NOISY LIFTERS? Motor Flush - Does It Work? HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF 

MMO totally cured noisy lifter in my 2003 Chevy truck. I ran the MMO for about 2k miles and the lifter noise stopped after about 500 miles, but I left the MMO in the for a while longer, and then changed oil... holy shit! The MMO really worked its magic and removed a LOT of sludge, so much sludge that I had to use coat hanger to keep opening up the drain hole. MMO truly is an awesome sludge remover. Very nice!

This is the kind of guy that overtightens the shit out of oil filters then I get stuck having to chisel it off the next time an oil change is required. Also love the vise grip on the replacement drain plug. Gotta love it !

I would fix the low oil pressure by possibly a new oil pump and O-rings on the pick up tube. That might quiet it.

Thank you for your video. Your tutorial solved the ticking on my 2012 Subaru Tribeca. I noticed that my car was making a ticking noise, sorta like it was a diesel. I had it looked at by a mechanic, he said it was my lifter. Could cost 2-3k or more if I needed an overhaul of the motor. He would have to take it apart. I googled "lifter" and your video came up on you tube. Watched yours and a few others.Went with your suggestion. It was scary listening to the motor as we ran it with the Motor Medic. But we did the full 5 mins.Replaced the synthetic oil w/regular oil. Added Lucas oil treatment instead, as recommended by the mechanic. It sorta still had the ticking, but it had decreased significantly. By the time we drove it for about 40 more miles (nice and easy), the ticking was gone. So thank you for helping us. Oh, we did run a heavier oil also.

don't toss that quart bottle away, cut the top off and its a perfect funnel too!

From a cold start the oil pressure should be around 40. If not, drop the oil pan and clean up the pump and screen. As for the ticking, there's several things that could be causing it. What you tried may work for someone else. You have to pull out the valves and have a look to get a better idea of what the problem is.

I recently used this flush in hopes that it would fix my lifter tick. I also added Marvel Mystery Oil to my new oil and a couple fluid ounces of seafoom. My lifters were significantly quieter after about 100 miles. It takes time to flush the sludge out of an engine.

Trying to squeeze every bit of life left in that thing. I like it.

"don't overtighten your filter" as tightening to 87 ugga duggas

Make sure you use the correct oil that's in your owners manual. Also, try Marvel Mystery Oil.

All of these videos were an inspiration to flush the engine on my 2001 Chevy Tahoe! I had poor initial oil pressure combined with noisy lifters!! I drained the oil and filled the crankcase with 2-gallons of gasoline and let is sit for three days. I drained the gasoline and refilled the crankcase with 2-quarts of oil and a 1-gallon of diesel fuel. The then started and engine and let it idle for 5-minutes. I did this three-times over the next day, and then drained and re-filled the engine with oil and new filter. The oil pressure returned to normal and the noisy lifters went away.

My experience with a 2000 GMC Savana 350 vortec is similar to Mark Prescott's advice. At 328k miles had a similar noise. Changed oil to 4.5 quarts of Mobil Super high mileage 10-W-30 and a new Fram tough gard filter plus a half quart of Lucas oil stabilizer. 50 miles later, no noise. Engine takes 5 quarts.

One thing I learned using Motor Medic is one 32oz bottle only treats 4 quarts of oil. For most V8 engines that use 6 quarts of oil, you have to use 1 and 1/2 bottles of Motor Medic, or 48 ounces. The bottle also says it may take more than one treatment. Motor Medic also makes Valve Medic for noisy lifters. Motor Medic should probably be used at every oil change for high mileage vehicles. You cant use it once at 300,000 miles and then say it doesn't work. I personally have used it regularly with success! :-) I had a stuck valve, probably intake, causing a lean code. I was over 200,000 miles. I used it 3 consecutive oil changes and it cleared the engine light lean code. My van runs like a champ.

I like it when he says not to over tighten the filter and does just that. Hand tight then 1/4 to 1/2 turn.

