Lifters sound REALLY BAD!

[M3PO]

Hey guys, just started my S50 in my E30 for the first time. It sat on a stand for two years before I started the swap. It's filled midway on the dipstick with M1 0-W40 European. The lifters are so noisy it sounds like a diesel.

I've let it idle for a few mins and revved it up half a dozen times. It seems to get a little better after revving it but then they get loud again. It's got a VAC baffle in the pan and I welded the oil pump nut.

I got about 20 psi oil pressure at idle. Goes up to 60-70 psi when I rev it.

Thoughts? Are they sticky from sitting? Wrong oil?

[Vivek]

That oil sounds really thin especially cold. That could likely be the issue.

[M3PO]

It's a 40 weight oil and seems to be pretty popular on the E36 M3 forums. It's a very good oil, I run it in my E92 M3 in place of TWS.

[Liquidity]

That oil sounds really thin especially cold. That could likely be the issue.

40 weight oil is not thin.

[nando]

I'll bet the lifters are stuck/collapsed. I doubt it's the oil. not sure what you can do about it - can you pull them out and pop them free with an air compressor maybe?

[plain325]

My engine sat for a few months before i started in initially. The lifters were noisy to the point where i thought there was a problem. Eventually they got quieter, after a few short drives and idling for a while.

[AndrewBird]

Are you sure it's lifter noise? Could be chain rattle from a bad tensioner or vanos rattle.

Might try this:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=3770987&postcount=7

It really helped with my lifter noise.

[e30rapidic]

run a quart of ATF in it and follow the bleed process.

1.) Bring the engine up to an operating speed (no load) of 2000-3000 rpm and maintain this condition for three minutes (bleeding procedure).

Let the engine idle for 15-30 seconds and reevaluate whether the noise is still present or not.

2.) Engine quiet – procedure is finished.

3.) Engine noise is still present – repeat the procedure; perform steps #1 and #2 up to a maximum of 5 times.

[Lof8]

A loose spark plug in the 24v engines makes a similar noise to lifters. Check your spark plugs. This advice saved me once.

[meanEG]

run a quart of ATF in it and follow the bleed process.

1.) Bring the engine up to an operating speed (no load) of 2000-3000 rpm and maintain this condition for three minutes (bleeding procedure).

Let the engine idle for 15-30 seconds and reevaluate whether the noise is still present or not.

2.) Engine quiet – procedure is finished.

3.) Engine noise is still present – repeat the procedure; perform steps #1 and #2 up to a maximum of 5 times.

This is all you need to do, nothing else. To a "t"

[Vivek]

40 weight oil is not thin.

Yeah that's true my bad. It was late and I had just gotten home from a concert.

run a quart of ATF in it and follow the bleed process.

1.) Bring the engine up to an operating speed (no load) of 2000-3000 rpm and maintain this condition for three minutes (bleeding procedure).

Let the engine idle for 15-30 seconds and reevaluate whether the noise is still present or not.

2.) Engine quiet – procedure is finished.

3.) Engine noise is still present – repeat the procedure; perform steps #1 and #2 up to a maximum of 5 times.

What exactly does the bleeding procedure do? Is it to get air out of the oil pump?

[M3PO]

Thanks guys, that's what I was thinking I would do, I just didn't want to run it with it sounding like this unless I had confirmation first. Don't want to damage anything.

[Roysneon]

run a quart of ATF in it and follow the bleed process.

1.) Bring the engine up to an operating speed (no load) of 2000-3000 rpm and maintain this condition for three minutes (bleeding procedure).

Let the engine idle for 15-30 seconds and reevaluate whether the noise is still present or not.

2.) Engine quiet – procedure is finished.

3.) Engine noise is still present – repeat the procedure; perform steps #1 and #2 up to a maximum of 5 times.

My father is an old mechanic and has mentioned this to me before. I've never had to try it but my new replacement m50 is doing this, so I'm going to have to give it a try.

[M3PO]

I checked the plugs and they were tight. I'm gonna overfill the oil a bit and try to bleed the lifters before adding ATF. I don't want to waste $40 in oil and a filter if I can avoid it.

[meanEG]

Its OK to run atf for a full oil change for 1 qt of oil as a replacement. It will start to clean sludge if you had some cooked oil/sludge in the engine. No need to over fill oil. All your doing is bleeding the air out of the lifter. The noise you hear is the lifter collapsing when the cam squeezes it between the valve. When it fills with oil it really doesn't collapse.