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So hey, my first real post here in this forum. I got me a 1990 323 HB for the winter. The car burns some oil and possibly a bad headgasket, but not that bad.. I am not really sure, the coolant seems clean and i havent filled it yet, so maybe its ok. There is also a slight exhaust leak on the primary/secondary coupling area. I can hear it buzzing when I give it some gas and see condensation when the car is started in the morning when its cold out.

Anyways, the issue is that the other day I drove to the next town over from me, about 50km and I pull into the store where I was going and the motor was ticking loud as s---, just like if I ran it out of oil, you know that sound... I would call it a loud TAP or TICK but not a knock.

So I check the oil and it is above the low line.. so I say ok, thats not to low.. I drive home and ad some oil.. and it goes away for abit it seems but comes back.. now it is mostly ticking all the time! There are a few moments it seems to get quieter randomly, but remains loud as hell.

I popped the hood and checked it out and seem the sound is coming from the injector area/top of the valvecover.. what is this?

I am thinking a lifter ate s--- or the oil pump is not getting enough oil to the top of the motor... any ideas?

I guess its an 8 valve?

What exactly is loud as s---? I can often hear mine ticking from in the cabin, but it usually goes away after it warms up.

Pop off the VC and see whats happening. Its something like ten 10mm bolts. re-torque to something like 6 in-lbs.

Welcome to the forums.

Well I guess its a 8v. Its just a loud tap, like if you run a motor out of oil, that loud ticking

Well, I guess it could be anything from bent valve to solid HLA to lack of oil...

In other words, I don't know, man. Good luck. I still suggest looking at the problem.

Dump some seafoam in there, see if your lifters got a little hungry and had indigestion. I dunno what's the car's been done did doing before you got it, if it's set for a bit, them lifters might be a bit dem dere stuck.

Does the oil stay low? When you add oil, and it (the sound) lessens, does it loose the oil?

I hear the lifters aren't too hard to replace... someone has a nice write up on the forums, how to replace them.

Well i overfilled the oil, and that is how its been since I added oil haha.

As for changing lifters, I would just but in another B6 motor from the wreckers as this one smells funny, its on its way out..

do BP if you can. BP 323's are badass.

Hahah no I wouldnt do a BP, I hate the roughness and sound of 4 cylinders. I would mos def do a K series swap in it. But.. its my winter car so I dont wanna dump cash into it.. my mx3 is a funner car

I will drive it till it dies, just the tick is so loud I am gonna run some ATF through the motor and see if that frees something up.. seafoam is something I would need to order from the states and I dont wanna deal with that.. we will see what happens.

my engine started making a similar noise took it to like 5 or 6 shops. they said everything was fine and normal. then my engine completely died. haven't torn apart the old engine to see what it was though.

solo_ryder wrote:seafoam is something I would need to order from the states and I dont wanna deal with that.. we will see what happens.

We really need to order seafoam from the states? Huh. I thought we could get it here...

Seafoam is truly amazing stuff. Lucas Oil additive is also good stuff that I use during oil changes.

Ryan wrote:

solo_ryder wrote:seafoam is something I would need to order from the states and I dont wanna deal with that.. we will see what happens.

We really need to order seafoam from the states? Huh. I thought we could get it here...

I got mine from NAPA.

Hm, well I am not gonna waste my cash, I am going to pick and pull tomorrow and proly will get another b6

The B6 ticks loud usually when they are warming up and sounds like you got a spot of dirt in one of your hla's. You can pull them out and spray them out with compressed air or go to a GM dealer and get a bottle of EOS (engine oil supplement) or seafoam. It'll clean the hla's and after 1000 miles or so do an oil change and you should be good. Oh, chances are the buzz you hear at certain rpms in the exhust is an outer shield over the cat converter, just pull it off.