This video reminds me of a time when my friend drove his front wheels up onto a pair of those old school yellow metal ramps to change the oil in his Dodge van. He drains all of the oil that will come out of it with the front end elevated, then he starts the engine. I'm yelling at him to shut it down, & he just looks at me like I'M the crazy person. A few seconds go by,(seemed like a few minutes) and he turns the van' s engine off. By this time I am next to the driver door and he looks at me and says "I was just making sure I got all of the oil out. Last time I changed the oil, it was still dirty looking afterward." That was too much for me, because I knew that the oil drain plug was on the center of the pan, real close to the front. I looked at him & said, "yeah, no shit the oil looked dirty; there's probably 3/4 of a quart still in the oil pan, and do you change the oil filter when you do the oil?" He says, " what? There's a filter for the oil?". I didn't hang out with my friend much after that... stupid actions yield stupid results. By the way, that van ran for about 2 more weeks, before it overheated, then he drove it that way, chucked a rod, kept driving it and seized the motor. Apparently, checking the coolant once and again was beyond his technological skill set. Derp, derp. The End

I just use transmission fluid works like a charm every time I used it on various GM vehicles of various ages

Thanks bro saved me a step i did not really need! Damn noisy lifters . Loved the video. Simple and to the point. I hate those videos created for mechanics with knowledge. I always thrive for the average joe handyman. Thanks for the info..and a extra plus for the skip forward part. Although i would of put it a little back cause I had to back it up to hear what you had to say....

Yeah, seems like you got a lifter problem for sure bud. Only thing is, by now you’ve prolly got rid of that rig and I am glad to see you’ve tackled this and learned from it. I love your vids and hope to see more of them.

Also, when removing old oil filter, check to see if gasket is still on engine. Sometimes they stick to the filter housing. If you install a new filter on top of the old gasket, you will blow oil all over your engine and driveway as soon as the oil pressure comes up!

NEVER use an oil filter wrench to tighten an oil filter, a firm hand tight application is more than enough, and please get the right size socket or wrench on the drain plug

The best lifter tick aid is ATF, add a quart of that in your oil and run it hard for usually 10-15 miles, learnt it from a dirt track veteran.

I have built engines for over 30 year while being a professional automotive technician. I had a Service manager at a dealership assign me a used Chevy pickup with lifter noise when hot. First thing was verify then install a mechanical oil pressure gauge. The truck had 7 psi hot oil pressure at idle. I told him that the oil pan needed to come down and the bearings needed to be inspected. He responded with just put lifters in it and see what happens. Needless to say the noise was still there. He authorized a lower end inspection and sure enough four and a half thousandth rod bearing clearance and three and a half on the mains. They all showed minor wear so I had parts get me slightly oversized bearings all around . The oil pressure problem was corrected and the noise was gone. He drove the truck to work and back for a week before admitting he was wrong.

I learned to change the oil about 40 years ago. I was told to wet the built-in gasket to the new filter with a swipe of oil with my finger and hand tighten and just a quarter turn. You really tighten that thing. But I have to admit you know it hell of a lot more about cars than I do

I did MM motor flush, drove around with a little "hotrodding" off and on, then used WIX filter, Valvoline high mileage 10w30, and Lucas high mileage. Before my 6.0l sounded like a typewriter from the 1800s, and now it sounds like new. 364000 miles and fixing to drive from Texas to Michigan, then North Carolina.

You can use trans fluid to keep the inside of your engine clean. Works good at cleaning and won't harm it. If it's a hydrolic lifter and feel like taking it apart you can use a vice to press out all the gunk in it. They get clogged up and sometimes stay closed due to build up in it. When they're clogged and closed up you will get a noise from it. It's a lot of work depending on the car and if you have someone else do it, it can cost a good amount of money. You can leave about a half a quart of trans fluid in your engine and drive on it. It will keep it clean. I hope this helps for anyone. I'm a mechanic and have done the trans fluid thing in one of my cars for over a year with no problems.

