Noisy tappets - engine flush??

master-d

Hi Guys
My car (Bora TDI) has started to sound a bit rattely esp when cold, id say its my tappets, I was talking to a mechanic today who said to give the engine oil a flush with an additive and then change the oil and filter.

Does anybody have any experience of doing this?
Did it work?
Any recomendations on which brand would be best to use?

I would be really gratefull for any advice you really have as it costs €€€ to do anything to the tappets themselves.

Thanks
Dave

Steve

It's possibly true, I'm not an expert but noisy tappets are often a sign of a lack of oil. Have you checked the level recently?
It could also be sludge preventing the oil circulating properly in which case a flush and clean would certainly be of benefit.

I'm speaking from experience with older petrol engines so I could be way off the mark.

crosstownk

Try the flush first but I'd say you'll end up having to replace the offending lifter(s). The same thing happened to a Passat I had a few years ago - I cleaned them with a lifter cleaner first but in the end I replaced all 8 lifters.

master-d

SteveC wrote: »

Have you checked the level recently?

Yep there is loads of oil, i only serviced it about a mointh ago and noticed more slime that I thought there should be I also (stupidly) put a cheap brand of oil in so im think/hoping the flush should clear out the gunk and a good oil will lubricate the valves better.

ji

afaik you need to get your tappets ajusted and its caused by over revving..

Steve

master-d wrote: »

Yep there is loads of oil, i only serviced it about a mointh ago and noticed more slime that I thought there should be I also (stupidly) put a cheap brand of oil in so im think/hoping the flush should clear out the gunk and a good oil will lubricate the valves better.

Slime as in creamy white goo? Isn't that a sign of water in the oil?
It could be a sign of a dodgy gasket somewhere.

manna452121

Change the oil and filter again,if you can do it when hot as it will take alot of the gum with it.Use a good grade of oil.

crosstownk

ji wrote: »

afaik you need to get your tappets ajusted and its caused by over revving..

The tappets on the engine in question are self adjusting. That said, shims may sort out the problem - but temporarily. I've used old Lada shims to quieten a few VW engines........

ji

crosstownk wrote: »

The tappets on the engine in question are self adjusting. That said, shims may sort out the problem - but temporarily. I've used old Lada shims to quieten a few VW engines........

Handy tip

Mycroft H

My old golf was doing the same thing couple of months back. I bought a new filter, castrol gtx, and a commercial stripper which made no difference whatsoever..........

Anyway instead of replacing the tappets, I just took them out, striped them, cleaned them and now its as quite and smooth and none of that 'click click click click'.....

Good tutorial for anyone that wants to have a go (total cost €6 - new seal)
www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76499


And when they say dont loose the spring, dont loose it! I was a least a hour on my hands and knees.....

master-d

SteveC wrote: »

Slime as in creamy white goo?

Nope, just your average black slime and lots of it!

landyman wrote: »

Anyway instead of replacing the tappets, I just took them out, striped them, cleaned them and now its as quite and smooth and none of that 'click click click click'.....

Thanks for that, im trying to avoid any serious work as that would involve a mechanic and thats when things start to get expensive, might have no option but to by the sound of some of the responses though........

manna452121 wrote: »

Change the oil and filter again,if you can do it when hot as it will take alot of the gum with it.Use a good grade of oil.

Yep will give this a shot as well as using the flush and take it from there I suppose! Anybody got any suggestions on what type of flush to use?

[AK47][JONNYNEW

Had an escort doing the same thing, did the whole oil flush and replced it with 20/50w oil
Made a small diff, but didnt fully resolve it.

Evenchally i just whent and bought new lifters of Ebay (30 euro).
Poped em in and it sorted it perfictly. Very very easy to do.

cashmni1

master-d wrote: »

Hi Guys
My car (Bora TDI) has started to sound a bit rattely esp when cold, id say its my tappets, I was talking to a mechanic today who said to give the engine oil a flush with an additive and then change the oil and filter.

Does anybody have any experience of doing this?
Did it work?
Any recomendations on which brand would be best to use?

I would be really gratefull for any advice you really have as it costs €€€ to do anything to the tappets themselves.

Thanks
Dave

I have done this.
I went with semi synthetic oil when i bought my TDI, (not recommended) but changed back to fully synthetic when I noticed the engine a little rattly when cold. I was told this could be the gunk build up around the (self adjusting) tappets. I used the flush - poured the tin into the engine, and let idle for 10 to 15 min, with a bit of reving just to make sure the oil is correctly broken down. All instructions are on the tin anyway. Changed the oil and filters and the engine hasn't had a rattle since. Even in the cold weather snap we just had/have. Not a rattle.
So it worked for me anyway, but that is not to say there might be an issue with your tappets as well.

mondeo

I had this problem with my lancer...I changed to a differant brand of oil and it resolved the problem.. I used shell helix plus. They were noisy with GTX magantec and I have never heard a noise from them since changing to Shell.


Noisy tappets are the most annoying bloody thing, they drive you effin mad.
They are as annoying as screeching fan belts:(

Jumpy

Had to change them outright on the FTO, all 24 of the little buggers, sounded like a diesel engine.
Now it purrs like a kitten. Worth every penny (and it was a lot of pennies )