Ticking Culprit

[mitsu_vic]

So I haven't drove the Galant in a week, went out to start it for my mom and after a slow start heard a wonderful sound (sarcasm) from under the hood. In my time with the car as the miles have add up you could hear a slight tick nothing major so I never really worried, that and it was only during starting. So back to this morning...I let the car warm up and the sound subsided to the normal tick.

After searching the lifter tick seems to be a reasonable guess. However, at least to me, the sound seems to be coming from the passenger side towards the front. Would lifter tick still be the culprit or something else??

[Jeffylou87]

I have the same exact thing happen every time I start my car.. Only when the engine is really cold though..

[mitsu_vic]

Well it has been pretty cold here lately, what worried me is the car smelled like burning oil until it warmed up. Im going to take it to the shop to see if it is something that needs addressed, if it is lifters then it looks like Ill be driving to the Mitsu dealer, they prefer not doing that work.

[02gtzgalant]

my car has been doing that every morning cold or not for the past 2 years. the tick goes away once warm and the car runs great. i talked w over 100 ppl that own a galant and 90 of them have the same noise.

[Galant Evolution]

Its prob the lifters ticking. I had the same problem if you search for the thread its on here somewhere. I cleaned them properly with desil fuel and it stopped ticking for a while...just recently it started ticking when cold and when it warms up it goes away. Pretty soon i assume it will be back again all the time..im going to replace them.

[Reelax]

lifter tick. it's caused by old/dirty oil, or more specifically the varnish that is produced by old/dirty oil. the sound is actually the lifter sticking because of the varnish then, audibly seperating. the reason the sound goes away or is quieter after warm up is because the varnish is less sticky when warm and oil is flowing. solutions are (from easiest to hardest): add RISZLONE or CD2, change oil, or open up and clean lifters. this is a common MITSUBISHI thing.

[Galantes2001]

I have the same thing in my galant tried changing the oil thinking maybe it would go away and it still hasnt should i be worried about this its not that loud??????

[Reelax]

add some RIZLONE or CD2. the sound is the lifter unsticking; it's not harmful to the car, just annoying sounding.

[yaqngie]

My car does the same thing. I have close to 200k miles on my 99 so Im just gonna let this one ride it out. Just get use to it, I mean I am just dealing with it I should say. I also have the burning oil smell at times. I have replaced the seals and I still seem to lose a lil bit of oil.

[Galant Evolution]

I have just over 100k and i cleaned them, and it stopped for about a month..then came back again even after fresh oil changes. Im going to replace them.

[Galantes2001]

i had recently did a tuneup on my galant plugs and wires and the ticking has stopped that might help

[Sphinx]

Ugh!!
Im in the same boat. I did an ATF flush and that went well but I still have that F'N Tick!! Bugs the hell out of me LOL.
Ill try the RIZLONE or CD2 ... any difference between the two?
Sphinx

[Sphinx]

Seafoamed the car... worked like a champ!!! No codes, no stalling post foam-shot. Very happy. I have a bottle of Rislone in the trunk once it needs topping off.
Sphinx

[boochieboy]

I used to have that ticking too until I switched to synthetic oil then it went away. Also had a bad belt later on that "ticked" until it warmed up, so you may want to check your belts as well.