Tappet Noise

[big Daddy]

Hi Guys,

I have a Ford 2000 model car. When I start in the morning there is noise generated from the tappets. This remains for 2 - 3 minutes and goes away. Do I need to take it to a mechanic and adjust the tappets? Does the noise go away with the circulation of oil? Appreciate all your ideas...

[GearHead]

  big Daddy said:

Hi Guys,

I have a Ford 2000 model car. When I start in the morning there is noise generated from the tappets. This remains for 2 - 3 minutes and goes away. Do I need to take it to a mechanic and adjust the tappets? Does the noise go away with the circulation of oil? Appreciate all your ideas...

does the car idle at very low rmp when you start it in the morning?

[big Daddy]

  GearHead said:

does the car idle at very low rmp when you start it in the morning?

No it idles around 1300-1500 when i start and after some time gose down to 700. Then the noise is not there. Only when I start I get the tappet noise.

[GearHead]

  big Daddy said:

No it idles around 1300-1500 when i start and after some time gose down to 700. Then the noise is not there. Only when I start I get the tappet noise.

what happens after that machan? dont you get the tappet nioce after that,i mean when you rev the car up manually by hitting the gas pedal.when the car reaches its working temp slowly increase the revs and check whether you can hear the tappet noice. if the tappet noice builds up with the revs then i think its time for you to get the tappets adjusted. you may not be able to notice this when you are drving so the best thing would be park the car and carry out the test while the bonnet is open so thet you'll be able to identify the noice more clearly. if the tappets needs to be adjusted take it to a good mechanic and he would do the job for you. it wont even cost much..

[big Daddy]

  GearHead said:

what happens after that machan? dont you get the tappet nioce after that,i mean when you rev the car up manually by hitting the gas pedal.when the car reaches its working temp slowly increase the revs and check whether you can hear the tappet noice. if the tappet noice builds up with the revs then i think its time for you to get the tappets adjusted. you may not be able to notice this when you are drving so the best thing would be park the car and carry out the test while the bonnet is open so thet you'll be able to identify the noice more clearly. if the tappets needs to be adjusted take it to a good mechanic and he would do the job for you. it wont even cost much..

When i rev up the car the noise goes away and when the engine is in working teprature, the noise is not there. This happens only when I start in the morning. Should I take it to a mechanic and get it adjusted or is this normal?

[GearHead]

  big Daddy said:

When i rev up the car the noise goes away and when the engine is in working teprature, the noise is not there. This happens only when I start in the morning. Should I take it to a mechanic and get it adjusted or is this normal?

hmmm ...if the tappet noice is not there when the engine is at it's working temp and when you rev the engine then i dont think that this is something very serious.one of my friends has got a 92 civic and according to him even he experiences the problem in cold starts but since your car is much more newer than that i think this is some thing you may want to look into..anyhow lets leave this open for an expert to answer....

Edited September 11, 2007 by GearHead

[lakshank]

macho...I had a ford mondeo 1995 model couple of yrs ago and i had the same problem (in uk)..A mechanic told me to use some engine oil additive( a special thing ) to get rid of the noise. They call this tapet noise is coming from hydraulics. I dont know what that is. May be they use this hydraulic term istead of tapets. anyway that sorted the problem.

note.- taking into account my mondeo had done 1K + miles. i guess ur 2000 model has not done that much. better seek advice from a europe models specialist.

[big Daddy]

  lakshank said:

macho...I had a ford mondeo 1995 model couple of yrs ago and i had the same problem (in uk)..A mechanic told me to use some engine oil additive( a special thing ) to get rid of the noise. They call this tapet noise is coming from hydraulics. I dont know what that is. May be they use this hydraulic term istead of tapets. anyway that sorted the problem.

note.- taking into account my mondeo had done 1K + miles. i guess ur 2000 model has not done that much. better seek advice from a europe models specialist.

Some mechanic told me something simmilar. He told me to change the engine oil. I use Castrol formula RS and I did not want to change it. I think mechanic told me to use Mobil.

[Dinu]

is the tappet noise a small clicking noise? I have this noise all the time, tick-tick-tick....very rapid. Is it a big problem?

