[Malibu Girl]

Hi all. Just registered here this morning. Glad to find this forum.
We bought a 2001 Malibu 2 days ago. A/C works great. smooth drive on the highway and I love the look of it. Has 145,250 km's on it.
Seems to run well, except a horrid ticking sound is making me crazy.

Not lifters, has overhead cams. Hopefully not pistons.

Any suggestions about the ticking ? It does not go away when the car warms up.

Any hints for what else to watch out for with this car? Or tips to keep other things from happening ?

Any help would be appreciated !

Malibu Girl

 

[RaineMan]

That's what... 66,000mi? Could be the valves ticking.

 

[Starship]

Not lifters, has overhead cams. Hopefully not pistons.

2001 Malibu LS, with a V6 with "overhead cams", are you sure? What's the engine type code (8th character of VIN)?

 

[Malibu Girl]

2001 Malibu LS, with a V6 with "overhead cams", are you sure? What's the engine type code (8th character of VIN)?

J is the 8th character from the beginning of the VIN.

 

[Starship]

Okay, then, it's a mundane 3.1L V6, no overhead cams. I'd suspect valve lifters or fuel injectors. One can usually tell which by the location of the noise (touch with a long screwdriver, listen).

 

[Silver LTZ]

Valve tick.

 

[Malibu Girl]

Okay, then, it's a mundane 3.1L V6, no overhead cams. I'd suspect valve lifters or fuel injectors. One can usually tell which by the location of the noise (touch with a long screwdriver, listen).

Okay, thanks. My husband was who had thought overhead cams.

Do you think this is something that an oil change could fix ? We run synthetic with our vehicles. Perhaps it was garbage oil and filter used last time, since it has only been ours for 3 days ?

I really hope so. It would be such a nice clean solution.

We need to go and get a Rad hose and Rad lower panel support today. Went to a movie last night to come out and find a spill beneath the car.
So we might as well get the oil change out of the way too.

I hope it turns out to be a good car. Some people have said ignore the ticking, it still runs. I just can't , it makes me want to bang my head on a door.

 

[Malibu Girl]

Okay, then, it's a mundane 3.1L V6, no overhead cams. I'd suspect valve lifters or fuel injectors. One can usually tell which by the location of the noise (touch with a long screwdriver, listen).

Hubby is thinking maybe pistons are bad .

 

[Starship]

If he's referring to piston slap (which is usually nothing to worry about), the noise should go away after it's warmed up. You can try Valvoline MaxLife (what I use in my ION, since it's over 100K). It'll help clean out the gunk and quiet things down, including the lifters. What I wouldn't do is any kind of motor flushing, despite some people swearing by it.

 

[Malibu Girl]

Now to add another problem into the mix....
ABS light stays on.

(Starting to think I might need to make lemonade if this turns out to be a lemon.

 

[White Lightning]

Now to add another problem into the mix....
ABS light stays on.

(Starting to think I might need to make lemonade if this turns out to be a lemon.

Friend of mine owns a 2002, he thought his was a sensor but turned out to be a failed wheel bearing. Could be one of the two or just an electrical problem.

 

[Starship]

The ABS light can be any number of things, including the wheel speed sensor (part of the bearing/hub assembly, often at the front). It's best to get it diagnosed properly (get the codes read out at least).

P.S. See the ABS circuit at http://cid-54465800aad91b49.office.live.com/self.aspx/pub/va137490.pdf to get a sense of what's involved.

 

[Silver LTZ]

260 65 R15

260? I think you mean 215. Never heard of a 260, and if so that is pretty wide.

 

[Malibu Girl]

260? I think you mean 215. Never heard of a 260, and if so that is pretty wide.

I was typing WAY too fast. Yes they are 215 's
Also, had ABS light on code read. It was front left speed sensor. Was ot even giving any power to the wires.

Went to Can Tire and bought the hub assembly for $99.00 which includes the speed sensors as they are in the wheel bearings.

A cheap fix, and now the ABS light is out.
The only thing left to fix is the ticky ticky ticky engine.
That is still keeping us guessing.

Is there anyway to attach videos ? I was thinking of videoing starting and running it, and see if anyone had the same tick as mine does. The mechanic at the shop called it "interesting".

 

[Silver LTZ]

Is there anyway to attach videos ? I was thinking of videoing starting and running it, and see if anyone had the same tick as mine does. The mechanic at the shop called it "interesting".

Sure, just use YouTube.

 

[Malibu Girl]

Sure, just use YouTube.

That is exactly what I did.
Please watch whole video, as it was noisy outside and you do not hear it really well until I get underneath near the tires.

Thanks !

Please click link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGgwF2gbkAg/

 

[Malibu Girl]

If he's referring to piston slap (which is usually nothing to worry about), the noise should go away after it's warmed up. You can try Valvoline MaxLife (what I use in my ION, since it's over 100K). It'll help clean out the gunk and quiet things down, including the lifters. What I wouldn't do is any kind of motor flushing, despite some people swearing by it.

We did an oil change last night, have driven it alot since, and is still sounding awful. So the oil change didn't fix it.

Could it be the lower intake manifold gasket ?

I found it in a post in another discussion on here. Here is what it said:


Re: 1998 Chevy Malibu Coolant Leak and Engine Ticking noise
________________________________________
Most likely your intake gasket. VERY common on those.



Re: 1998 Chevy Malibu Coolant Leak and Engine Ticking noise
________________________________________
Lower Intake manifold gasket is the culprit, replace it with Fel-Pro's revised gasket. The Dex-Cool Coolant degrades the original factory LIM gasket due to it being partly made of plastic, the Fel-Pro one has rubber.