As a mechanic and race engine builder for many many years, 5 minutes of above idle with an engine flush product at operating temperature will NEVER be enough to clean any sort of deposits built up. The 5 minutes is nothing more than a money maker from the ignorant person. The idea is to take the car for a good 50-100km run with the cleaner additive. With variations of heat and oil pressure, the costic solution has a chance to fully circulate and work at fouled deposits through out the engine. Then an oil change can be performed. The best flush out is and always will be a full engine REBUILD. Prevention is ALWAYS better than a cure. ALWAYS use premium fuels, oils and lubricants. These premium products have more additives and detergents in them designed to reduce friction and constantly clean deposits. And ALWAYS service your vehicle according to manufacturers specs. Even intermediate services make a HUGE difference long term. Reliability, durability and the over all structural integrity at a molecular level on engine components.

Rislone high mileage engine treatment is designed to clean lifters while you drive. Safe to add to oil as a top up. And it works. My GM 8.1 had a tick at start up. It would go away after a couple of minutes. Two treatments over two oil changes and the tick on start up is gone.

Like that time wallmart put my drain plug in with an impact... i change my own oil now.

same kind of tick on my silverado, i changed oil pump and pretty much solved it , oil pressure was low also like yours

I did this on a car I wasn't too bothered about and drove it with the flushing oil still in the engine. After ten miles, the tappet noise magically stopped, and after the oil change the engine was much more lively. It might be a risky thing to do, but in my case it definitely worked. I kid you not.

Thank you for the video cause in some videos they promote these products and I can't accept that these things can fix that problem and you proved I am right.

The 6.0 are hydraulic lifters so most likely oil pump or cam bearings at my work we use the 6.0 chevys and with proper care can get 500k out of them but the auto trans don't always last that long

I personally used marvel mystery oil before using that crap. Nice try though, but you may want to start saving for another engine. It would be much cheaper than replacing that work van.

Its the hydraulic lifters which are making that tappy noise. Pull the valve cover and timing cover off. Release the tension on the cam gears and remove the camshafts. Clean the lifters and put back everything the way it was removed (just the opposite). You will get rid of that tappy noise and have much better function hydraulic lifters. The engine has possibly got another 150,000 miles in it. Please only hand tight the oil filter and use a spanner or socket to remove the the sump plug. Also please dont use 5W-30. 15-40W is probably the best suited oil given the mileage on the engine and the assuming you are not in freezing weather (wearing a t-shirt). Lastly dont waste your money on that lifter quiet, engine flush or whatever that was. Read the contents on that bottle, 90% would be hydrocarbons (diesel). I would suggest not putting anything but correct type of engine oil in the engine. If you must, use an engine oil for diesel engine (they have better cleaning properties) to flush the engine and do frequent oil changes to clean an engine of any sludge build ups.

Thank you for this video. I work in a Part store and I Was going to buy that motor flush for $6.00 dollars, but not now.

"Don't over tighten oil filter" Right after he way over tightens oil filter.

It might be bottom end. You can try an additive like lucas oil stabilizer or motor honey to try and raise the oil pressure, but if it is indeed a bottom end problem the engine won't have much more life left in it.

ha! "someone had stripped it out before we bought it," let me grab my VICE GRIPS to take off the pan bolt.... sad.

I always keep up with regular oil changes and maintenance on my vehicles. I don't drive that many miles anymore, but I still do regular maintenance. Thanks

I had the same noise in my 2005 ford expedition before, finally I found the noise came from the spark plug was broken.

I would suggest when you put your filter back on, to fill it with oil first. And use the right sized socket on your drain plug. And if you had always used 100% synthetic, you may not have had that problem.

He better go back and finish tightening that filter or it's going to fall off.

Thanks for showing us the results. Now thinking in opening the cover to clean the rockers.

That engine has a lot of miles and you should be running a thicker oil such as 10-40w or 15-40w plus an oil stabilizer. That should help with the noisy lifters and increase oil pressure.

1. Drop the oil pan 2. Remove oil pick up sump 3. Is it dirty? Use correct solvents to clean it. If much debris exist in the bottom block remove as much crud as possible. If that doesn't help you need to check your bearings etc.. it's worth the try.

