"sounds like lifter"

[Jrs3800]

I agree with a good fuel system formula once in a while...

You guys need to get out and run that N* a bit from time to time to get the cobwebs out...

Funny story... a friend has a Malibu with he 2.4 Twin cam... He brought it to me as it had developed a miss that would come and go at random... I asked him when was the last time you took it out and ran the S*** out of it..... He said he hadn't.... He drives his car pretty softly... I took it out and flogged on it a bit... Ran it to 5500 or so several times over.... Hit the passing gear on the highway quite a few times... Been a month and he says it has not skipped a beat....LOL

The N* wants to be run every now and again...

[CMNTMXR57]

Driving style also affects how the PCM runs everything too. It actually "learns" your driving style. So sometimes going out an going WOT not only helps the engine clear out the coffers like JRS above mentioned, it also helps the PCM kinda go "whoa". Your other option there is to occasionally do an "idle relearn" and follow the driving cycle needed to re-train the PCM for optimum performance. This used to be on www.OBD-II.com Not sure if that site is around anymore.

[Skippy1827]

From another Northstar guy:
Northstar engines do not like snake oil (seafoam) Also, read your owner's manual concerning the use of oil and fuel additives. If this or that product is/was proven to have any significant effect or savings or increase in fuel mileage, then the manufacturer itself would so state.

If a $10 product gave you a .1 or .2 mpg gas mileage increase with each fillup would it be more economical or a waste of money ?? .........and don't fall into the "sludge" trap: your engine has a perfectly adequate PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) system. Coupled with proper interval oil and filter changes and properly maintained, that system guarantees a squeaky clean engine interior.

Google "top tier gasoline" for insight on fuel formulations and proprietary gasoline additives - it's already done for you.

Seafoam makes a whole line of snake oils which are advertised to cure everything from leprosy to hangnails as well as increase erection strength.

Wanna clean your engine guts ?? Use the proper recommended engine oil for your year/model and do some highway driving - 60 mph plus. After a month or so of this routine, change the oil and filter and go through it all again. Check your PCV system: A faulty PCV valve/piping is the single greatest contributor to engine "sludge".

A 10 year old "city car" is full of engine sludge. A 10 year old road runner is as clean as a whistle inside:

[CMNTMXR57]

I'm not a fan of seafoam either FWIW, but I don't see the harm in using it once in a blue moon. IF you're using it every oil change like a few people I know... different story.

As to whether or not the manufacturer stating anything, one of the troubleshooting guidelines produced by GM (the manufacturer), on slightly misfiring engines due to fuel injector pintle clogging (usually found during an injector balance test), actually calls for a GM fuel system cleaner as first attempt to remedy the problem before physical replacement of injectors.

That GM fuel system cleaner is nothing more than Chevron Techron! You can buy that right next to the SeaFoam at your local autoparts store!

[Bvill_GXP]

I put a bottle of Chevron Fuel injector cleaner on my last fill up and it didn't make that noise the who time i was running that tank of gas.... So im thinking another can of that stuff after this fuel runs out and it should be good to go... And yes, i feed some speed to the GXP more than i need to so dont know how the carbon is setting in.... Anyway thanks for the advice guys!!

[skid05bonnie]

What about a bad exhaust manifold gasket or cracked manifold. I've seen this before when a car ticks when cold then tick goes away after warmup. That might explain why it goes away in the warmer months. As far as WOT runs, all I have to say is "if whomping on it is what I have to do to keep my car running good, then danmit, I'll do it!!!!" LMAO!!!

[CMNTMXR57]

Spritz some water on it at flange where it meets the head, and at any other connection(s). Preferably when the engine is cold, this way the water doesn't evaporate immediately. Any bubbling around those joints is an indication of a leak.

But something like this is noitcably a more "popping" noise. What is being referred to here in this post is a "ticking" noise.

[Bvill_GXP]

So after 3 out of 5 (I pour a bottle every other fill up) full tanks of this "18oz Bottle of shell V-power Fuel System Cleaner" and not the chevron stuff i thought it was earlier and the ticking sound is no more.. On the 2nd full tank of fuel now and im wondering if the ticking sound will start back up...

[Bvill_GXP]

I think i have found a very simple fit to the Ticking issue!!!!! Well in my GXP i have... I switched to Quaker State 5w-30 Full synthetic oil and a Bosch oil filter alittle over a month ago and i didn't realize that the ticking was gone until about 2-3 days after the oil change and the only thing i remember doing is switching to Quaker state synthetic oil.. I have used Mobil 1 and Valvoline syn oil before, but I can say that after putting in QS oil i haven't heard it make the ticking sound not even once!! and i even let it sit and run for about 5-10 min in the morning before i take off to work just to see if it will do it!!

[00Beast]

Glad to hear you got it fixed. I haven't had any issues with Pennzoil in our GXP.

[repinS]

I'd venture to say that the oil filter had more to do with it. What filter were you running before?

My GXP still has about 30% on the oil life before I do its first change. Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 and a (cheapest) Purolator filter will go in. I get a bit of the ticky ticky mentioned when cold, but it doesn't really bother me. We'll see once the new filter goes in.

[Bvill_GXP]

Oh yea my last 3 oil changes was with Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30 and a Purolator pureone oil filter.... Humm So just the filter huh!! Cool Well either way, try just the bosch filter and post what you find!! Im planning to get the bosch filter for my GF grand prix and my moms Bonneville SSE (99) on the next change!! Thanks for the reply guys!!! the ticking in my car did happen all of the time but when it did it pissed me off!! lol But now it's gone!!!

[1oldman]

Well I'm a bit gunshy at this point, because after 22 years of not-so-much as a parking ticket, a young, overzealous LEO got me for doing 37 in a 25 last year. I had been driving on a US Route that went from 55 to 45 to 35 to 25 and I was in the final end of the 35 in the town that I live in at 9 p.m., middle of the week, not another car on the road. LEO was sitting 100 ft. behind the 25 speed limit sign that was halfway down a small hill, nailing people as they transitioned speed zones. I think this is the worst form of tax collecting there is. I was slowing down (was probably doing 38-40 in the 35). I drive right, I live right, but nothing mattered to this guy, he was younger than my driving record and he was out collecting taxes. He was a nice enough guy, I just felt he could have let me off with a warning. Chief of Police in my home town (across the river) agreed with me, but I couldn't get him involved. Family friend, my family knows everyone, we have a long and decorated history of [good] community service in the area; we're good citizens. Blah, blah.

I went to court and got the same treatment, in fact, if you bother to fight a speeding ticket, they try to throw the book at you for wasting their time. I made a good case defending myself, but the deck was stacked against me from the onset and the asst DA tried to introduce my priors back in the '80's. Whatever, they weren't listening either. So I paid the stupid $137 and got on with my life. I never cared about the fine, I didn't want the hit on my driving record.

So WOT makes me a little leary, but screw 'em, I can find a spot to do it.

Anyway, sorry for getting off topic. Lifters was it?

Unless the law is changed here, you could have paid the fine and taken defensive driving [no DD in last 18 (?) months] and kept it off your record since it was clean. -BC

[willwren]

Let's try to stick the mechanical issues in this section.