I was hoping to find a solution to this issue. I recently upgraded my internals on the short block, and during teardown ended up having to also rebuild the head. Now the motor is MUCH louder than before, making a noise between a tapping and a clatter (hope that makes sense). is there a way to quiet down the valve train?

For some background, the head I'm using had some bent valves, so I ended up pulling them and doing a swap from another head. After assembly, I did check the clearances and they all fall within range (.006-.010 in. intake, .010 - .014 in. exhaust) after swapping cups, though some are on the high end of the spectrum. Should I swap the lifter cups again for a tighter tolerance or is this normal after head work and just let it ride? I know with the tC valve noise is common and not a problem.

Compression is good, and new bearings / rods / pistons / rings were used on the bottom end. I do not believe this is piston slap or a knock issue. Also, no codes are being thrown and nothing else is out of the ordinary. Oil is still synthetic 5W30, and the noise does not get much quiter when the engine warms up.

 

did you tq the cams and caps to spec.

 

Sure it's not coming the timing chain?

 

can you post a clip of the noise.

 

Phone audio sucks but I'll try (iPhone 3G). Not sure how the chain would give a tap and not a constant noise. Yes, all the bolts are torqued from the oil pan to the valve cover, including the four caps for intake / exhaust and the main.

 

I have a full built engine and mine does the same thing. Have raced it, drove it to Chicago a few times, and no issues. I do have custom made dual valve springs so I accredited the noise to the valves closing harder.

 

How long did you let it run for? It may take time for oil to make it's way in everywhere and quiet down. I recently had a head off with a similar cam/bucket design to ours and it took almost an hour of idling being fully warmed up to get the noise to go away completely. Not sure if you got it resolved already or not but just a thought