lifter ticking - driving me crazy

[bimmerteck]

I only wished to point out that there is no "one size fits all" best oil for all climates or builds. My car is driven hard, in a hot climate in the summer (90-100 degrees), I have an oil cooler, oil temp gauge, and oil pressure gauge. I've personally found the 5w-50 maintains the most consistent oil pressure at temp in my climate, and is also acceptably quiet on cold starts in our relatively mild winters.

[butters]

Oh gotcha. I looked through your build (nice work btw) and I'm curious - what oil temps do you see? I'm about to go the S54 oil filter housing route to add a cooler as well as pressure/temp gauges.

[bimmerteck]

Oil usually hovers around 180f in traffic rarely cracks 210f driven very hard. Pressure is 55 psi at cold start hovers just above 18 psi at warm idle.

PS- thanks for the compliments on the build though it'll never truly be "done" :)

[butters]

Oil usually hovers around 180f in traffic rarely cracks 210f driven very hard. Pressure is 55 psi at cold start hovers just above 18 psi at warm idle.

PS- thanks for the compliments on the build though it'll never truly be "done" :)

Ha I know that feeling.

Your sensor is in the pan right?

[bimmerteck]

Yep, temp sensor is in the sump in place of the factory oil level sensor.

[dereliiict]

I had some tick before I changed my last pan. I follow the advice of a heavier oil, usually 40 weight, and overfill about a half a quart. Problem solved.

Also, I live in FL. Hot.

Vanos rattle sounds more like a diesel motor than lifter tick.

[Dkoe]

Did any of you guys find out the real reason of why the hydrolic lifters start to tick ????

[sweet3]

To my knowledge, lifters start to tick when they start to be clogged, when your oil is very low, or if your oil doesnt get changed often enough.
If you only change oil after 5000 miles or longer, the oil eventually becomes too thick and wont be able to get through the lifters as easily. Or the pump wont be able to pump the oil as easily. 3000 miles is suggested for conventional and about 5000 for synthetic.

[sweet3]

Yeah I just got done doing this.I Followed those instructions exactly. I didn't make a difference for me. So what I'm going to do next is get my oil pressure tested, I'm suspecting I may need a new oil pump. Also I've been told that the vanos will sometimes knock and this sounds very similar to noisy lifters. So I'll be investigating those next and see where that takes me

Yes this is true. Its known as the vanos rattle. It's a very common problem. The seals inside the vanos also go bad. Rebuilt ones make a whole lot of difference with the power.

[JohnyEndo]

When i first put my build together i left out the gasket on the pickup tune to the oil pump.
Loud as hell..

Also i have a vac baffle in my pan, i have heard from some other people that run one and they said after install it would give a slight tick at idle.

[jharrel]

i use liquimoly gt1 10w60. runs extremely good. noticed a huge difference when switching to this. also the whole atf trick to clean out an engine is a myth.

[butters]

i use liquimoly gt1 10w60. runs extremely good. noticed a huge difference when switching to this. also the whole atf trick to clean out an engine is a myth.

I'd be wary of a -60 weight in these motors, it is not the correct oil and you may be causing damage. Perhaps submit a sample to Blackstone at next change. M engines since the S62/S54 have been developed for it, but the E36-gen cars are intended to run on -40 or even -30 weight.

[frankie591]

I remember hearing something about a GM lifter that is for all intents & purposes identical to the 24v lifters but significantly cheaper, and lighter as well. Anybody have any info about these?

[Wanganstyle]

I'd be wary of a -60 weight in these motors, it is not the correct oil and you may be causing damage. Perhaps submit a sample to Blackstone at next change. M engines since the S62/S54 have been developed for it, but the E36-gen cars are intended to run on -40 or even -30 weight.

10-60 castrol TWS and ELF is used often by the NASA GTS bmw racers / professional BMW racing prep shops here in the bay area. S52 engine loves it just as much as S54 does.

I remember hearing something about a GM lifter that is for all intents & purposes identical to the 24v lifters but significantly cheaper, and lighter as well. Anybody have any info about these?

havnt heard about a GM product although im sure there is one somewhere. Ive heard VW lifters used for solid lifter conversions.

If the HLA setup is replaced with solid lifters and set up properly there cannot be any lifter tick. (hla is the reason tick can be)

[Nick_S]

In my E34 it seems to be getting not louder, but more frequent and even in the colder temps where it didn't use to tick. Suspecting my oil pump is starting to go out. Once it warms up a bit I'm going to drop the pan and hopefully replace it.