I can honestly say, I've never seen someone use vise grips to remove/install the drain plug

talking with a buddy that's involved with GM Performance, he stated this lifter tick is common on the LS based engines. he has seen more so than not it's related to the O-ring breaking down on the pick up tube for the oil pump. since its above the liquid level it potentially can suck a little air passed the O-ring. personally it's done this on both service van I have had. 1st was a 6.0l most recently it's the 4.8l and it comes and goes randomly. not saying it's the same on every engine but it's a good place to start. also I might add his oil pressure in this video is not really that low to be honest

Always pretreat your new oil filter with oil u will be amazed at the amount of oil a filter absorbs this will keep your motor from running dry during initial startup..

I have never seen such a hack job oil change in my life from the over tighten of your oil filter to the vise grips hahahahah ahhah

Lifters rarely cause issues on vehicles that are driven a lot. Much more likely on a high mile engine like this that you have a rocker worn past the auto-adjust range, or a cam lobe/roller that is worn. Pouring in snake oil will never fix worn metal.

The vice grip and over tightening the oil filter makes for a good laugh

my 3.4 V6 GM has 108k on it - I use this motor flush with semi synthetic valvoline 5w30 on every oil change - I think it works if you use it BEFORE this stuff starts happening - I'm pretty sure it liquefies the sludge and build up in tight spots

Automatic transmission fluid mixed 50/50 with oil works even better I'm sure, done that a few times and it flushed the lifters out around half the time. The other half, the lifters probably had a chunk of metal stuck in the tiny little holes in the lifters and the oil pressure wasn't enough to push it out.

how not to change your... never use vice grips and you have to put oil on the seal of the new filter

With the kind of miles on the truck who knows why it is ticking. The first thing I do is put a pint of transmission fluid in the oil. The transmission fluid has high detergents and seal additives. You can drive it with it as it is a lubricant as well. It may take a few days to stop the tick. There way a product called Free Valve, but I haven't used it in years. Trans fluid isn't as good in my opinion, but works in many cases.

It does work but like many things it might be one of those items that only work when it's caught early enough. Tried it my 03 S10 with a 4.3 and nearly 300 000 km / 180 000 miles. It did fix the problem but I caught it early. Noticed it after I did an oil change, used it at my next oil change 5000km later and it did work. Motor oil that I drained was black as all hell after the flush way more so than normal.

Did you see any metal shavings on the drain plug?

The low oil pressure might be the o ring on the oil pickup tube.

motor flush worked for my car and its good practice for any car every so often but whether it works can depend on different things

Someone stripped the old drain plug so I bought a new one that I will now strip with vise grips also I've always been taught that you fill the filter half way and put some around the ring before hand tightening it idk maybe I'm crazy but to just dry install completely no wonder it is still knocking

Wow, that filter is WAY too tight! Holy Mother! It doesn't really matter what the manual calls for in terms of viscosity at that point given the mileage of the vehicle. I would personally run 15-40 during the summer and 10-30 in the winter, full syn like Royal Purple. You could very well have a lot of life left if cared for properly.

I had a side margin pop-up ad "Sponsored by Motor Medic at Walmart" I guess the ad geniuses didn't know this video is not favorable.

I used motor flush, I then added engine restore in the new oil, Worked like a charm

Could be making noise due to low oil pressure of course. Might want to try Liqui Moly hydraulic lifter additive. It works for me. One can every oil change. Good luck!

"You don't wanna over-tighten your filter." Dude you just totally over- tightened it. And unless I'm mistaken on size find yourself a 15mm wrench already.

that's thin oil for how many miles it's got ,and that don't sound like a valve tick ,and vise grips really...

