# Intermittent valve noise on 93 KA24E



## Vanhorne (Oct 9, 2007)

Since I purchased my truck in 1993, there has been an intermittent noise that appears to be from the valve train assembly. It was checked out by the dealer within the first week or so of purchase and no fault was found. Sometimes I go for several years without hearing anything and then it starts up. It is a ticking sound that varies with engine rpm. The loudness is also quite variable. It sometimes lasts for a few minutes and other times many hours on a long road trip. It can stop and start many times over the course of a drive. The noise is quite annoying.

I have not been able to correlate it with anything. Oil viscosity or brand makes no difference. 

Any ideas?


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## zanegrey (Dec 5, 2005)

lol.......


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## dvdswanson (Nov 6, 2005)

how many miles are on the truck?


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

Could be the hydraulic valve lifters.


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## Grug (Aug 20, 2009)

Weird. Sounds like lifters. Not the tell-tale rattle of a timing chain.

My old '93 4 banger used to make the tapping sound, but it usually only happened on very cold mornings and lasted a minute or so at the most. Didn't do it all the time...very sporadic. It started doing it when the truck had about 125 00 miles on it.

Never did get to the bottom of it as I sold the truck.


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## Vanhorne (Oct 9, 2007)

203,000 Kilometers.


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## zanegrey (Dec 5, 2005)

cheese and crackers .. u guys are hard headed..

it is the t- chain guides that are broke and letting the chain slop causing the valve train to go in and out of time..

make me wanna spit...


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Just about all of the KA24E engines had some tapping from the valvetrain. Could be a bad or bad lifters, which are integral of the rocker arms, but I have heard of a few people that have taken the time to take apart and clean out the lifters. Most just replace the rocker arms. Debris in the oil channel to the valvetrain can cause restriction and lack of lubrication. Overfilling the crankcase with oil can cause the oil to be whipped by the crankshaft fillets and aerate, causing air bubbles in the oil stream to the valvetrain. As mentioned, the plastic timing chain guide (which has been updated to a metal-backed guide) can break and cause the chain to slack and rattle. However, it's not the plastic guide, itself, that is the initial cause of this problem. Debris in the oil port to the chain tensioner restricts the oil pressure to it, thus causing the chain to slack and subsequently cause the plastic guide to break. For this reason, when replacing the guides, it is a good idea to remove the oil filter and tensioner, spray carb cleaner through the oil channel until you see it blow clear out the oil filter adapter and then follow with compressed air.


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## Keone777 (Sep 24, 2008)

So the 1995-1997 KA24E engines did have the guides changed to metal? And if so how long do they last?


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