The other day I started my car on a cold engine in the morning and a load scraping sound that quickly faded to a tick tick tick tick. After a minute of warming up it was gone. It never occurs (or at least not audible) under acceleration. But ever since when I start it with a cooled down engine it will tick pretty loud for a few minutes then go away. Its very hard to tell where its coming from but it sounds like its just to the right of the alt. I'll make a vid clip ASAP. I really hope its just a bad injector. The rockers have 4K on them now. :?

Sounds like possibly a lifter. Not being pumped up enough at start up then eventually getting the pressure it needs.

I always thought that the oil gets thicker when its cold out and takes a little while to reach the upper end of the engine. No?

You think the oil pump is dying? I have a vid but the sound quality is very poor but you can still here it. Remember after a couple minutes it quits but untill then its almost like a jackhammer.

http://www.zippyvideos.com/463524294...*l67poweredlss

I can't tell exactly where its coming from but it sounds more prevelent just under the alt. Its deffinitly at the back of the engine. It is completly gone about 2 minutes after its started up. That explains why it might be bleading. If it sits long enough the oil bleeds out and then it takes a couple of minutes for the oil to fully lubracate it again. Am I understanding this right? What could have caused it if it is the problem? It just started happening one morning. Also, what would have to be damaged to allow the oil to bleed out?

This would be a first. I have never heard of rockers destroying a lifter. Maybe my engine is too old and dirty to support rockers. The old rockers that where removed where very dirty. Maybe I should get some GM top engine cleaner and do like 2000Silver did a couple years back.

Yup, thats correct. This was not a good time for this to happen. Landscaping is getting real buisy. How much time is left on the time bomb. Can I drive it for a few weeks this way without causing major damage? I suppose this is the cause of the drop in mileage too.