Isuzu Rodeo TICKING NOISE !

I Have a 94 Rodeo and when iam stopped it makes a enoying TICKING sound.I Herd that it was the lifters that needed lubbing ... but i dont know how to get rid of it any help?

go to your local autozone or O-riley store they should carry a product called seafoam buy it and follw dircetions on the bottle

Thanks Alot !

It could be your timing is off or your spark plugs are misfiring. But try the Seafoam it might help.

what kind of seafoam should i buy ... Auto Marine , Trans Tune , Or Deep Creep?

I recommend Deep Creep

I have the same ticking that you are talking about.Mine is a 95 model.What is that seafoam stuff you guys were talking about?What causes the ticking?

restricted oil passages in lifters due to lack of or poor maintenance

Someone told me they used CD-2 Oil Detergent on there 96 rodeo and the noise was gone!

I have had it for a LONG time, tried the CD-2 and it kinda works. Best bet for me is full sythetic oil changing it every 6k or so. Normal oil would break down and cause the lifter noise again. I will have to look for the seafoam stuff, I have never heard of it.
cheapest fully sythetic oil I know of is BMW oil, +/-$3.88 qt

I used a quart Rislone with 5-30 oil. Noise went away and never came back.

Tried everything else, and nothing worked.

I have a 97 3.2 rodeo with the same ticking problem. I have been running 5w30 mobil1 for 2 oil changes now and it helped the noise slightly but it is still there. I heard that if you drain a quart of oil out and pour a quart of auto tranny fluid in and run for about 30 min it will cure the tick! I will try it next oil change.
Rmasters3.......... what is rislone?

Rislone is an engine oil additive that has been on the market forever. I have used it over the years, particularly when I get a used car and I am unsure of the frequency of oil chnages. It's, among other things, a high detergent product. My usual drill is to add it and change the oil several times in the next 1000-1500 miles, sometimes I use it thereafter, sometimes not.

I used it in the Rodeo, and the noise went away immediately never to return while I owned it. I had tried other weights, blends and sythetics, none of which worked.

You can buy Rislone at any parts store, K-Mart, etc. It's about $2.99 a quart.

I have never used it with synthetic lube, and don't know whether that's recommended.

you can add 1 qt of tranny fluid with your oil every time you change it you will not harm your engine

Does your car only make this ticking sound when its close to an oil change time? I have a 95 that does that ... It usually tells me my oil is getting low (or rather, lower than my car likes) ... if I add a little oil and take it in for an oil change within the week it stops ticking ....

Adding one qt of ATF in to a 5.5qt sump wont hurt a thing. The ONLY thing a modern ATF will do is lower the viscosity of the oil in your sump & make it flow easier. Modern ATF's are nothing more than a 20wt oil with a very weak additive package & red dye. Do an analysis on new ATF and it will confirm this 100%. Years ago (25+) ATF was actually made with whale oil. This is what made it highly detergent back than. Today there's no real "detergency" to ATF at all. A sealed tranny with no moisture, fuel, combusion byproducts does not require a detergent.
G/luck
Joel

No, oil level dosen't affect the noise my truck makes, It maybe a T-belt tensioner, it does have 117,000 miles on it. any ideas would help.
thanks!

Does your car only make this ticking sound when its close to an oil change time? I have a 95 that does that ... It usually tells me my oil is getting low (or rather, lower than my car likes) ... if I add a little oil and take it in for an oil change within the week it stops ticking ....
My 94 does the same thing, it must be a Isuzu engineers modification to the oil sending unit to start the ticking when :
1. oil is low
2. oil needs to be changed.

Deep creeped the heck out of the thing twice and I hear it once in a while still.
Maybe it was those 11k oil changes.Haaaaa haaaa!
I have sinned and repent.

my 93 rodeo makes a annoying ticking sound also! and i am desperatley looking for a solution other then spending 0ver 400 dollars to have the lifters replaced! sea foam? might try that i think!

Try a quart of Rislone engine oil additive. I had that noise in a 1997 and tried everything imaginable-different weights of oil, synthetics, blends, etc., and one quart of Rislone got rid of the noise.

ok i'll do that! thanx

Don't bother replacing the lifters, those that have, have experienced it all over again with a matter of miles.

