That's indicitive of a sever intake leak. They may have started to seep outside the block, but I bet there has been leaking in the cooant for sometime now. I would get it fix ASAP before you do spin a bearing...but if you have sludge on your lifters, then you've had coolant in your system and you probably need to replace bearings anyway....That's just what I was told when I had the intake gaskets replaced on my car....Fortunately in my situation I didn't have sludge and the leak JUST started. Keep us updated. Valvetraing clatter is normal on those motors, but not like you're describing.

 

I should explain a little better. there is no coolant in the oil, looks good. there is no oil in the coolant. I have added no coolant since getting the car 2 1/2 years ago. the sludge was a small amount i sraped off bottom of valve cover. added a quart of lucas oil treatment and now no ticking at all.going to try sea foam clean out then new oil. getting intake gaskets replaced next week by certified gm guy after hours deal. maybe the monte will be well again and I can mellow out.

[IMG]local://upfiles/3966/CB7D6C3F92154D92A91577634D731164.jpg[/IMG]

 

good....I'm glad that it is fixed for the moment.

 

FOR THE MOMENT, that should make me sleep better. I should probably go ahead and replace lifters while it's apart. any one think oem is okay or maybe aftermarket would be better. my gm guy would charge me his price for oem.

 

OEM is always the best way to go in my opinion, unless you want to upgrade to performance parts. Your GM guy should have a pretty good price.

 

[align=center] [/align][align=center][/align][align=center]Hi `Jeff,[/align][align=center]I would seek the opinion/expertise of your GM `Guy.[/align][align=center](Is hea certified GM Mechanic ?).[/align][align=center]If he believes you should, then I would : )[/align][align=center]If he's working on the side, and you trust him, I would[/align][align=center]have him check everything out on your Monte.[/align][align=center][/align][align=center]I wish you good luck with your Great Looking Monte,[/align][align=center]and I hope that your problem has been resolved.[/align][align=center]Peace from `Space[/align][align=center][/align]

 

update. my gm guy listened to the noise and said lifters need replaced. he has 10 plus years as certified gm mechanic. he said this was not a frequent problem on the 3.4. so while the intake gaskets get fixed I will have him slide new lifters in. 20 bucks apiece for lifters at his price. thank you spacerider and rysz34 for helping a new member out I should have my banana back tomorrow.

[IMG]local://upfiles/3966/BBFF7A9E7A814DBEB68F6A82D8D40867.jpg[/IMG]

 

as mileage increases on an engine so do the clearances inside the motor. oil will move slower from the crankcase to the top half causing a similar noise in many types of engines as tolerances creep towards "out of spec". a thinner oil will stop the noise quicker while a thicker oil will increase the time. thus the reason your new oil change made it last longer.I'm glad you found your lifters were the problem. it should be fine after the replacement of them. I would like to know what brand and weight of oil you use in your monte though?

 

WOW love that blue monte. I had a blue83 SS but it was all stock. still wish I had it. I have used 5w-30 castrol since I got the monte with 50,000 on it. mechanic said it looked pretty clean under the intake but I think I will go with synthetic from now on . the motor is super quiet now and the mech put new syn. oil in after the gasket change.