Right had the afh running in my mk2 a good few times and for quite a while and had no issues with noisy Tappets, took it for the mot today and for the 20ish minutes drive there and throughout the mot it was fine, then always home the Tappets started getting very loud. Rev'ing it up made it go away but then it would come back.

Oil pressure was sitting at about 30psi on tick over and going up to some thing like 45 with a good rev which seems pretty normal.

I've chucked in some oil flush and dropped the oil ready to drop the sump tomorrow and clean it out. I've taken off the rocker cover and checked for any thing obviously wrong but can't see any thing.

So any ideas what could cause this? The fact it would go away with a rev suggests a low oil pressure but that was fine, and like I say it had been running fine for well over an hour, can Tappets just fail like that?

sorry to answer you are question with probably the most stupid question ever, but what are the tappets? and what function do they have/what causes them to be noisy usually? :S

What oil have you got in it? I'm thinking maybe once the oil gets warm it gets thinner; causing the noisey tappets?

Is there not that old trick of putting a heavier weight in and it'll quieten them?

It's 10/40 but this isn't the usual "its a bit tappy it will be ok" kinda noise, its very loud. Beside how hot can oil get if the cars keeping its temp fine and being driven normally? Surely it doesn't take like an hour and a half for the oil to get up to temp?

Erixtar, the Tappets go between the cam lobs and the valve and act as a for of adjustment between the too. In these engines they are hydraulic which means they need a supply of oil and if they don't get it they get noisy, I think they can also stick?

Edited 24 June, 201115 yr by McLOVIN

I suppose; when you had the rocker cover off, are they getting a good supply of oil, or does anything look particularly worn?

I don't know you if you could pour oil onto them while the engine is running and see if that quietens it down at all? I remember your post about the oil pressure problems, think its related?

I don't know how you'd check oil pressure/supply at the tappets though?

Neighbour just had exactly the same thing with a mk4 golf GTI. We took the sump off and the oil pickup strainer was completely blocked with solidified oil. Chimp drove it for 30 miles like this and destroyed the turbo bearings along the way. I'd definately check the strainer first, although it sounds like your oil pressure is still there.

How about an engine flush and some slightly heavier oil?

EDIT: Does it sound like one stuck tappet or the whole lot clattering?

Edited 24 June, 201115 yr by Vic

I'd already dropped oil out of it by the time I took the cover off so that idea is out of the window for now but I wish I had thought of that before.

Not sure if its related to the high pressure when cold, guess it could be but like I say the pressure was fine when it started doing this and had been for ages, it seems to drop to normal after about 10 mins

Neighbour just had exactly the same thing with a mk4 golf GTI. We took the sump off and the oil pickup strainer was completely blocked with solidified oil. Chimp drove it for 30 miles like this and destroyed the turbo bearings along the way. I'd definately check the strainer first, although it sounds like your oil pressure is still there.

How about an engine flush and some slightly heavier oil?

EDIT: Does it sound like one stuck tappet or the whole lot clattering?

I don't think it was all of them making the noise but I could be wrong. I've flushed the engine and will be pulling the sump tomorrow so i'll check the strainer for blockages while I'm at it, cheers for the heads up

I'm going with a lack of oil supply (not pressure) in the head itself, causing them to run dry slightly dry at idle, could just be a bit of swarf in the way.

If everything checks out fine but it still tap throw some ZX1 into the engine, its like magnatec on steroids, and see if that quietens it.

It's 10/40 but this isn't the usual "its a bit tappy it will be ok" kinda noise, its very loud. Beside how hot can oil get if the cars keeping its temp fine and being driven normally? Surely it doesn't take like an hour and a half for the oil to get up to temp?

Erixtar, the Tappets go between the cam lobs and the valve and act as a for of adjustment between the too. In these engines they are hydraulic which means they need a supply of oil and if they don't get it they get noisy, I think they can also stick?

ooo i seee, nice one matey cheers! hope you get it sorted!

It might be possible to isolate the noisy one (or two): If you turn the engine over by hand until a cam lobe is pointing away from the tappet, you can probably get a piece of wood to push down on the tappet with, if there is any appreciable movement in it, you probably need to replace it. Repeat this on the other tappets.

Regards.

Whipped the sump off today and found this in the pick up mesh

Every thing I scrapped out of it

That's the sealant I used on the rocker cover and sump mixed in with some carbon deposits. I usually use the locktite stuff but went to a different place this time and that was all they had so I got that instead. Obviously its pretty shit tho, it was as wet when I took the sump off today as it was when I put it on a few weeks back.

Back news is it still sounds the same which I'm hoping is just down to a sticking tappet but it doesn't seem to get any better even after being run up to temp. I've started it with Tue rocker off and it was squirming oil about nicely so don't think it's having any issues getting oil up top.

Is it ok to drive it with a sticking tappet? It sounds like a Ford CVH engine :sad:

Edited 25 June, 201115 yr by McLOVIN

That looks pretty horrible in that pick up pipe. The hydraulic tappets have a small hole in the side that the oil feeds through, what's the bet that one or two of them are blocked? The advice given by caretakerplus is spot on, so I guess the next step is to work out which tappets are dodgy and to whip the cams out and clean up or replace the bad tappets.

Gutted for you though mate!

Or just thrash it till it clears

Seems a whole lot smoother now although it does seem to have a little rattle that just sounds like a loose cover or something. I'll investigate further tomorrow but been busy putting a few miles on it tonight

It does seem to have a little problem when warm struggling to turn over tho then next attempt it turns over fine

Cheers for all the help and advice everyone

Bleddy hell ;o

I put 5w30 fully synthetic oil in my car when it was tapping extremely loudly...however oil wasn't managing to circulate properly and there was a problem with my hydraulic tappets...the noise went away in a 20 minute drive and after 6 months of using the oil went back up to 10w40

Not sure if this would help yours / would possibly helped a blocked tappet..though it seems you've managed to sort the worst of it!

On an oil change, I used up the last of a can of 10W40, went to my new can and found that I ha got 5W30, as I needed the car, I put it in anyway, intending to change it again ASAP. The effect has been fantastic, no more rattles and it didn't use any oil. This mix is still in and I am loathed to go back to 10W40.

Regards.

So it might be worth switching to 5/30 when I do the next oil change? Its still a little tappety at times and there's is some times a slight knock on tick over which seems to rear its ugly head from time to time so anything that might quite these down a little would only be a bonus.

Probably gonna do the next oil and filter change next week end just to get it over with tbh

There's a guide on clubgti on how to refurb your tappets, simple and stops them tapping, might be worth doing this so they're completely full with oil, then go from there.

But as said, go to thinner oil for a bit, just lets them fill up easier.

Mine used to tick like fuck in my MK3 mate, Did an oil change and put some heavier oil in and it stayed the same for about 75-100 miles and then stopped, hasn't been back since.

Pick up esh doesn't look good though

There's a guide on clubgti on how to refurb your tappets, simple and stops them tapping, might be worth doing this so they're completely full with oil, then go from there.

But as said, go to thinner oil for a bit, just lets them fill up easier.

People above are talking about thicker oil will, not thinner.

Thicker/heavier oil gives better damping and insulating properties which is why it quietens down things.