Ticking 97 Lesabre

The upper intake manifold gasket failed on our 97 Lesabre while we were on vacation in Colorado last week. The car never got hot, but it did go over 200 once. I had added coolant and it was promptly sucked into the engine. Had to get a different car to get home. Friends of ours trailered the car about 75 miles to their farm in eastern Colorado. We drove there Friday and replaced the UIM.

The engine was locked with coolant. We pulled the plugs and blew it out. After the initial start up it spewed out white steam for 20 minutes or more. I drove it across Kansas on Saturday and it ran great. The compression is good. The only problem is that it ticks right after start up. The ticking is very loud, but subsides. It does not go completely away though.

Coolant never appeared in the oil, but I did change the oil this morning. Is there any way to fix the ticking? I presume it is a valve issue. Maybe it can be fixed by pulling the covers. Thanks.

Sorry to hear that. When you changed the oil did you replace the oil filter? And what is the brand of the filter?

What does the back of the oil filler cap look like. Any moisture or condensation?

a injecter can make a ticking noise like a lifter. but that white smoke tells maybe a little bit of leak on head gasket.by the way did you take heads and have them milled and dye tested before putting them back together? and did you use new head bolts? plus you got to take them off in sequince or it will warb the head if you never? but like i said white smoke not good some these cars you have to shut them down right away when you see over heating only take once to screw your heads up.

a injecter can make a ticking noise like a lifter. but that white smoke tells maybe a little bit of leak on head gasket.by the way did you take heads and have them milled and dye tested before putting them back together? and did you use new head bolts? plus you got to take them off in sequince or it will warb the head if you never? but like i said white smoke not good some these cars you have to shut them down right away when you see over heating only take once to screw your heads up.

:confused:

Where did you read he pulled or replaced the heads? All he did was remove the spark plugs and replaced the UIM only. The compression test is OK according to the OP.

LIM gaskets can cause a similar issue.

seems to apear that you no what i met. but yes i looked back and seen maniford.thanks for corecting me. still white smoke so what do you think white smokes came from?

seems to apear that you no what i met. but yes i looked back and seen maniford.thanks for corecting me. still white smoke so what do you think white smokes came from?

White smoke is coolant being burned in combustion which can be caused by what coolant was left when the UIM problem occurred, LIM gaskets or head gaskets, however, he checked engine compression. And obviously the white smoke stopped since he drove it quite a few miles afterwards. Best not to second guess the OP and let him explain what he found and what work he did.

I just went through a similar issue with my wife's '99 Regal LS. Bad UIM and LIM gaskets and after that a ticking sound coming from the lifters at startup that subsided but none of the lifters were bad. There was another reason for the ticking sound which sounds like the issue I had which was resolved.

sorry mod didn't mean to jump into your thread bcause now i see that you know right whats wrong with it.

sorry mod didn't mean to jump into your thread bcause now i see that you know right whats wrong with it.

:lol:

Not a problem. You're welcome to post. I may have the answer or may not but it sure sounds familiar. :wink:

I did replace the oil filter this morning. I used a Fram and the old filter was a Fram as well. There was no moisture on the oil fill cap. I thought the same and looked it over. The old oil appeared to have not coolant in it at all.

The new UIM came with a new pcv valve, etc. Could the pcv valve cause the ticking? The new one had a spring with it. The old pcv did not have a spring. I have not checked into this, but may look at it closer.

The compression is very good. We did check the compression before installing the new UIM to verify that the head gasket was not leaking. The ticking is fairly loud from one area, but nearly subsides entirely after warm up--but not completely.

I might look closer at the injectors. I had some difficulting reinstalling the injectors. We stopped about 30 miles out and I checked under the hood. One of the injectors was leaking gas on to the engine. Had to remove the rail and reinstall to get the one sealed. Maybe I need to pull it off again and check them all.

You mentioned the lower intake manifold, which I did not pull off. Is there a way to test this further for the ticking? Thanks.

On the fuel injectors the oring seals should have been replaced, at least the lower unless the top seals were leaking. Do you have the MAP sensor over the PCV setup? The MAP sensor plastic retainer must have the spring which keeps the PCV secure in the UIM and the PCV should have one oring.

i agree on with on injectters on lower part. but if leaking at top i'd do them all because you get it all back together and another one starts leaking you have to tear down again.

scrapper1

It was an upper injector o-ring that was leaking. I did not replace the seals. I was trying to get it all done quickly. I'll pull the rail again and will replace the lower seals. The upper are not leaking at all. It doesn't take long to pull the fuel rail off.

