Tappet Noise

Post by **stuartB** » 18 Aug 2008 12:36 pm

Been running my 360 up and down 1in4's in Devon all last week, all went fine and the power was all there

however...

my engine has a slight overtone of tappet noise, which goes up and down in pitch as i rev. not noisy but just about noticeable.

my question is, are the tappets hydraulic? how much aggro are these to change? Anyone had similar?

also, is it possible i just need to change the oil (lol) havent changed it yet, still looking to sort out a new oil filter then i'll get it done

Post by **jtbo** » 18 Aug 2008 05:44 pm

Tappets are not hydraulic, they have some rubber rings to make noise down, but often these are not so good condition, replacing those rubbers should help a bit, adjusting valve clearances helps too and changing oil can make large improvements

Post by **stuartB** » 19 Aug 2008 09:12 am

rubber rings? is that an O-ring?

anyone know what size, or where to order them from if a specific part?

Post by **volvo300** » 19 Aug 2008 07:45 pm

Hi.

The valves are mechanical.
The rubbers are "dampers" and they are placed under the tappet to reduce the metal-to-metal noise.
You can see such a rubber damper here (look at the valve to the left):

These will over time become hard and then they will not work at all!

To change these you must take the cam out, and then it will be a good time to change the cambelt as well.

Peter

Post by **jtbo** » 19 Aug 2008 09:37 pm

stuartB wrote:rubber rings? is that an O-ring?

anyone know what size, or where to order them from if a specific part?

It is like Volvo300 says above. I believe you can get those from Volvo or maybe from Halfords too? Price should be something ridiculously low, pennies only.

Post by **Jason B** » 19 Aug 2008 09:49 pm

Shouldn't cost much at all tbh, if you are doing them then I would do all the other gaskets etc too (and cambelt)

Post by MJ » 19 Aug 2008 10:28 pm

Our 340 rattles a bit and I think that could be the tappets, but they're rather different on a b172 I believe. It's another job to look into sometime...

Post by **stuartB** » 20 Aug 2008 11:39 am

it seems to have settled down a bit now, only the exhaust seems a bit gruffer... strange

im gonna stick with an oil / filter change for now, and see how that goes.

part 2 (over xmas, maybe) will then be:

new cambelt
new dampers

Can i do this with the head on?

Post by **SteveP** » 20 Aug 2008 04:50 pm

Sure it isnt the manifold/downpipe join or downpipe blowing somewhere? That can often create a tappety kind of noise

Post by **stuartB** » 20 Aug 2008 05:26 pm

wouldnt be suprised...

still running on stock engine mounts, and have tighened up the back end of the exhaust, so may well have shook itself free or broken somwhere

i'll have a good look over it this weekend