Slighty "tappy" engine...

PuncH

PuncH

PuncH

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anything to worry about?

just had a new cam belt fitted after the otherone shed some teeth and i'm wondering if it's a hangover from that or whether it's because it's a 10 year old 1996 Escort 1.4i CVH?

it runs fine, doesn't misfire, gear changes as smooth as ever etc and the car did 300+ miles at the weekend. but it taps a little when running, although it can only really be heard from outside the car (so, when my wife is reversing it out of the garage etc or if i stand next to it and listen to the engine idling!). The tap does get (a little) quicker when the engine is revved.
 
i get a slight tappety noise when i start off in the morning that rises with the engine revs. It lasts about 20 seconds then goes.

Might be the totally crap oil I used when i put some in back in Jan. Ive got some nice castrol GTX to go in soon, but i wouldnt mind knowing if these tappety noises are fatal.
 
stuck tappet is my guess its what i have.. ive just slapped some oil treatment stuff in 2nite.. will let ya know what happens (not much probs.. but was worth a cheap try)..

if that dont help.. im gonna flush the engine.. with some "forte" motor flush lol.. it will either work.. or kill the engine.. on well.. its only on the ibiza :p
 
Or it could be that the tappets do need adjusting. On a cold start the oil has drained off them which is why it sounds tappet'y then disappears as the oil splashes up onto the rockers?

I'd get some feeler gauges on there.
 
it doesn't seem to improve as the engine warms up though, that's the thing.

if it is a stuck tappet is that bad news?
 
If it's light tapping that goes away when you rev it, then no need to worry.
The tappets are worn not pumping up enough, it'll be fine.

If it get's louder under load, then that's a different story..
 
it's more like a light tapping/clicking that speeds up a little when the engine is revved, but i don't think it gets any louder.
 
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If it's coming from the top of the engine, i wouldn't worry about it.

Open the bonnet and listen/rev it.

Just thought, did it deffo not do it before cambelt change.
 
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i had a listen tonight and it's seems to be coming from the very top, just under the cam cover bit (i think that's what it is, i'm sorry i'm a complete dunce when it comes to cars)

perhaps it's the new/different oil? she had her first oil change in goodness knows how long last week so perhaps it's that?
 
well, to be honest i think the tapping was always there, but not so obvious.

the belt didn't snap though. some of the teeth sheered off, which was enough!

also just had a full service.
 
yeah i may well do that. although she got to reading and back ok (around 300 miles) at the weekend so that would surely have highlighted any major problems?
 
I had my cambelt done not so long ago, then I began noticing the tappety noise. It doesnt seem major, and probably lasts 20 seconds from starting the engine and moving off to not being able to hear it anymore.

With regards to distance, ive covered around 2k miles since this started (1,300 of them in France) and had no problems at all. Car is 100% reliable.

So im thinking its nothing too serious at least.

Hope that helps put your mind at rest a little, although im still curious as to what it is. As my car is 17 years old, any little noise makes me kinda nervous :D
 
I changed the cambelt on a 1.6 escort i had, i got it a tooth out and the valves lightly tapped the piston's, turned it off and put it right.

But the tapping was loud loud on a diesel, so i doubt it's that. :)
 
i'll speak to my mechanic tomorrow and see what he thinks.

he took it for a good spin after changing the cam belt before doing the service (approx 8 miles according to the stickers he's put on the cam belt cover etc!) so i'm sure he would have spotted any major problems.
 
Right - the tappets are located on the top of the engine. They don't cause much damage and its not a bit nothing to worry about - unless your cam is on its way out. Anyway, a small nut holds the tappets in place. There shouldn't be any gap in-between the nut and the tappet spring.

I had this problem on my Clio. We removed the cover, adjusted them using a filler gauge after referring the Auto-Data (an e-manufacturer large manual). The gap is different on each tappet. On my clio we found that 2 nuts were abit loose which needed tightning.

Check what oil your car needs also, ensuring the right oil is in there would help. The Clio takes 10-40, we'll be putting in 15-40 in the next service.

If you need a hand, give us a shout.
 
triggerthat said:
Right - the tappets are located on the top of the engine. They don't cause much damage and its not a bit nothing to worry about - unless your cam is on its way out. Anyway, a small nut holds the tappets in place. There shouldn't be any gap in-between the nut and the tappet spring.

I had this problem on my Clio. We removed the cover, adjusted them using a filler gauge after referring the Auto-Data (an e-manufacturer large manual). The gap is different on each tappet. On my clio we found that 2 nuts were abit loose which needed tightning.

Check what oil your car needs also, ensuring the right oil is in there would help. The Clio takes 10-40, we'll be putting in 15-40 in the next service.

If you need a hand, give us a shout.
Click to expand...

Just out of interest why are you putting 15W-40 oil in on your next service, 10W-40 is a better choice, or even 5W-40. Using a higher viscosity oil will just produce more wear on the engine on cold startups.
 
spoke to my mechanic who knew what my engine sounded like from when he replaced the cam belt and did it's service.

he basically said it's most likely worn lifters (sound right?) or something along those lines and that i'm better off not worrying about it and just running the car into the ground!
 
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