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Only after switching on my car and theres a small ratle coming from the very top of the engine i think it comes from the area of the valves.

anyone can help trying to diagnose this and need to know if its drivable as im 50miles away from home.

thanks in advance.

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  • Author

when i have the car stop and accelerate slowly the tic tac goes faster wich makes me think it is the valve but i just want to know if theres any way of actually test it im a bit away from home and dont know any mechanics where i am at the min so any help and advice is really crucial right now and deeply appreciated.

if you have good oil pressure then 50 mile drive home should be ok just keep an eye on the temp and listen to the engine.

 

could be hy lifters on they way

  • Author

left the car running for 10min still doing the same.

oil pressure is sitting between 0 and 60 is that where it should be?

whats the hy lifters mate? what do they do?

should know this but mechanics are bad :(

Hi Mate,

 

I think what you're hearing is a lifter sticking (no guarantee though)... has the car been stood for a while? It could be a blocked oilway or that all the oil has drained from a lifter which may clear with gentle driving as the oil pressure rises and re-fills it.

 

I drove mine with a tick, tick, tick from a lifter this morning (had been stood for 2 weeks) and it cleared after a few miles.

 

I can't recommend you drive it unless you know for sure what it is and if there's a deeper cause (i.e broken oil pump). If I hadn't known that mine was a lifter (had it before) I wouldn't drive... I think a call to the AA is probably in order mate.

 

It could be a sticky lifter or it could be something else more sinister.

 

Sorry I can't be of more help mate but I'd say better safe than sorry!!!

 

Paul

  • Author

well it has been ticking since last week i guess but today was actually the first time that sounded louder but im not to sure either, im trying to find a mechanic around here but its sunday and in cookstown sundays are dead nobody does a thing here!

if it is the lifters whats the worse it can happend is it a though job to do?

This is lifted from wikipedia...

 

A hydraulic lifter, also known as a hydraulic tappet or a hydraulic lash adjuster, is a device for maintaining zero valve clearance in an internal combustion engine. The conventional means of adjusting valve actuation always requires a small clearance to be left between the valve and its rocker or cam follower to allow for thermal expansion and wear. The hydraulic lifter was designed to ensure that the valve train always operates with zero clearance, leading to quieter operation and eliminating the need for periodic adjustment of valve clearance.

 

The hydraulic lifter consists of a hollow expanding piston situated between the camshaft and valve. It is operated either by a rocker mechanism, or in the case of one or more overhead camshafts , directly by the camshaft. The lifter is filled with engine oil intermittently from an oil galley via a small drilling. When the engine valve is closed, the lifter is free to fill with oil. When the valve is opening and the lifter is being operated by the camshaft, the oil feed is blocked and the lifter acts just as a solid one would, oil being incompressible.

 

There are a number of potential problems with hydraulic lifters. Frequently, the valvetrain will rattle loudly on startup due to oil draining from the lifters when the vehicle is parked. This is not considered significant provided the noise disappears within a couple of minutes, typically it usually only lasts a second or two. A rattle that does not go away can indicate a blocked oil feed or that one or more of the lifters has collapsed due to wear and is no longer opening its valve fully. The affected lifter should be replaced in the latter situation.

 

Anyhow hth....

start your car and get it warm, pop the bonnet and rev it by hand to around 3000rpm, letting the revs drop off then rev it again, do it i succsession quickly as if blipping the throttle, if you hear the noise then it will be bottom end, whlst doing this if you get someone to remove a coilpack one at a time, it may stop doing it on one of the cylnders without the coil pack on, if it does this then it is deffo bottom end

I'm guessing you know better than me but this is a zed so I'll go out on a limb and say, ummmm, NO!!!!! LOL.

  • Author

well i called rac to come take a look at it they will be here in 2h.

will tell them to do that if they dont come to a conclusion.

Hi mate, They won't be able to replace the lifter... it's a plenum off and then remove the

Rocker covers etc... It might clear if you have an engine flush but I'd get it to a Garage and have them look at it.

 

Paul

  • Author

well if they are able to tell me exactly whats wrong with it ill be more rested coz then i can start planning what do do and walk 50 miles home to get the stress out!

  • Author
have you been getting a tappety noise whilst driving, at around 3500rpm

 

not that i could ear mate

well i called rac to come take a look at it they will be here in 2h.

will tell them to do that if they dont come to a conclusion.

 

When the RAC guy gets there just tell him to put it straight on the lorry. The turbo blow on my skyline a few years back and when the RAC guy arrived he insisted on removing all the pipe work to check the turbo when you could clearly hear when you revved it up the turbo grinding. Needless to say when I fitted the new turbo some parts were missing presumed left in the pub car park where I broke down!

changing a lifter isent the easyiest of jobs. plenum out cam covers off and cams out.

 

well thats not to bad! i bet the lifters are expensive though?

 

dan.:)

  • Author
When the RAC guy gets there just tell him to put it straight on the lorry. The turbo blow on my skyline a few years back and when the RAC guy arrived he insisted on removing all the pipe work to check the turbo when you could clearly hear when you revved it up the turbo grinding. Needless to say when I fitted the new turbo some parts were missing presumed left in the pub car park where I broke down!

 

if they cant define whats wrong they aint taking it no where!

it will stay here and next week end will come up with my mechanic to sort it.

the car is in my brothers drive way so its safe enough tho!

The lifters are around £16.00 each x 24:shock: £384.00.

 

Paul

 

thought as much! :(

 

dan.:headvswal

  • Author
around £200 i believe. not too bad if you have worked on one before:)

 

so i have to get new lifters or just one lifter? or its all just one piece?

im still confused with what the lifters do and look like never heard of it before.

so i have to get new lifters or just one lifter? or its all just one piece?

im still confused with what the lifters do and look like never heard of it before.

 

would have thought if your going to take all that lot apart then do the lot!

 

dan.:(

Edited by dannzx

If its lifters then its nearly always solved with some lifter treatment and an oil change.

 

Check your oil level and oil pressure, if they are fine then its not an issue to drive it with a noisy lifter until you can do an oil change and add lifter treatment.

Edited by Yowser

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