What’s that ticking sound on the passenger side?

[Chuckanut]

Hey guys, I have a m1028 And when I start the truck there is this ticking sound that I can hear both in and outside the truck but I can hear it more from inside the cab on the passenger side roughly coming from The heater box area, I stand outside the truck I can’t really hear it over the engine clatter. What could it be? I noticed when I first get on the gas the ticking speeds up, but once the RPMs increase enough you can’t really hear it.

 

[Mullaney]

Hey guys, I have a m1028 And when I start the truck there is this ticking sound that I can hear both in and outside the truck but I can hear it more from inside the cab on the passenger side roughly coming from The heater box area, I stand outside the truck I can’t really hear it over the engine clatter. What could it be? I noticed when I first get on the gas the ticking speeds up, but once the RPMs increase enough you can’t really hear it.

.
Possible exhaust leak? Maybe spray soapy water on a freshly started (not hot yet) exhaust manifold.
If it is blowing bubbles, you found it. BE SURE to spray where the exhaust pipe and manifold mate up.

Guessing the obvious that you have plenty of engine oil?
That the dipstick reads correctly too?

 

[cucvrus]

How about the vacuum pump hitting the firewall? Maybe. Also the throttle pedal could be dry and needs to be cleaned and lubed lightly. Hard to tell from here. But yes exhaust leak. Stuff rags in tailpipe's and see if that makes it louder? I think you have this. Good Luck.

 

[LT67]

Could be a lifter if the oil is low..

 

[Keith_J]

Fuel pump? I noticed mine after changing out a leaking one. Pumping fuel damps the pushrod movement. When there isn't fuel being pumped, the pushrod rattles.
That is my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Chuckanut]

.
Possible exhaust leak? Maybe spray soapy water on a freshly started (not hot yet) exhaust manifold.
If it is blowing bubbles, you found it. BE SURE to spray where the exhaust pipe and manifold mate up.

Guessing the obvious that you have plenty of engine oil?
That the dipstick reads correctly too?

I will be sure to try that! And yes we added oil a while ago I first started hearing the ticking after we replaced the injectors and the fuel filter.

 

[Chuckanut]

How about the vacuum pump hitting the firewall? Maybe. Also the throttle pedal could be dry and needs to be cleaned and lubed lightly. Hard to tell from here. But yes exhaust leak. Stuff rags in tailpipe's and see if that makes it louder? I think you have this. Good Luck.

Vacuum pump hitting the firewall? Do you mean the cdr? If it’s not the CDR then what other pump is there? Because my CDR is mounted on the bracket next to the air cleaner.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Grandads watch left in the engine bay!...
Ok, That's probably going to be a worn leaky Hydraulic Valve lifter...?
As mentioned previously though, have someone plug the exhaust a while,
( only ), And listen the the engine bay for a change in 'sound'.

 

[M37M35]

A heater hose touching an injector or injector line will transfer the popping of the injector into the cab. Took me forever to figure that one out.

 

[Mullaney]

A heater hose touching an injector or injector line will transfer the popping of the injector into the cab. Took me forever to figure that one out.

.
Wow...

Now that is almost as good as the coke bottle inside the car door with a note in it saying "bet you would never find this rattle".
How long did you search for the popping sound in your truck?

 

[M37M35]

.
Wow...

Now that is almost as good as the coke bottle inside the car door with a note in it saying "bet you would never find this rattle".
How long did you search for the popping sound in your truck?

An embarrassingly long time, plus a lot of work and new parts...

Bought a military 6.5 still in the can. Didn't know the history of it, but I needed an engine for my civilian 1 ton pickup and it looked to be in perfect condition. Got it swapped in and it ran great except for:

...when I start the truck there is this ticking sound that I can hear both in and outside the truck but I can hear it more from inside the cab on the passenger side roughly coming from The heater box area, I stand outside the truck I can’t really hear it over the engine clatter.

Being an unknown military engine, I start trying to diagnose whatever must have been wrong with it before they put it in the can and poor ol' me ended up with it.
I crawled all over it with a mechanics stethoscope trying to find this ticking that can be heard louder inside than outside, but couldn't pinpoint it to any specific thing.
Thinking the worst, that maybe it's a rod knocking, I pulled the front differential on the truck so I could drop the pan. Checked the clearances on all the rod and main bearings and they were all perfect. Installed a high pressure oil pump while I had the pan off.

Ticking is still there.

Could be a lifter if the oil is low..

My next thought is a bad lifter, and the reasoning behind installing the high pressure oil pump, thinking higher oil pressure might help. It didn't. So I replace all the lifters. I was told it couldn't be done with the engine in the truck. It can, but it's not exactly easy.
The injector lines have to come off to get the valve covers off, and the intake has to come off to get the injector lines off. (Among other parts that have to come off, including the turbo.)
After all that I finally get enough parts back on to start the engine, wondering if new lifters did the trick.