My experience you need to run this for 30 minutes. 15 minutes at idle and 15 at 1500-2000 rpms. When you refill since this thing has 300K miles use one grade thicker oil and substitute 1 quart of Marvels Mystery Oil in place of one quart of oil for the duration of the oil change as the Marvels Mystery Oil burns off over weeks top up with what ever oil you use. If the tick is going to go away it will do so usually with the MMO aka Marvels Mystery Oil. The reason we go one grade thicker than the OEM recommends is that that 1 quart of MMO will thin out the oil. All of that said with 300K miles and t being a hydraulic lifter OHV engine with a lifter tick and low oil pressure I doubt it will be fixed with a "Mechanic in a Bottle". WHat ever is causing the low oil pressure is the problem.

lucuas oil treatment is a real help great stuff

Well, I'm no mechanic, especially on newer vehicles, but having owned and grown up with old school chevy trucks, everything from the straight 6 to the rat 454, I would suggest that noise is a bearing going out or that is spun on the crankshaft, causing the engine killing rod knock which usually blows a rod out the side of the block. I used to work at Aarons engine remanufacturing plant in Springfield Missouri, in the engine tear down section, and I have seen a massive list of various catastrophic engine failures in detail while disassembling engines of ALL makes of motors, ford, dodge, chevy, 4 cylinders and up, once a 3 cylinder diesel engine even came thru, but I dont remember which manufacturer it was from. I don't recall any foreign engines being run thru the plant either.... but the list of failures of engines is endless, mostly from engines that had sludge buildup that literally stayed in place as valve covers and timing covers and such were removed, and the sludge was solidified. I have to admit it, but we had engines that looked brand new that came through, mostly because some tolerance spec wasn't met by either the new engine or remanufactured engine, or a faulty part like a broken camshaft or a broken crankshaft bolt or rod bolt or just one of the nuts having come loose....

Fill the new oil filter with oil that way you dont have a dry start

I see you went top shelf with the oil, next time some full synthetic oil. I like to use Liqui Moly- just cross reference the oil weight to make sure it’s compatible.

I got a 2004 f150 with a 6 banger with 223,000 for mileage that ran strong but had a good tick to it, I put a whole jug of hyperlube in and the recommended amount of marvel mystery oil and went to 10-30w oil and it sounds great......took about a week to fix it, I don't drive much....the mechanic in a can worked this time....

I had the same lifter noise and mine was caused by debris blocking a lifter from pumping up all the way. I had tried Sea Foam twice with no avail. I tried 1qt ATF plus one bottle Sea Foam and drove 5 miles, no change. 20K miles after all those attempts I finally I put a cup of Dexron VI in the oil and drove it until the tick went away which was around 2K miles.

I've used transmission fluid to quite lifter tick works most of time plus it's cheaper

Did you drain out a quart of oil before adding the motor flush?

Best video on RU-vid for lifters! This guy explains better than anyone else!

yeah "someone""" had striped that plug... cough cough

Engine flush does not fix broken/faulty parts. That might have cleaned the engine but that doesn't ment that well perform miracles ;)

I would put some Marvel Mystery oil in the oil an the next change. Also, consider pouring the cleaning solvent into the engine thru the pcv, and oil breathers. This way, you can let the solvent drip down the valve passages. - might even let it sit up there for an hour so it dissolves some crud.

Just saw a video on hydrolic lifter ticking, according to the BMW mekanic the lifters have to be bleed, the way to do that is when the car has been sitting, start up and rev the engin at 3000rpm for 2-3min, so as to get the oil pumping up into the head were it has been draining off. Ticking can also indicate that the oil has broken down and needs to be changed.

That's not top-end ticking noise; it's rod knock or piston slap. You cannot fix rod problems with oil additives. It means your engine is basically dying and on it's last leg. Sometimes you can replace the rod bearings but usually it indicates that the whole lower end/crank case is beginning the fail, typically as a result of poor historic maintenance or the lack thereof. If the noise is coming more prominently from beneath the engine, you can be sure that it's not a top-end ticking problem like lifters, sticking valves or rockers, all of which would be easily quieted with the product you used or something else similar. The noise you were hearing should have been properly diagnosed first.I don't mean to be too heavy a critic but I feel it's important to explain the difference between the two engine noises and how each are indicative of mutually unique engine problems. Thanks.

