Lifter troubles

[Yage30]

Ok, fairly new to this whole m50 engine, but I'm fairly sure I have a ticking lifter somewhere. It will tick when it first starts up (I'm told this is normal as the oil gets to the lifters), however it doesn't quit until it is warmed up, and even then I can hear it ticking if I'm running around 2-2.5k RPM.

I've tried changing the oil in it, I used Mobil 1 15W-50 so I don't think its too thin.

I took the valve cover off this evening and pressed on each lifter to see if any of them were spongy and not holding pressure, but they were all stiff. I'm not sure if they'd be stiff even if they were collapsed though.

I'm really not wanting to shell out a couple hundred bucks for a new set, if I could pinpoint it to just one or two.

I'm out of ideas, does anyone have some suggestions to help me out?

Thanks in advance!

[yert315]

are you sure it's not your injectors? I know on the m20 the injectors love to make a racket. Put it back together, start it up, and pin point the sound.
If it is in fact your lifters, they are hydraulic. People may not recommend this, but.. I had the same problem with a volvo I had. I threw a quart of ATF in with the oil change and it went away. Learned this from an master mechanic. Just throwing it out there.

[sushipower]

I heard Sea Foam is good.

[Yage30]

I've heard that too, about the adding a quart of automatic transmission fluid. The mechanic told me it has a lot of detergeants in it and that it can help break up gunk that may be in the lifters.

The reason I was thinking it was my lifter, is because it will go away under acceleration and its not always ticking. just when its warming up and when I'm running between 2-2.5k RPM.

I'll pick up a quart of ATF on the way home and dump it in. I can check the injectors too. What the best way to do that? screwdriver to the ear method?

And I ran some seafoam in it for a while before this last oil change and it didn't seem to help it any. I don't know if my engine just doesn't like seafoam or what.

[yert315]

seafoam is mainly a placebo effect. Doesn't really do much for it in the long run.

As for the injectors, just take a long screw driver and hold it up to each one. if thats not it, hold it up to the valve cover.

[evil_twin]

search...

i just wrote something up on it.

[Yage30]

Quick update:

Got home from work and lifted up the hood to be greeted with oil all over my engine bay. Joy!

Turns out I didn't get the valve cover gasket seated just right and it was leaking out on side and going all over the place. So got it fixed and listened for odd ticks using a screwdriver. All the injectors sound normal and once you rev the engine a little, the noise of the engine drowns out the injectors clicking, so I don't think thats it.

Moved on to the vavle cover, and put the screwdriver down every 2 inches or so. Couldn't seem to hear an audible clicking noise, but there were a few discrepencies between the sets of lifters. Some were a nice quiet whir whereas some sounded a bit harsher tone of whir. Overall nothing out of ordinary to me.

Gonna try putting a quart of ATF in the engione and run it for a bit. Any suggestion as to how long I run the stuff?

[lennon]

i say 0 minutes of even 1 quart of ATF being run in my engine as lubricant, but wait and see what volvo dude who used it says. also it seems like youd have to use more than a quart for there to be a strong enough mixture of it to do any "cleaning". the way that guy worded his post almost makes it seem like he was referring to using ATF to have a thicker substance in the lifters. again seems like youd need more than 1 quart.

i have no experience using ATF like this though. what kind of ATF did you use?

[yert315]

using ATF has been a controversial subject among car buffs. Here is what I did. When you do your oil change, poor in a quart less of oil than you need. Poor in the ATF (get a name brand, I just don't trust the autozone brands) and top it off with the rest of your oil. I ran it until the next oil change. Only did it once, but one time was all it needed. I don't know the logics of why this works, but it does and will not ruin your engine (like putting brake fluid in your oil...wtf?) This is just to show you what I did.

[Yage30]

I just used some dexron 3 castrol ATF. Didn't really have any other choice than the autozone brand. I'm of the same opinion as yert315.

I changed my oil within the last 3-400 miles so I just took a quart out and put the ATF in.
We'll see how it works. Yert, were you gentle on the car, or did you run it like a scalded dog?

As for why it works, I've been told that its got detergeants in the fluid that breaks down gunk and carbon, and whatnot. Guess for smooth shifting or something.

[Yage30]

Well, update on my issue. Running the ATF didn't seem to help at all, and its actually gotten worse lately.

So I decided to just go ahead and order some lifters. When I got them, they seemed a little bigger than they were supposed to be.


Anyone have some insight on this? (quarter for size reference)

[matt]

That's how big they are... 35 or 33mm depending on your motor, I think.

[vivalegreg]

why the fuck would you fun atf in your car. try using thinner oil like 0w50

helped my vr4s lifter issue...

[evil_twin]

Because ATF is a detergent and will loosen all the gunk gummed up in there. Honestly I would try doing the engine flush too.

[bostonbmw]

I dont know why everyone is obsessed with putting 15-50 in their engines when BMW BMW Longlife 01 = 0w-40 I have no lifter nosie what so ever running mobile one 0w-40