What's up guy's I'm new to this site and was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. My rocker arms will not stay tight and rattle like the whole engine is coming apart. I've checked to make sure all the push rods are in the right locations ya know long short blah blah and they are fine. Any one have any advice? Thanks in advance

Try replacing the rocker hold down nuts. The ones you have are probably worn and are not holding properly. If that does not work put a little lock-tite blue on the threads before you torque them down. Also make sure you are using a torque wrench to torque them properly once they are installed.

Welcome to AF!!

Replaced rocker nuts and used blue thread lock still knocks and taps like crazy oil pressure is low when warm ant ideas?

Put a new oil pressure sender deal in it brought the oil pressure up alot quieted rattle and knock down a little but not all the way. Think it could be the oil pump or busted lifter? My friend told me it was a rod knock but I'm thinking more of a busted lifter just because of the tapping more than knocking. Anyways got some info, I'm open to anything. Thanks in advance.

I don't think it is an oil pump issue or there wouldn't be any oil pressure if it was bad. Of course if it is warn then the pressure can be low. Try a heavier weight oil like a 10w40 if you are using 5w30 it should boost the oil pressure a little for you. Rod knock will be low and sound like a knock. Lifters tap, and can be due to bad lifters as long is it runs well I wouldn't worry about the noise unless it gets louder.

I don't think it is an oil pump issue or there wouldn't be any oil pressure if it was bad. Of course if it is warn then the pressure can be low. Try a heavier weight oil like a 10w40 if you are using 5w30 it should boost the oil pressure a little for you. Rod knock will be low and sound like a knock. Lifters tap, and can be due to bad lifters as long is it runs well I wouldn't worry about the noise unless it gets louder.


Well I wish I didnt have to worry about it (lol) but it's gotten really loud, if your at 2200 rpm's it sounds like rock's in a soda can. It's not really a low knock it's more like a high pitch ticking if that make's any sence.

Should not sound like rocks in a can!,
You positive everything was put back together right, like putting the pushrods in the EXACT place they were removed from, because if you mixed them up, you'll probley need new ones(if a mix up was the case).

I'm not certain, but I think the valve lash also needs set on your 3.1, I'll check this out and let you know one way or the other.

Yes I put the push rods in the right place, I'm thinkin about either selling it or throwing a junk yard special in it. I can get a complete engine for 325.00 I'm a little hesitant about used engine's though I dont want to pull it twice.

selling or junking it is drastic!
What manual did u use for this job?

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/0e/4f/ae/0900823d800e4fae.jsp
Bottom of this lined page has directions for the 3.1 in your car. Top right of the page has more things you should check out pertaining to your car and engine.
I'd say you got something on wrong or you hav other troubles internally.
Did you ever get those nuts to stay tight on them? Just wondering, it shouldnt sound lik you described. Hope the valves arent hiting the pistons, that would suck!

You just might hav to completely tear it back down just to find out whats wrong.
Good Luck and let use know what you find out

I used a GM manual, It was making the noise when I bought it. I thought it was just a busted lifter,Then I tore into it and found all the rocker arm's were loose so I replaced the bolt's and hoped that would fix it but as you can see it did'nt. I only paid 400.00 and the rest of the car is almost flawless. So if I gotta put a engine in it I still wont even be into it a thousand dollar's, Ya I did get the nuts to stay tight.

Run a compression test on all of the cylinders, atleast then you might be able to limit it down to pulling one head to see whats going on. I recomend doing a rebuild rather then putting a yard motor in. But if you insist on putting a yard motor in make sure you do a compression test on the yard motor to make sure everything is good to go in that motor. Some yards will run the motor for you in the car before you buy it, find one that will, its worth the extra money to make sure you don't end up with a motor like the one you pulled out. Also check the color of the oil in the yard motor, it will give you some idea if you have an intake gasket bad, or how well the maintence was on that motor, a yard will not go thru the trouble of changing the oil. If you find coolant in the oil don't buy that motor, that usually means an intake gasket or head gasket is out of it, and may be the reason the car is in the yard to start with (knock because of worn rod bearings).

