Engine tick - ideas

[rainman]

Check and see if there are any signs of the outer ring having spun!
Which would throw the marks off! I'm not sure if that balancer is
rubber mounted or not, but they do occasionally slip! Especially when they get old!

 

[sgtpontiac]

I have seen vibration dampers spin....a lot..

Ok, I think I got this one licked too. Got my new Speedway HEI dizzy, new plug wires installed and...still had the tick when set to the 6 degrees BTDC per the manual. But it generally ran much better and was consistent.

Set it back to 3 deg BTDC and now its great. So it's definitely preignition related.

Now, I'm not sure why it can't handle 6 degrees even on 93 octane. Is it possible the timing mark on the crank pulley is off vs. the marker? [S

Thanks for the input everyone!

That is probably the case here...that 6 degrees could be 15 or 20 degrees and it doesn't like any more timing....I'd do a TDC check with the #1 plug and see if it's close to TDC on the damper.....

 

[BigIrish]

Yeah you guys are probably right. The damper looks plenty old. I'll keep an eye on it and see if that mark slips any.

 

[cking894]

I have been fighting a similar problem for a couple years now. I have a Chevy 350 with an automatic transmission. I thought all along that the engine was pinging under a load. The ping would come and go. I installed thicker copper head gaskets to reduce the compression. I installed a new dizzy, new plugs and wires and nothing worked. Several weeks ago I was backing up and the noise was much louder and wouldn't go away. The problem ended up being a bad flex plate. I pulled out the old one and couldn't see anything obviously wrong with it. I installed another one and the noise completely went away.

Keith

 

[rainman]

I have been fighting a similar problem for a couple years now. I have a Chevy 350 with an automatic transmission. I thought all along that the engine was pinging under a load. The ping would come and go. I installed thicker copper head gaskets to reduce the compression. I installed a new dizzy, new plugs and wires and nothing worked. Several weeks ago I was backing up and the noise was much louder and wouldn't go away. The problem ended up being a bad flex plate. I pulled out the old one and couldn't see anything obviously wrong with it. I installed another one and the noise completely went away.

Keith

If you were to have that old flex plate magnafluxed I'm sure you would find some cracks in it!! Usually right around the center, or the bolt holes!!

 

[sgtpontiac]

JMHO......

If you were to have that old flex plate magnafluxed I'm sure you would find some cracks in it!! Usually right around the center, or the bolt holes!!

for the price of a flex plate, I wouldn't bother with getting it checked....I'd just get a new one...if you suspect it's cracked....pretty common with bigger HP and or 4x4's....as a tech I replaced a crap ton of them on 4x4's in the 80's....showin my age again...

 

[rainman]

for the price of a flex plate, I wouldn't bother with getting it checked....I'd just get a new one...if you suspect it's cracked....pretty common with bigger HP and or 4x4's....as a tech I replaced a crap ton of them on 4x4's in the 80's....showin my age again...

Oh! me either, I was just assuring him there more than likely was some cracks even if he couldn't see them!!