Success! No more ticking inside the cab!
I can hear a faint ticking outside along with the rest of the diesel clatter, but it's hardly noticeable and I decide it's part of the normal sounds these engines make.
So I finish putting the engine back together, along with all the wires and hoses I had to remove to gain access to the lifters.

I get everything all buttoned back up and slam the hood, and when I start the engine up, THE TICKING IN THE CAB IS BACK!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!!
All this work and it's still ticking! But it wasn't earlier... So what changed between then and now? I open the hood and stare at it and ponder for awhile. (See my signature line.)

The sound is really only heard from inside the truck, it's loudest from the heater core area, and it started again after I put the stuff around the engine back together... I wonder if... Yup.

When I had first swapped the engine, and again when I put the engine bay back together, I had ziptied one of the heater hoses to a convenient thing to keep it away from the exhaust manifold and turbo.
That convenient thing was an injector line.

 

[Mullaney]

An embarrassingly long time, plus a lot of work and new parts...

Bought a military 6.5 still in the can. Didn't know the history of it, but I needed an engine for my civilian 1 ton pickup and it looked to be in perfect condition. Got it swapped in and it ran great except for:

Being an unknown military engine, I start trying to diagnose whatever must have been wrong with it before they put it in the can and poor ol' me ended up with it.
I crawled all over it with a mechanics stethoscope trying to find this ticking that can be heard louder inside than outside, but couldn't pinpoint it to any specific thing.
Thinking the worst, that maybe it's a rod knocking, I pulled the front differential on the truck so I could drop the pan. Checked the clearances on all the rod and main bearings and they were all perfect. Installed a high pressure oil pump while I had the pan off.

Ticking is still there.



My next thought is a bad lifter, and the reasoning behind installing the high pressure oil pump, thinking higher oil pressure might help. It didn't. So I replace all the lifters. I was told it couldn't be done with the engine in the truck. It can, but it's not exactly easy.
The injector lines have to come off to get the valve covers off, and the intake has to come off to get the injector lines off. (Among other parts that have to come off, including the turbo.)
After all that I finally get enough parts back on to start the engine, wondering if new lifters did the trick.

Success! No more ticking inside the cab!
I can hear a faint ticking outside along with the rest of the diesel clatter, but it's hardly noticeable and I decide it's part of the normal sounds these engines make.
So I finish putting the engine back together, along with all the wires and hoses I had to remove to gain access to the lifters.

I get everything all buttoned back up and slam the hood, and when I start the engine up, THE TICKING IN THE CAB IS BACK!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!!
All this work and it's still ticking! But it wasn't earlier... So what changed between then and now? I open the hood and stare at it and ponder for awhile. (See my signature line.)

The sound is really only heard from inside the truck, it's loudest from the heater core area, and it started again after I put the stuff around the engine back together... I wonder if... Yup.

When I had first swapped the engine, and again when I put the engine bay back together, I had ziptied one of the heater hoses to a convenient thing to keep it away from the exhaust manifold and turbo.
That convenient thing was an injector line.

.
That would have been enough to make you pull your hair out - if I had any left on top!
So the pulsing in the IP lines passed through the water line (like mentioned above in Post #9)
Daaaang...

 

[ke6rwj]

Hey guys, I have a m1028 And when I start the truck there is this ticking sound that I can hear both in and outside the truck but I can hear it more from inside the cab on the passenger side roughly coming from The heater box area, I stand outside the truck I can’t really hear it over the engine clatter. What could it be? I noticed when I first get on the gas the ticking speeds up, but once the RPMs increase enough you can’t really hear it.

I would get an engine stethoscope and poke around... it will help get you familiar with normal sounds and you'll be able to detect differences later also..

-- chris

 

[Mullaney]

Hey guys, I have a m1028 And when I start the truck there is this ticking sound that I can hear both in and outside the truck but I can hear it more from inside the cab on the passenger side roughly coming from The heater box area, I stand outside the truck I can’t really hear it over the engine clatter. What could it be? I noticed when I first get on the gas the ticking speeds up, but once the RPMs increase enough you can’t really hear it.

.
Hi Chuckanut ,

If you want to go the cheap way, get yourself a wooden dowel (or an old piece of broomstick) and press the wood to the place where you might be hearing noise. It isn't a stethoscope, but it works the same way. As noisy as the motor is anyway, the scope won't do any more for you than the stick.

Another thing could be an exhaust leak. With the motor cold, grab yourself a spray bottle and put some dawn or some other dish soap in warm water, then crank the truck and spray the manifold and connection to the exhaust pipe. If you spray a leaky spot, she blows bubbles! Only on a cold (cool) manifold or pipe so water doesn't evaporate - and water doesn't crack the iron...