Hey guys,
1997 olds 88 3.8 67k


while driving in the cooler weather, I've noticed a sound, right before transmission shifts...it only last for like a half a second, thinking it may be a spark knock due to engine timing change before it shifts


pull out of drive way,,, from 1st to 2nd, then from 2nd to 3rd I hear a spark knock? lifter noise? just before it begins to shift.. maybe a half second noise... and will do it on each takeoff until warmed up... anyone ever hear this type of noise? not all that loud, you have to listen for it or never notice

alot of engines do that the oil needs to warm up to extend the lifters out all the way

John I noticed u are in Florida, what temps are cool?
When I first got my Pk ave at 75k miles, i also noticed the same sort of thing.
I did a tune up with iridium plugs, ngk wires, and it idled perfectly now.
When I went to Mobil 1 10w-30 synthetic there still was some valve train noise.
I then added a bottle of lubegard bio engine treatment, noises be gone..
LUBEGARD BIO-TECH Engine Oil Protectant
I generally let the car warm to 125F before driving off, and all is well now.
From time to time I use chevron techron concentrate fuel additive to keep valves clean as well.

Thanks, I though it sounded more like a lifer noise...


temps in Florida were a frosty 28 this morning in central areas... but suppose to bounce back to around 60 today and freeze again tonight

while im not a fan of synthetics thats a discussion for another thread, i would just say make sure its a quality brand because that will give you lifter tick sometimes too, or as you are getting close to the oil change interval.

it would feel like a heat wave if it was 30 here

I am using synthetic oil....


also, it sure feels cold at 28 in Florida.. have not turned on the heat so far this winter!

to each his own but i have probably put about a million miles on just my drivers over the years(across several cars) and always get the best results just using regular valvoline. changed every 5k. the grand prix i had i put over 300k on it and never had to get into the engine. except for the last few years the cars were designed to run this so anything else is wasting money at least and the high mileage type made my car run worse. my yukon i got at 160k and it knocked warming up so i put seafoam a week or two before a couple oil changes and now it rarely does it even when its -8 here