Did you notice any signs of water in the oil? The person that had it before you may have had a blown intake gasket and after replacing it did not clean the block out... Try running RISLONE with you oil for about 1000 Miles then change the oil and filter again. You may just have a lifter or 2 that is not pumping up. This is a very common problem on the 3100 v6 (Intake gasket that is) and after replacing it lifter noise is almost inevidable. But I have tried rislone before and it worked. A cheaper way is to go with an oil change but add 1 QT tranny fluid and run it for 1000 Miles and change the oil again. The detergent in the tranny fliud helps clean all of the gunk out of the motor.

Either way do a compression test to see where your motor is at.

Mine Runs 150lbs across the board. That will give you an idea of where you should be at. 150 to 180. If you get a cylinder that is low put some oil in that cylinder (About 1 Cap Full) and retest it. If the compression goes up you have ring issues. if it stays the same you have head or valvetrain issues.

If all of the above does not work try to isolate the noise using an stethliscope or a extension against you ear and at different point above the rockers and lifters. You may get lucky and find that you have 1 or 2 lifters making the noise and they are just bad lifters. Lot better that replacing a head I would say.

Did you notice any signs of water in the oil? The person that had it before you may have had a blown intake gasket and after replacing it did not clean the block out... Try running RISLONE with you oil for about 1000 Miles then change the oil and filter again. You may just have a lifter or 2 that is not pumping up. This is a very common problem on the 3100 v6 (Intake gasket that is) and after replacing it lifter noise is almost inevidable. But I have tried rislone before and it worked. A cheaper way is to go with an oil change but add 1 QT tranny fluid and run it for 1000 Miles and change the oil again. The detergent in the tranny fliud helps clean all of the gunk out of the motor.

Either way do a compression test to see where your motor is at.

Mine Runs 150lbs across the board. That will give you an idea of where you should be at. 150 to 180. If you get a cylinder that is low put some oil in that cylinder (About 1 Cap Full) and retest it. If the compression goes up you have ring issues. if it stays the same you have head or valvetrain issues.

If all of the above does not work try to isolate the noise using an stethliscope or a extension against you ear and at different point above the rockers and lifters. You may get lucky and find that you have 1 or 2 lifters making the noise and they are just bad lifters. Lot better that replacing a head I would say.




Come to think of it the intake gasket's look pretty fresh but I didnt notice any water in the oil when I changed it. It seamed like the tick got louder after I changed the oil. I went from 5w20 to 15w40. I havent been on here much lately but I am going to be now.

Go back to the lighter weight oil. The 15 weight oil is too heavy for the lifters and is causing them to not work properly as the oil is too thick to get into the small holes in the lifters at start-up. A 10W-30 is heavy enough.

5w20 and 15w40, thats way to thick for your car!

I ment the 15w40 was to thick, the 5/20 is lighter than whats called for.

BTW- lifters do go bad, you can take each one apart though and try to clean the carbo off them, inside and out, maybe that'll quieten them down(if thats whats causing the noise)

5w20 is not too thick,
I was going to recomend he go to 5w30 to see if it helps the noise issue
for those who don't know
5w20 = when the motor is warm its a 5 weight oil 5w ... 20 is the cold weight
the higher the number the thicker the oil weight ...

if it was ticking with the 5w20 in it you either have a lifter that is plugged up, low oil pressure, or a bad rod bearing allowing the piston to hit your head, lifter noise and a piston just barely touching the head can be easily mistaken.

when you adjusted your valves, did you have any loose push rods?
did you run it then check them again?
did you adjust them with it running? (like the old days)

get your oil pressure tested with a good mechanics oil pressure tester, I tried to rig one up and it did not give me an accurate reading, had my mechanic buddy bring over his and it showed the oil pressure all over the place = bad rod bearing.

have you run a compression test yet?

Could also be a bad cam. Lobe knocked down on something fun like that. I have one I am working on and the cam was knocked down 0.050 and 0.075 on 2 of the lobes. Which attributed to the lifter noise. Pull the lifters out and look at the rollers real close. Maybe you can see something that looks suspicious there.