88 having lifter noise. I'm going to have to rebuild or replace the noisey 88 engine. Lucas may be good in a gear box, but I won't use it in an engine again.

jhammel85 · Mar 7, 2011

My truck with about 150K on it ticks but it's very faint. It sounds almost like an injector tick. If I'm idling with it warm on oil that needs to be changed it gets a little bit louder. Hopefully that's how yours is...It's considered somewhat normal for a 2.9.

As far as lucas..I used it in an old Firebird of mine when I was in HS. It had a bad lifter tick and that stuff cleared it up. It made it sound a bit "squishy" under the hood when it ran. It did take care of the tick and after I changed the oil, it was completely gone.

It might work for you or it might not...My rule is that most of the "fix in a bottle" stuff is snake oil. It can help with very minor problems but does nothing to something that needs mechanical repair.

exbass94 · Mar 7, 2011

Lucas is GARBAGE IMO. 2.9s tick because of poor oiling to the lifters, which means some of the metal on the lifters has actually worn away. No miracle oil additive will replace the lost metal. Either replace the lifters or live with the noise.

ronclark · Mar 7, 2011

Make sure you are not running a Fram oil filter.
Thy made my 2.9 tick every time, i only use motorcraft or napa filters.

rusty70f100 · Mar 7, 2011

I had a bit of lifter tick on cold mornings with my 2.9 in my '87 Bronco 2. After I switched to 0w20 motor oil, that went away. It's completely quiet now.

On the other hand, I had a 2.9 in an '86 Bronco 2 back in high school and part of college (long, long ago...). That one would tick all the time. It hated thinner oils, (5w30) and thicker oils (10w40 or 20w50) would quiet it down a little. Eventually, after about 80,000 miles of ticking, the bottom end was making so much noise that I quit driving it and took it apart. The crankshaft had about 3/16" end play! It went to the junkyard.

It is my opinion that prolonged ticking when the engine is warm is a symptom of a problem in the oiling system. The old '86 mentioned above, when warm, would quit ticking when going around a corner, for about a minute or so. That leads me to believe there was a problem with the oil pump pickup or where it bolts on to the oil pump. At least with the motor I had anyway.

yewwoodtree · Mar 7, 2011

Ive used Lucas Oil stabilizer in my 1990 2.9, it would quiet it right down. Only problem was the engine burned a ton of oil so it was too expensive to keep buying the stuff. I eventually yanked the engine.

disciplerocks · Mar 7, 2011

A good running 4.0 took care of my ticking

cavibird2005 · Mar 7, 2011

Mine Ticks terrible on IN the morning, for the whole ride to work its only a mile or so though (and It is winter in MN) Once its a lil warmed up I'd say 1/4 way to running temp, It doesn't tick at all! And than once it get to running temp ticks again. Not terrible, but like The Old Farmall H if you know what I mean.

Based on what the fact that it doesn't tick at 1/2 of its max weight (10/40) I obviously need a 20 weight oil. So I'm thinking Rusty is on to some thing.

I'll try to run Quaker Q 5/20 and the Lucas and see if that doesn't clear up some of the tick in the beginning.

If not I'll just drive it till the lifter collapses and shoe horn a 5.0 in it

I never run Fram oil filters. I put one on my old 2000 Chevy Blazer 4.3 and the damn thing Shot Off the truck, no sh!t!! The cap separated from the base. Luckily it was loud as hell when it happened so I pulled over right away. I "traded" (purchased the ranger and sold the blazer) in the blazer on this truck.

:icon_cheers:

everyonr for their input

exbass94 · Mar 7, 2011

cavibird2005 said:
Based on what the fact that it doesn't tick at 1/2 of its max weight (10/40) I obviously need a 20 weight oil. So I'm thinking Rusty is on to some thing.

I'll try to run Quaker Q 5/20 and the Lucas and see if that doesn't clear up some of the tick in the beginning.

Using Lucas totally negates the benefit of a 20 weight oil. Lucas is simply an oil thickener with none of the beneficial additives that regular motor oil has. (Hence why I said it's garbage in my first post) 1 quart of Lucas with 5w20 would probably be thicker than just using 10w40. I would use a 5w30 with no oil additives at all.

rusty70f100 · Mar 7, 2011

Yeah, I'd just try the 20 weight and leave the Lucas in the bottle. See if that helps or makes it worse.

I have noticed that if I make a short trip and never get it warmed up, it's more likely to tick the next day. So if you're only going a mile every trip, you're never warming it up! I'd advise a 15+ mile highway trip and see how it does.

Then get a bicycle.

puty72 · Mar 7, 2011

a 2.9 that doesnt tick is a 2.9 that doesnt run

disciplerocks · Mar 7, 2011

puty72 said:
a 2.9 that doesnt tick is a 2.9 that doesnt run

Well said

Vanner1993 · Mar 7, 2011

My 2.9 ticked really bad with 90,000 miles on it. Threw some marvel mystery in it, changed the oil to 10 40 and it quieted it a little. I have since pulled the heads after dropping a valve and put on 89 heads. All I did to the lifters was pull the push rods off to pull the heads. They were kinda stuck on them. Since I finished, never heard a tick.

rusty70f100 · Mar 7, 2011

puty72 said:
a 2.9 that doesnt tick is a 2.9 that doesnt run

Mine doesn't tick and it runs great. :icon_confused:

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