When I first turn my car on in the morning (or after an extended period of time - i.e. the car has completely cooled down) it makes a clicking / ticking noise that appears to be coming from the engine area. It lasts approximately 10 - 12 seconds and then simply goes away. This happens consistently. I recently had it serviced end-to-end: belts, plugs, total tune-up etc. Has anyone else had this problem?
The noise might be caused from piston slap. This occurs when the skirt of the piston slaps the cylinder wall as it moves up the cylinder. Then as the pistons heat up they expand slightly and the piston slap goes away.
This is a known problem that can occur with GM engines. Some GM vehicles had this piston slap when they first driven off the dealers lot brand new. In some cases the dealer would replace the engine on the new vehicle because the customer wasn’t going to tolerate this type of noise on a new vehicle that they just paid $40-$50K for.
Tester
It could be many things, a piece of heater hose can isolate the source of the ticking if used like a doctors stethoscope. I have an intermittent noisy thing, it has been going on for 3 years, I think it is the belt tensioner but only makes noise when I am in a hurry to go somewhere, and gone when I have time to check it out. When it breaks it is much easier to diagnose. If you want to get it fixed and it is a consistent first start in the morning thing leave it overnight at the repair facility so they can analyze it appropriately.
Ever hear of Hydraulic Valve lifters pumping up? Your valve lifters are bleeding down overnight and when you start the truck up…it takes them a little while to “pump up” When they finally do the noise goes away. This is caused by a faulty check valve in the lifter body…I think dirt causes this…You can try a product called RISLONE…its been around for like 50 Years and does work for lifters
Piston slap is very serious and I would not jump to that as a first guess… It is FAR MORE likely valve lifters Lifters that bleed down overnight are very very common…My money is on this