Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

I have no idea what the sound is and I've been chasing it for a couple days so I figured I'd post a video and see if anybody else with more knowledge can identify it. It's not consistent enough to be valvetrain I don't think, but it's kind of a squeaking tick like the valvetrain would make. You can hear the normal valvetrain noise in the video and every once in a while the squeaky tic will pop up and it will make the sound it's making almost like a rattle just for a second or two or maybe three and it goes away again. It seems to almost make the noise In cadence with the engine shaking while the cam is loping. I tightened up the header flange where it bolts to the exhaust I've checked every single rocker arm for wiggle room or play. If I put my ear down by the wheel well on the passenger or driver side front I can hear it almost amplified a little bit, that's what led me to tighten the header flange which didn't eat a little bit a tightening but it didn't take the sound away.

It's a 70 C10, 350 Chevy with 400 trans and a fairly lopey cam, heads and rpm intake Edelbrock carb. The rockers and the pushrods are all brand-new maybe have two hours on them. All the valve lash was very meticulously adjusted. Let me know what you guys think

https://youtu.be/kBkpy7112FY

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

flywheel?

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Something not motor related? Sounds like somethings loose somewhere & rattling/squeaking occasionally.

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

What could be happening to the flywheel? Any specific ideas?

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

I've been looking all over, haven't found anything yet though.

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Could be a cracked flex plate or lose bolts holding the flex plate.

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

How do you crack a flex plate?

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Take off the flywheel inspection cover and look as best as you can. It's difficult to see without separating the trans from the motor.the usually crack around the bolts the the crank or the wleds on the starter gear ring. Look to see if the bolts holging it to the converter are loose. It might just be the inspection cover itself loose

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Use the stethascope method on each rocker stud and listen, I feel its either a bad rocker or pushrod rubbing on the guide in the head..

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

It's the sound of 'Impending Doom'!!
AKA tear down and rebuild time!
First thing I noticed when I watched your vid was--- Where's the oil?
You should have had oil splashing and burning on your headers.
Low oil flow to the rockers tells you some of the trash from your pushrod problems is restricting flow somewhere.
Low oil pressure to the lifters is causing the tick you hear. One or two lifters aren't pumping up fully.
You did say you wanted to build a 383, didn't you!!

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Ok cool thanks I'll check this today

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

I didn't wanna build it yet though!! lol

When I took the valve covers off there was oil flinging everywhere and smoking so I turned the idle waaaaay down so it was barely staying running. That made the oil fling go away

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

I agree. Sounds like lifter noise. I have a set of valve covers cut to adjust my rockers but cover the oil outlets. It keeps the mess to a minimum. Other things to check are as follows. Cracks in the flex plate, loose bolt in flex plate, loose bolt on the torque converter, header touching the frame, loose mount for any of your accessories, and one that got me for a while, the power steering line rubbing on the frame. Hope you find it

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

A stethoscope is very good at finding noises, but for rocker noises with the covers off, simple grab the rockers with your fingers. Your fingers will deaden any noise and you will have found the location.

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

A piece of 1" PVC lawn sprinkler pipe or similar works if you don't have a stethoscope. Don't get your hair/tie/etc caught in the belts!

Really does sound like something squeaking or rubbing, like shift linkage, exhaust, that sort of thing. I don't know much about flywheels, but I wouldn't be tearing the motor apart on account of it until you know what it actually is!

Does anyone think there should be "more" oil up top? Every time I ever ran an engine without valve covers it was a smoke show! But I don't really know. I can see oil in the rockers, so they're not dry. Maybe they're just set right and I'm not used to that :-)

Can you hear it out the end of the exhaust pipe at all?

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

It was definitely a smoke show until I turned the idle waaaay down. I also switched to 30w oil last week because it's warming up here, so that might be part of it. I hope you're right about the noise, I'm leaning towards squeak of some sort

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Perfect! Thanks for the check list I'm headed home to start looking now. Appreciate the tips

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

You should have way more oil on your lifters splashing allover the place even at idle, i think you have a blocked oil galley that feeds the lifter passages and bearing journals, this would also fall into place with your warn out pushrod you posted before.

I have high end hearing loss so not sure if i hear the squealing or not but if an oil galley is blocked leading to the cam bearings i would think it might emit a squeaking sound, even if it was one cam bearing or maybe 2 or 3 it could still run.

http://www.grumpysperformance.com/SBCOiling.gif

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

I think because the idle is turned down to barely even running (maybe 500rpm) and the 30w oil is so thick that it's not gonna splash like a normal setup would. If I turn the idle up even to 750rpm which is about normal for my cam, it starts splashing and spitting oil all over the headers and smokes a lot. You could very well be right but I'm hoping not! lol I just think the noise is too sporadic and inconsistent to be a bearing or even a lifter. I can see good oil flow at each individual pushrod so my fingers are crossed.

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

I hear a slightly louder valve tick on the passenger side. I also hear something that reminds me of a alternator bearing going out OR a loose stud and bolt sometimes rattling in the engine compartment.

Vibration rattling sound? SCRITCHY TICK SOUND??? Pull that alt belt and see if its still there??

The comp cam lifters will be noisy remember..........??????? Is that not what you have in there???


I have the hearing loss thing also.

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Dang good call on the passenger side valve tick lol #8 intake was a tiny bit on the loose side. The noise I'm hearing and I think you guys are hearing too is much louder and it just happens for a quick second, rattles a couple times and then gone again. I'm gonna crawl under and start checking the flywheel and then the alternator. The headers and exhaust is all clear of the frame, and the transmission hard lines aren't the culprit either.

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Ok here's an update and hopefully this will be the clue somebody needs to figure this out. When it's idling and I let it warm up, the back two header pipes on the passenger side (#6 and #8) start to glow just a little bit. This is exactly where the noise is coming from too

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Loosened up the lash a bit on both exhaust valves to make sure they weren't staying open to cause the header glow. Noise is still there though.....

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Are you still trying to run race fuel thru that engine ? Add a can of STP oil treatment to it use castrol 20-50 oil and another new filter ,lock your tools up and drive it for 100 miles keeping your foot off the gas pedal, use regular unleaded fuel and drive it like your new baby is sitting on the seat .

Re: Quick video, help me identify this sound
 

Do you know what your base timing is at now, with vacuum advance line plugged at the carb? To get hot tubes at idle normally takes wicked retarded timing and some load.

Did I just say "Wicked Retarded"? Yes, but it was about a distributor.