It's the nature of the beast...more harmful to you then it is to the engine.

got a 94 passport with 180k and had ticking since 80. don't mix ticking from need of an oil change and the clacking of the timing belt hyd. tensioner. if it's tolerable, it's time for an oil change or additives. if it drives ya nuts and your embarassed of it, it's the tensioner. got me a kit from that ebay link...parts on the way(hope it lasts for a bit) kit with water pump and pulleys because i don't want to tear it apart again.

Are you in Sarasota?

Never mind. I see you are from south Sarasota County. Waves coming this weekend! I used to surf your jetty quite a bit...

Don't bother replacing the lifters, those that have, have experienced it all over again with a matter of miles.

It's the nature of the beast...more harmful to you then it is to the engine.

well i don't know about that. hydraulic lifters may need replacing. maybe not. if someone replaced them and that wasn't the problem, of course they still had the problem. and if they didn't check anything else while in there, well...duh.

i've been reading a number who are now discovering that when they tear the top cam assembly apart that some of the cam 'bearing' surfaces are excessively worn which has resulted in extra play and decreasing oil pressure in that circuit, which in a never-ending cycle continues to exacerbate the problem. replacing the necessary parts has resulted in a fix. there is also some evidence that the oil pressure valves in the head may become clogged so that the oil pressure to the cam area is insufficient, and actually removing those valves may have a positive effect in providing consistently good oil pressure to those parts.

on the lifters etc, here's an excellent post in the HallofFame at planetisuzoo
Project: Lifters, Rockers and Rocker Arms, 1995 6VD1 SOHC
http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=13189 (http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?t=13189)


back to this poster's particular case, it may be the nature of the beast, but that is not all that clear to me from here (hear).

also, while many of us 'live' with the ticking as a cost-decision, it is not accurate to say that is not affecting engine performance or engine longevity. any time a valve isn't opening and closing when and how much will always affect the combustion process. the computer is so good at masking such things that driveabilitiy factors aren't even realized by the driver.

also, while many of us 'live' with the ticking as a cost-decision, it is not accurate to say that is not affecting engine performance or engine longevity. any time a valve isn't opening and closing when and how much will always affect the combustion process. the computer is so good at masking such things that driveabilitiy factors aren't even realized by the driver.[/COLOR]

I agree that if the ticking is EXCESSIVE, then yes it could be not so good for the engine.

However, Isuzu engines are NOT the only ones that tick/tap, whatever you want to call it. By far, they are definitely not the only tappers on the road.

Take my newly acquired Toyota Tacoma 3.4L V6 for instance, it ticks/taps louder then my Isuzu with only a third of the miles. While we didn't care for this, we went and test drove many other Toyota's with the same engine, they tick too.

Even my old Toyota with the 22re 4-cylinder engine tapped - LOUDLY mind you.

My sister had a Trailblazer 4.2L GM engine, guess what, it ticked/tapped; we owned a '99 Chevy 3/4 ton with the 6.0L Vortec engine, you got it, it lightly tapped - not too bad.

Day after day I make it a habit to listen to other engines just to see how loud they are, Toyota's and Nissan's are right in line with the tapping deafness of the engines; Chevy's are right in there too, not all of them are experiencing piston slap either. And, by far the loudest I'm hearing on the roads are Ford Explorers, Mitsubishi's, and Chevy Colorado's.

I completely agree with what you're saying, however, I've known many Isuzu owners whom have gone well over 200k on a tappy engine without issue. I do believe Isuzu engines in general tend to be louder then most, I've known that from the first Rodeo I ever bought, although it had the 3.1L GM engine, it was a louder sounding engine from off the lot brandnew. Probably more to do with Isuzu's air intake design.

I called her Airwolf, in fact, she had a custom paint job, jet black with purple pen-stripping down the sides - and she sounded exactly like Airwolf upon taking off from a light and/or giving it the juice while climbing the mountains.

Just out of curiousity, Trooper, does yours tick?? Have you ever torn yours down?

