1990 Oldsmobile 88 car noise

MSSHERRY

MEMBER
1990 OLDSMOBILE 88
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
173,000 MILES

My car is making a distinct but weird tappin noise, I think it maybe a stuck lifter but maybe not. I hade my crank sensor replaced because my serpentine belt jumped off and broke my crank sensor. But everything has been replaced all my fluids are perfect. New oil change. Can u please help me out. Y car runs perfect thou I just wanna eliminate the noise.

1 Reply

ISHEE77

MEMBER
20 POSTS

Tapping like a clacking sound? It most likely is a loose rocker arm. Just take the valve covers off and grab each rocker arm and see if one is loose. If none seem to feel loose lash the valves. Start the engine (just a very small amount of oil will splatter out) go over each rocker arm bolt (the bolt straight through the middle of each arm) and loosen the bolt and tighten it back down until its snug and then give another quarter turn to tighten. After all that is done and there is still a tapping, tighten each bolt a very small amount until it goes away. Don't tighten too much though. If it persists the rocker arm may have a bad bushing. Also, before lashing, loosen the arms enough to turn em to the side and pull each pushrod out one at a time and make sure that they aren't bent. Just tighten the bolt back down til snug and give a quarter turn.