I think the flush cleaned out the the gunk, but I think the "knock" is from a worn out rod.

Try 2 bottles of Lucas Oil stabiler... my dad's truck lasted 7 years with knocking and low oil pressure like that...

did u purge the oil filter? did u wet the rubber seal?

You way over tightened that oil filter !

Nothing wrong with FRAM filters. Bosch filters are made by Mann & Hummel which own Purolator and Wix. Different part number and old stock vary between producers, but new ones look to be all Purolator from what I’ve seen. Lots of tearing issues in the media and anti drain back valve on Purolator filters.

Back in the 80's the Ford 302 used to knock out the mains enough to bleed off so much oil that the supply to the lifters wasn't enough to keep them pumped up. We used to pull the pan and install a high volume oil pump. That would supply enough oil to overcome the loss at the mains and pump the lifters up. Note I said to use a *high volume* pump, NOT a high pressure pump as the only difference from a stock pump and high pressure pump is the relief valve, which makes no difference in this case. It's worth a hundred bucks to try it, if it were my truck. If it doesn't work, yank the motor and rebuild it: my guess is you're NOT going to find a broken lifter but instead worn out main and connecting rod bearings, with that many miles. If a lifter was going to break, it'll usually do that well before 100,000 miles. Pertinent questions if it becomes a rebuild. Do the pistons slap when cold? Does it have a weak cylinder? (do a compression test) If not, just replace the bearings and seals, use that new pump and you will likely get another 312,000 miles, maybe more.

Sound auto mechanic advice from a plumber. 2 thumbs up!

Hi Chuck, with Apple drains! I love you video's! You will never know how helpful you are to many people. BUT you have never addressed my major problem. I have a washing machine on it's own field line and it is back filling and spilling over into the washroom. Do I need a plumber or a field line guy? Thanks for you vid's

"Don't wanna over tighten your filter". Proceeds to tighten the living hell out of it

That oil pressure as long as it's over 20 psi its fine and that noise sounds like it's coming from bottom end i tend to think it's the thrust bearing as GM'S are pretty notorious for thrust bearings going, it still sound pretty good for that milage, try adding 2/3rd of gl4 synthetic gear oil to hot/warmed up engine if the noise decreases than it's deffinetly your thruat bearing & not the lifters etc...

Hi I am writing to help the creator of video and anyone else. My dodge charger sounded like your truck. I changed oil using 500,000 mile synthetic truck oil and 1 quart synthetic oil treatment. Anyway mine is super quiet now. Best 2 all.

Lmaol.... That lifter tick is the oil not making it to the top of the motor in other words your oil pump is out or needs new O ring on pick up tube

Buddy it's best to pre fill filter with oil so you dont starve engine on start up

Atf fluid, seafoam, any high detergent oil based product will work but you have to do it a dozen times over say a year or two to get any results. Years of accumulation takes time to remove. Add a quart of atf run for 10m then change oil, then try again with MMO or Seafoam etc, do it over and over and it will clean the interior and reduce lifter noise

1. One should probably should use a higher weight oil for such a high-mileage engine. 2. I've never had any success with that motor flush stuff; however, strong doses of Marvel Mystery oil, combined with 2 or 3 1,000-2,000 mile oil changes (to gradually flush away sludge build up) usually helps. 3. If all else fails, the oil pan should be removed, cleaned, and the oil pickup screen should be thoroughly cleaned.

Oil seal on the pickup tube not enough oil getting to the lifters

Hollow knock would be low end and a drop of oil pressure added would make me think it's a low end knock and the main bearings are shot

I tried this on my Suburban with the 5.4 L engine. What I did was drain the oil and remove the filter. Dump the oil out of the filter and fill with motor flush and then add the remaining motor flush to the old oil. Put the filter back on and fill with the oid oil. Then I started it, ran for about 2 mins, stopped and let it sit for 15 mins then started and ran for 10 minutes. Then drain and refill with good oil and change the oil filter. The ticking was still there but over 2 weeks the ticking went completely away. So, I believe it works, just not as fast as one would think.