Lifter noisy in my 170 after changing oil

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Went with Castrol Syntec 5-50 and an Amsoil SDF-15 filter. The synthetic oil apparently cleaned up my engine too well as I now can hear a noisy lifter ticking away that wasn't apparent with the old 30 wt dino oil.
The 65 170 is suppose to have hydraulic lifters but you are suppose to be able to adjust the rocker arm. Will this adjustment help alleviate this tick?
Thanks in advance. Any and all help is so appreciated.
 
Only way to tell is to adjust and see, but it's very possible.

You also might just have some debris/trash in the lifter keeping it from seating, possible something the synthetic has washed loose from somewhere. You can pull the valve cover and listen with a hose to find the noisy one, and sometimes rapping on the top of the pushrod/rockerarm will dislodge debris from a dirty lifter.

Stuff like this is why I stick with dinosaur-bones oil and change it at 3K miles.
 
Perhaps the adjustment on the rocker loosened up a smidge with new lubricant? Maybe time to check the lash :wrench:
 
I asked about this before. A guy I know has a real mean 64 Falcon, 302 w/Cobra heads and manifold, custom designed exahust, the works. He's an engineer by trade basically.
The reason you have the knock is that a synthetic cleans much better than a conventional. The detergent in the synthetic is cleaning away a lot of the gunk left that the coventional oil wasn't able to clean. In the process of doing so however, it's exposing areas that were covered in gunk. Every single person I've talked to who has switched their motor to synthetic after running conventional for at least a semi-long time has had that exact same problem. The cure is a bit painful to the wallet. You want to run the synthetic only for about 600-1000 miles. After 500-1000 miles, drain the oil, change the filter, and put new synthetic in. That usually cures it.

However, if it is a new/rebuilt motor, you don't want to run synthetic for at least 3000 miles. Synthetic before 3000 miles can become your worst enemy by wiping out the cam bearings.

In the sixes, you will need to make sure the fuel pump bolts are completely tight, regardless of oil type and especially with synthetic. How do I know? I've been there. If it were not for this forum, chances are I'd still be there.

One final tip. If your motor is not freshly rebuilt but you plan on doing so later remember this. After the motor is put back together and filled with conventional oil, run it for 15 minutes (I ran mine for 30, but I should have only done 15), drain the oil, change the filter and put fresh conventional oil in. This will eliminate most of any remaining metal shavings.
 
Typically a 65 won't have an adjustable rocker arm so first you need to find out if you even have that option (easy enough). 5W is way thin for an engine of that age and design. I wouldn't go below 10W on something with '65 metals, bearing design, and tolerances and that would be on a fresh rebuild. In your neck of the woods i wouldn't go below 20W ever and at least 20W from spring to fall. The extra 0.25 MPG and 1/2 HP from useing 5w isn't worth it. Unless on a fresh rebuild I would use 20W40 year round and maybe 20W50 in summer.
 
You're running a 5-weight oil in Florida?
Although we use block heaters here, most use 10/30, and it's cold out.
If I didn't have a block heater I would use the lighter stuff but only for less wear and tear during warm-up.
 
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