So, is this a manufactoring defect?? Can't rightly say that it's due to neglectful oil changes, many upon many people have always changed their oil every 3k miles and still experience a noisey engine.

Are you in Sarasota?
used to, in venice now.

...Just out of curiousity, Trooper, does yours tick??

Have you ever torn yours down?.....


yup....
nope...

the noise however is intermittently getting louder and i'm trying to get a handle on any consistency to the occurances.

i'm considering taking the cam area apart....but we'll see.

//bc

I wonder if it's just inevitable.....I mean, we've all used different oils and different viscosities with overall the same oci interval, and yet many upon thousands of Isuzu's still experience the same fate.

Try a quart of Rislone engine oil additive. I had that noise in a 1997 and tried everything imaginable-different weights of oil, synthetics, blends, etc., and one quart of Rislone got rid of the noise.

Where can I get this Rislone from any auto store?

Where can I get this Rislone from any auto store?

I get mine at Walmart. ~$2-3 a quart.

Okay, I know I am new here, but, I promise that I do not work for Turtle Wax or Marvel Mystery Oil. Right, wrong, good, bad or indifferent, here is my take on a possible solution to the ticking, tapping or rattling Isuzus. I just submitted the following testimonial to their web site.

QUOTE
Okay, so I am fast becoming an ‘olde tymer’, and I first started using Marvel Mystery Oil while I was still in high school well over thirty years ago now while working on my first ‘project car’, a 1968 Triumph Spitfire MkIII. So anyway, yesterday I purchased a beautiful 1997 Isuzu Trooper with the 3.2L DOHC with an auto tranny and 117,000 miles. This not being my first Isuzu product (the last was a Honda Passport), I expected it to sound more like a diesel than a gasoline engine, and it did. After reading a lot on Isuzu engine noise in a few Isuzu forums and fumbling through the various recommendations about everything from your competitors products to different viscosity oils, the old light bulb went off and I pulled in to the parts store and grabbed a quart of MMO this evening, added almost all of it to the slightly below full oil and put the rest, maybe eight ounces or so, into the gas tank.

The difference was like night and day and rather than rattle like an old farm tractor, both noise and engine running smoothness wise, she’s as quiet as a church mouse and runs as smooth as silk and that’s with only running about 30 miles worth of MMO through it. I am not even believing this stuff! Well, I should believe it, it worked miracles on the old Triumph too, many, many years ago, so why not on the Trooper too?

Thanks MMO for putting my mind at ease as I was not looking forward to putting $3,000 or so into the Trooper. Marvel Mystery Oil does it again!
END QUOTE

Hey, I know it might be premature praise, but, the change was almost INSTANT. If it doesn't last, or is not 'THE FIX OF ALL FIXES', I am man enough to come back and post that it wasn't / didn't cure it. :cool:

I believe a lot of people have tried MM oil and either found no change in noise, or only a temporary change.

It's great that it works in yours.

Sea Foam is tough on seals and I wouldn't use it in the crankcase with your oil. MMO never helped me either. This product although more expensive does the job its advertised to do.
I've used this in 3 of my vehicles and have been amazed with the results. From increased compression, smoother running and quiteter.

www.auto-rx.com
read more about this product here
www.bobistheoilguy.com look in the oil additives section.

I believe a lot of people have tried MM oil and either found no change in noise, or only a temporary change.

It's great that it works in yours.

Well we'll see what happens. The trip home this morning was a nice quiet one, so that's about 105 miles or so so far. Time will tell.

i got a 96 3.2 with 210k miles on it. This thing has had ticking come and go ever since I bought it. Driving me crazy. Tried sea foam, and it worked well the ticking stopped for about three oil changes. Then back to same old story. Ticking like I had no oil in the damn thing. finally figured I would try rislone. Had to replace the oil cooler o-ring, so I changed the oil and filter at the same time. dumped in a bottle of rislone, and in about 30 seconds the ticking was substantially quieter. still there, but about 10% compared to what it used to be. so far so good. hopefully it will last longer than the seafoam. altogether my engine seems to be running smoother and quieter than before.

As mentioned try Auto-rx. You won't be disappointed.
www.auto-rx.com

if the rislone turns out to be a temporary fix then I will deffinately try auto-rx. I can't stand it when it ticks like I have no oil.