Sounds like I have the pcv and MAP sensor on correctly. The spring is in place holding the pcv down. Thanks.

Are you still getting any coolant loss or consumption? On the UIM what was the specific problem? How bad was it? Was it EGR stovepipe damage or just a bad gasket? How much coolant was laying in the area of the LIM after the UIM was removed?

The coolant loss/consumption stopped with the replacement of the UIM and gasket. It did not use any coolant on the way home. I did not find EGR stovepipe damage at all. That part was perfectly in tact. It appeared the plastic gasket was overtightened and broken during a previous installation about midway on the backside.

I bought the car with 105,000 miles on it and it looked to me like the UIM had been replaced previously. It looked like the nuts had been removed,etc. The stovepipe had not been swapped out though.

A section of the rubber gasket was turned under slightly near the broken portion of the plastic. There was a ton of coolant on top and in the engine.

I have not looked at it today, but will do so shortly. I want to see if the injector o-rings are leaking at start up.

I could be imagining it, but I believe the ticking may be resolved. I sprayed each injector with lube and gently rotated each injector back and forth. This was right after start up just a short time ago. It was ticking loudly, but quickly subsided (without warming up). There is no hint of a tick left, so maybe it is okay. I'll try it again in the morning to see if it is really stopped. It is sure running well.

Just to be sure what I suggest is run some Seafoam engine treatment through the engine for a few hours. Add into the crankcase but no more than 8 oz. This will get any possible remaining residual coolant/water out of the engine since it helps remove water/moisture/coolant. This type of contamination will not be visible unless you run an oil analysis. Then do another oil and filter change. This time do not use the Fram. Use a Purolator Premium Plus or Pure One if you like using cheaper oil filters. These have better anti-drain back valves. The Frams have issues in this area as do AC Delco.

After I had UIM amd LIM issues I had the same issue with the ticking lifters. The above did the trick.

Just to be sure what I suggest is run some Seafoam engine treatment through the engine for a few hours. Add into the crankcase but no more than 8 oz. This will get any possible remaining residual coolant/water out of the engine since it helps remove water/moisture/coolant. This type of contamination will not be visible unless you run an oil analysis. Then do another oil and filter change. This time do not use the Fram. Use a Purolator Premium Plus or Pure One if you like using cheaper oil filters. These have better anti-drain back valves. The Frams have issues in this area as do AC Delco.

After I had UIM amd LIM issues I had the same issue with the ticking lifters. The above did the trick.
Thanks Bob, my enthusiasm as to your solution of this problem, was about to expire! :rofl:

I'll give this a shot. I just started it again out of curiosity. It ticked for a matter of seconds and then cleared up. I will go ahead and drive it to work this week and see how it does.

I'll give the Seafoam a try. I believe I have some of it around here. Also, I will use the better oil filter to see if that helps. Thanks.

Thanks Bob, my enthusiasm as to your solution of this problem, was about to expire! :rofl:

:lol:

Sorry for the suspense. :wink:

Thanks for the advice on the his. The ticking has stopped all of a sudden. I drove it to work today. When I started it to come home, there was no ticking whatsoever. Must have been some residual coolant. I did add some Seafoam yesterday and will swap out the filter when changing the oil. Thanks.

yah i thought it mite be one of the injectors.fooled me at first on a car thought lifter and it was injector..is it still running good?

Still running good and no ticking.

run some Seafoam engine treatment through the engine for a few hours. Add into the crankcase but no more than 8 oz. This will get any possible remaining residual coolant/water out of the engine since it helps remove water/moisture/coolant. This type of contamination will not be visible unless you run an oil analysis. Then do another oil and filter change. Must have been some residual coolant. I did add some Seafoam yesterday and will swap out the filter when changing the oil. yah i thought it mite be one of the injectors.fooled me at first on a car thought lifter and it was injector..is it still running good? Scrapper, we appreciate your post, but be sure you read the whole thread so you can understand the problem & solution! This had nothing to do with the injectors. :shakehead