1946 model 61 flathead noise

[D21smith]

New brakes new fuel system and now I've developed a noise when warmed up possible lifters or??? Carries 40 psi oil pressure when warm. Will post video thank you for any ideas I'm new young collector and learning a lot

[D21smith]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V6vaWkIFu_Q

[harry s]

It sounds like it could be a lifter but it seems unusually loud. It could be a wrist pin but that should be consistent through the heat range. To rule out wrist pin remove spark plug wires one at a time to see if the noise goes away if so that would indicate a wrist pin if not back to the lifters. It is hard to isolate which one it is due to echo effect in the manifolds but you may have some luck with a stethoscope. If you can't locate the exact source you will have to pull the intake and exhaust manifold and remove the valley covers to take a look. One word of caution is disassembling the exhaust manifold if it hasn't been done for a long time is to remove it with the cross over in place. It is a little heavier but can save some hassle.
Good Luck & keep us posted.       Harry

[Steve Passmore]

As Harry said, it is unusually loud but microphones sometimes do this. Hard to diagnose anyway without knowing any history of the engine.

[D21smith]

Car sat for 12 years or so when i found it previous owner didnt know of any work done to it

[Bobby B]

New brakes new fuel system and now I've developed a noise when warmed up possible lifters or??? Carries 40 psi oil pressure when warm. Will post video thank you for any ideas I'm new young collector and learning a lot

Without being there, that noise could be anything. Like Harry said...that's some pretty loud lifter noise. Oil pressure might have nothing to do with it since the flathead upper end is fed by its own line and could most likely have a blockage, causing that noise. It's a common/overlooked problem in a flathead. Main oil galley is on the Driver's side, pressure sender at the rear top, oil take off for the top end fed from the driver's side of the block thru 90 degree fittings that will usually get clogged up from lack of oil changes. With every engine I've seen that wasn't rebuilt, it was a small miracle that any oil was even able to pass thru those fittings in the condition they were in.
                                                                         Bobby

[Tom Beaver]

It is hard to tell what RPM the engine was running at but, from the rapid frequency of the noise, if it is the lifters it would be all of them.  Is the fan or some other rotating part hitting something?

Tom Beaver

[Greg C]

check the fuel  pump
I've had tired fuel pumps make a lifter noise

[Steve Passmore]

I agree with Bobby about blocked oil lines. Problem is, if this engine has never been apart would yo put an expensive set of lifters in it alone?    Chances are the rest of it is a mess. Attached pictures of the last 346 I had apart last year with noisy lifters. This is what I found.

[kgreen]

Lacking a stethoscope, I use a broom handle with the whiskers cut off.  I put the cut end on various parts of the engine with my ear on my thumb which is over the rounded end of the handle.  I can generally isolate noise location.  I'd guess, based on the video you supplied, that the upper engine is running dry.

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

For everyone reading this post now or in the future if your flathead engine has not been rebuilt Steve's pictures show what they all look like.  You will be kidding yourself that you can have a proper running flathead without rebuilding.  Besides choked with sludge the cooling jackets will be half filled with crud.  Most all have many years of neglect at some point in there life.  Even if taken care of for the first 25 years, they did not have the oil and coolant products that would keep an engine clean.

[Bobby B]

I agree with Bobby about blocked oil lines. Problem is, if this engine has never been apart would yo put an expensive set of lifters in it alone?    Chances are the rest of it is a mess. Attached pictures of the last 346 I had apart last year with noisy lifters. This is what I found.

Steve,
Hi, But....
                             Bobby

For everyone reading this post now or in the future if your flathead engine has not been rebuilt Steve's pictures show what they all look like.  You will be kidding yourself that you can have a proper running flathead without rebuilding.  Besides choked with sludge the cooling jackets will be half filled with crud.  Most all have many years of neglect at some point in there life.  Even if taken care of for the first 25 years, they did not have the oil and coolant products that would keep an engine clean.

I've been telling people this for years. Just about any Flathead that's been through a few hands over the years will most likely look like that, or very close to it. Yes, you are fooling yourself, but no one believes it until it happens to them.  There's usually no easy way out once the seeds are sown. All good points ......
                     Bobby

[z3skybolt]

It will clean up nice....

Bob

[Glen]

I agree with Bobby about blocked oil lines. Problem is, if this engine has never been apart would yo put an expensive set of lifters in it alone?    Chances are the rest of it is a mess. Attached pictures of the last 346 I had apart last year with noisy lifters. This is what I found.

That’s what I remember working on my dad’s 38 Cadillac and mom’s 46.  Its caused by the non-detergent oils of the time.  It also points out why you should not put detergent oil in those engines until you know if it has been cleaned.  Detergent oils will get that crud floating around in the engine causing all kinds of problems.         

[Steve Passmore]

It's going to make me sound strange but I get great satisfaction when I see engines like the one I posted, I love to completely dismantle them, scrub every moving part, sandblast and paint the exterior, make spotless all those blocked water passages, pressure wash and work with spotlessly clean parts.  The worse the engine, the better I feel!  Must be my perverse nature?   This is the same engine later. Great satisfaction.

[Steve Passmore]

That's where I need to see a shrink Art. I actually enjoy taking them to pieces... Help!

[Bobby B]

It's going to make me sound strange but I get great satisfaction when I see engines like the one I posted, I love to completely dismantle them, scrub every moving part, sandblast and paint the exterior, make spotless all those blocked water passages, pressure wash and work with spotlessly clean parts.  The worse the engine, the better I feel!  Must be my perverse nature?   This is the same engine later. Great satisfaction.

Steve,
  Definition = OCD...And it's Highly Contagious 

                                               Bobby

[35-709]

 OCD, I've got it and proud of it!   

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

OCD, I've got it and proud of it!   

Me too (I only edited this post twice!).
Jeff