250 miles and the ticking is back...... only about 20% of what it was, but it's back. Guess the next try will be Auto-RX. :iceslolan

I have a 95 rodeo (138000 miles) with the same ticking problem...Changed the oil and filter(fram) and added rislone. After 2 weeks no change...same loud ticking. Decided to try somethig else... Added seafoam and the ticking went away within 5 miles...left the seafoam in over a 4 day period...about 60 to 80 miles. Changed the oil again and added a Napa gold filter this time...also added CD-2. Ticking has not returned. In my oppinion seafoam works...just don't leave it in more than 100 miles...and use a napa gold filter.

I'm not really wild about running solvents through the engine, but anyway, I dumped the oil on Wednesday the 30th, have put almost 700 miles on it since with a quart of Rislone replacing a quart of 5w30, engine was quiet within 20 miles and has been quiet ever since. I am still adding about 8 ozs. of Marvel Mystery Oil to the gas on fill ups too..... can't hurt anyway...... I guess we will see how this does now.

FWIW, my ticking wasn't extreme as compared to my friend's two Rodeos, but it was noticeable. I just didn't want it to get worse or reach the point where it got louder.

A question..... has anyone tried running Rislone as a quart of oil replacement 'every' time they have done an oil change? What do you guys think about that or would it help as like a PM to stop the ticking noise from returning, or, has anyone kept the ticking noise away by always running a quart of Rislone?

Thing is, there is no guarantee the ticking on your engine is caused from clogged oil passages, it could be caused from mechanical reasons that could only be eliminated with new parts.....there have been a few owners who have replaced internal parts due to the ticking and it has resolved the issue. This may be what is needed on your truck rather then a quart of Rislone with every oil change.

I personally would only run a good quality oil with an excellent filter and maybe shorten the amount of time that I ran each oil interval, I've never been one for adding anything to my oil without knowing the true reason behind what the problem is I'm trying to cure.

Gospel, unfortunately when you have only owned the vehicle for the past 1,000 miles and got what will hopefully turn out to be an excellent deal on a now 11 year old reasonably priced low mileage vehicle, you cannot persecute someone for trying to do a $3 fix, which may very well solve the engines issues, rather than the obvious option which will cost between 1,000 and 2,000 times more.

Anybody knows that proper preventative maintenance has no substitute, unfortunately there is no way to go back in time and do it right the second time around and as you and I would both have an difficult time finding a zero mileage 1997 Isuzu, although I appreciate your opinion, I will try to save my money just in the odd event that a quart of Rislone will take care of my troubles, so far it has.

Once again, I simply asked, if anybody is running a quart of Rislone continually, as a PM effort to keep the ticking gremilins at bay, if not, at what frequency are they using it?

I most surely am not trying to hamper your cravings for finding a resolution. Believe me I give you credit for trying instead of the hundreds of other vehicle owners who think their vehicles are lost causes....my brother in law included.

All I'm saying, is with my having owned 2 Rodeo's I've been on numerous Isuzu boards/forums and have read a gazzillion posts of owners trying this and that to decrease the *tick*....most of the time it's just the nature of the beast, these are noisey engines.

Other times I have heard of owners having to replace parts, even WITH routine maintenance since new.

I was simply trying to say that their was no guarantee that your noise was just due to clogged passages, that's all.

If my truck sounded as bad as others due, believe me, I too would be trying everything to decrease the sound aside from opening the engine.

In fact, there was a short time from 148k to 153k miles where my engine DID sound like a timebomb ready to go off, I freaked and started trying every oil thinking that it was something to do with the havoline oil I had always used prior. Turned out to be a failing waterpump/timing belt tensioner.

But, by no means was I aiming to put down your efforts, only give advise in the fact that even WITH every 3k mile oil changes, these engines DO make noise. I have read so many posts of owners who have ALWAYS changed their oil religiously and still end up with the dread full tick, that's all I was trying to say.

No I don't and have never used Risoline.....keep us posted. Good luck.

There was no offense taken what so ever and I am glad you understand that, for me anyway, if a $3 ‘fix’ works, or is at least alleged to in many cases, heck, I will give it a try. I have always wanted a Trooper, even after having a bad experience with a Passport. As the Trooper has just under 118k miles, unless it has been very badly abused or more correctly, neglected, I wanted to give it a shot. The old Trooper, ‘looks’ like it has been taken care of and is in great shape and there are no leaks, so, before I just arbitrarily made a project care out of it, I figured I would see if it could be a dependable, quiet, safe as well as an attractive daily driver.

I can honestly say that I have never fallen for any of the Ronco or K-Tel miracles blasted at us by our TVs for these past 30 years or so, so, I have a hard time even considering a $3 miracle in a bottle. I am sure that someone, somewhere has found cause or reason, based on their vehicles use and application, as well as their climate, etc., to find that Slick 50, STP oil or STP fuel treatment has been a God send to them……. I am a skeptic and the results remain to be seen. As my motor had an annoying ‘tick’, rather than it sounding like a monkey under the hood flailing the block with a ball peen hammer, I was really hoping it would be a sticky lifter or a failing water pump or a tensioner in the check out line of life rather than planning for a complete top end rebuild.

The other side of the coin is, I have lived in the SE Humidity Belt for the last 41 years and, as temperature and humidity (condensation) issues can be a pain, I have often (not always) followed one of my Pop’s recommendations and that is to run about 8 ozs. or so of Marvel Mystery Oil in a 15 to 20 gallon tank fill up, just for the purpose of keeping condensate out of the gas. Does it work? Heck, I dunno, but I have NEVER had issues with condensate in my tanks, and, I have never had issues with sticking valves either so does it work? I really can’t say, but, I know it is not a caustic or a solvent (to the best of my knowledge), so hey, it can’t hurt.

Please don’t misunderstand me as I agree with everything that you have stated. I am not blessed with being a competent shade tree mechanic, but have friends who pretty much tell me that I need to pay attention to my changes and PM that way, just as you have said. Hey, if I don’t ask questions, I’ll never learn and if you offer advice and I don’t listen, then that’s my mistake.

To make a long story longer, I will not add the Rislone next oil change just to see how it does without. If something was sticking, and now it’s not, fine, if I am masking a more serious problem, then I will want to deal with it before there is a catastrophic failure.:)

Thanks for all of your help!

Did I mention that my 1997 3.2L is tick free at 173K? Valvoline dino 10W-30 and napa gold filters every 3K...

Did I mention that my 1997 3.2L is tick free at 173K? Valvoline dino 10W-30 and napa gold filters every 3K...

You're STILL 10k miles behind me?????

Come on....put the pedal to the metal and keep driving......:naughty:

Maybe if I put mine in reverse for 10k miles :wink:

There's not very many of us tick-free Isuzuan's! I really wonder sometimes if it was a manufactor issue/defect.

Or if there are really so few that properly maintained theirs from the get go. :grinyes:

When I did my valve cover gaskets, it looked as though insufficient oil made its way to the extreme front and back of the head. I haven't seen the interior of many engine heads, so I don't know if what I saw is indicative of a flaw.

When I did my valve cover gaskets, it looked as though insufficient oil made its way to the extreme front and back of the head. I haven't seen the interior of many engine heads, so I don't know if what I saw is indicative of a flaw.

I wonder if that could mean the engine would do better with a thinner oil perhaps???

I'm not running the recommended weight, am I?

Actually 10W-30 is recommended for warmer climes. It rarely gets to freezing here in SW FL...

The recommended weight is anywhere from 5w-30 to 20w-50 according to my book.

I've been running 5w-40 for quite some time.....who knows I guess.

I asked, if anybody is running a quart of Rislone continually, as a PM effort to keep the ticking gremilins at bay, if not, at what frequency are they using it?

I purchased my 95.5 Rodeo at ~80k miles. It had a ticking sound that was very noticeable and embarassing. At the time, I brought it to the Auto instructor at my high school who said it was very common with this vehicle and "turn up the radio". I tried Marvel Mystery Oil with no luck. I tried CD-2 with no luck. I never tried Seafoam. Slowly throwing $5 bills at the truck wasn't getting anywhere, but I decided to give Rislone a try. Somewhere around 90k miles I brought the Rodeo in for an oil change and instructed the technician to add the quart of Rislone I gave him in lieu of a quart of oil. Within 20 miles the sound disappeared. After a couple thousand miles it was back. I tried Rislone in the next two oil changes and have had no ticking since ~95k miles. My total investment of ~$10 in Rislone, I feel, has cured my truck if ticking (I now have 108k with no ticking). If the rodeo ever started ticking again, I would try another round of Rislone without hesitation!

Yep, I think I will continue on and follow your lead. The old 3.2L DOHC is as quiet as a church mouse and has been for over 2 weeks and 1k miles now, I hope it will stay that way too. FWIW, below is as posted in the Trooper area by me.

Okay, this is worth an update...... I went ahead and changed the oil and did the one quart swap with Rislone...... also, still putting in 8 to 12 ozs. of Marvel Mystery Oil in with the gas at each fill up. The Rislone did the trick within 10 miles, 20 minutes of run time. Been quiet as a church mouse for about 1k miles and about three weeks now.

I have a hard time with time..... heh.... it was the 30th, that I did the Rislone and oil change, so it has only been 2 weeks and a couple of days now. ;)

Hey folks....here's my two cents. On a recent 900 mile trip to south florida my 1995 Rodeo (160k miles) starting ticking obnoxiously. I had heard that this was a common problem with Rodeos so I didn't worry about it too much and continued my trip. When I got back home I read this forum and tried every $5 solution with no luck. SeaFoam, Risolon, Marvolous Mystery Oil: none made a difference. The tick was as embarrassingly loud as ever. I read a post on here where somebody mentioned the timing belt tensioning push rod. Just to rule that out I took off the passenger side upper timing belt cover, started the engine, and watched the belt and tensioning pulley vibrate back and forth widely. Went ahead and disassembled everything so that I could take the t-belt tensioning push rod off. It was worn to the point that the push rod could be depressed by hand. A new one requires a c-clamp or a vice to depress. Anyway, put everything back together and she runs as quietly now as the day I bought her new in 1995. No noise at all.

I almost junked a very reliable vehicle due to the failure of an $85 part. If you're having the same problem, be sure and check this before doing something more drastic. The symptoms were a constant and very loud ticking noise that went away above 2500 rpm or so.

Hi jayinhsv,

From the other Isuzu and Trooper forums I frequent, your problem is one that pops up now and then and I am glad that you made the effort to dig a bit deeper with your problem and have her all sorted out!

Congrats on not panicking and jumping the gun on ditching the old gal! :wink:

Regards,
Tom

If you want to get the quickest quiet at idle hot, put in 20/50.
If in fact it does get quieter, it simply tells you your oil pump cannot keep up at idle hot.
The oil pump pressure needs to fill the lifters completely, besides all the other bearing clearances at rod and crank.
The tappets increase in clearance automatically as oil pressure drops.
The lifters are last in line to get full oil pressure.
The valve spring pressure is fighting back, forcing oil back out of lifters.

Permenant simple repair in the past is simply upgrading the oil pump. You need more volume and pressure to make up for all the wear.
The oil pump wears as well.
Oil pumps do not get filtered oil. They feed oil to the filter.
Oil pumps only have wire mesh to stop the large peices.
Filtered oil feeds the crank and all rod bearings first.
What ever pressure is left, feeds the rest. And that might not be much.

As the oil heats up, it gets lighter weight viscosity by half, and is why you
start to hear parts hot vs cold in motors worn beyond the oil pumps ability.

As Ramblin Fever (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/member.php?u=175364) stated, replacing lifters is not the cure and has been tested many times before. Brand new lifters will still tick the tappets if oil pressure is not to specs.
Not having a real-time oil pressure gauge is mystery untold.
No different than your own heart- low pressure- certain death.

I almost junked a very reliable vehicle due to the failure of an $85 part. If you're having the same problem, be sure and check this before doing something more drastic. The symptoms were a constant and very loud ticking noise that went away above 2500 rpm or so.
Very Cool.
I bet that was happy hour for days.