[Ripper]

just a thought...maybe when the motor is cold the tappets are little loose and as the motor heats up, due to metal expansion the gaps are reduced and the valve noise goes down...????

  lakshank said:

macho...I had a ford mondeo 1995 model couple of yrs ago and i had the same problem (in uk)..A mechanic told me to use some engine oil additive( a special thing ) to get rid of the noise. They call this tapet noise is coming from hydraulics. I dont know what that is. May be they use this hydraulic term istead of tapets. anyway that sorted the problem.

note.- taking into account my mondeo had done 1K + miles. i guess ur 2000 model has not done that much. better seek advice from a europe models specialist.

[GearHead]

  Ripper said:

just a thought...maybe when the motor is cold the tappets are little loose and as the motor heats up, due to metal expansion the gaps are reduced and the valve noise goes down...????

Well actually tappet noise comes due to valves being too close to the lobes that activate the valves.

tappet adjustments are done to set the correct clearances between the valve and the lobes that activate each valve...it shouldnt either be too close or too far away from the lobes.

so if the gaps too tight when the engine reaches its working temp the gaps would reduce even further due to expansion it would cause the tappet noice to come..

[miniace]

Machan It seems your Hydraulic tappet is not functioning properly.Malfunctions always cause caos in non-auto adjustment..You need to check this out soon not a big problem though.Go to a qualified technician.Please specify your model,guess can help you.

MINIACE

[miniace]

Machan It seems your Hydraulic tappet is not functioning properly.Malfunctions always cause caos in non-auto adjustment..You need to check this out soon not a big problem though.Go to a qualified technician.Please specify your model,guess can help you.

MINIACE

[The Don]

  big Daddy said:

Hi Guys,

I have a Ford 2000 model car. When I start in the morning there is noise generated from the tappets. This remains for 2 - 3 minutes and goes away. Do I need to take it to a mechanic and adjust the tappets? Does the noise go away with the circulation of oil? Appreciate all your ideas...

hi Big Daddy,

I do not think you have any reason to worry about as long as it goes away within 2-3 minutes of a cold start. Your car like most modern cars has hydraulic tappets activated using oil pressure. There is no method of manually adjusting them as they are self adjusting and driven by oil pressure.

Some things that might cause excessive tappet noise are,

1. Using the wrong engine oil, either too thick or too thin

2. Problem with the oil pump (weak oil pump)

3. Sludge blocking oil lines, this might be cleaned up by using an engine oil additive (there is one by Abro in the local market, called engine oil treatment, use it just before an oil change as instructed)

4. Worn tappets !

But I would not worry about the above in your case cos the noise goes away in 2-3 minutes, thats just the time taken by the engine oil to warm up and come to its optimum working temperature and ideal viscosity so it flows freely through the engine, if the period starts getting longer and longer better get the car checked for the above, its nearly always one of the above reasons,

Regards,

The Don

[Dinu]

  miniace said:

Machan It seems your Hydraulic tappet is not functioning properly.Malfunctions always cause caos in non-auto adjustment..You need to check this out soon not a big problem though.Go to a qualified technician.Please specify your model,guess can help you.

MINIACE

machan, its a '96 carina ti. The noise was there from the day i bought it. i didnt think much abt it. I'll have it fixed pronto. thanks for the info.

[big Daddy]

  The Don said:

hi Big Daddy,

I do not think you have any reason to worry about as long as it goes away within 2-3 minutes of a cold start. Your car like most modern cars has hydraulic tappets activated using oil pressure. There is no method of manually adjusting them as they are self adjusting and driven by oil pressure.

Some things that might cause excessive tappet noise are,

1. Using the wrong engine oil, either too thick or too thin

2. Problem with the oil pump (weak oil pump)

3. Sludge blocking oil lines, this might be cleaned up by using an engine oil additive (there is one by Abro in the local market, called engine oil treatment, use it just before an oil change as instructed)

4. Worn tappets !

But I would not worry about the above in your case cos the noise goes away in 2-3 minutes, thats just the time taken by the engine oil to warm up and come to its optimum working temperature and ideal viscosity so it flows freely through the engine, if the period starts getting longer and longer better get the car checked for the above, its nearly always one of the above reasons,

Regards,

The Don

Thanks Don... Will use an aditive and see. Where can I buy this (Abro)? I don't think it is a big problem as the noise goes away after sometime..

Edited September 11, 2007 by big Daddy

[nira74]

  Dinu said:

machan, its a '96 carina ti. The noise was there from the day i bought it. i didnt think much abt it. I'll have it fixed pronto. thanks for the info.

Is the noise audible from outside the car or do you hear it only when the bonnet is open ? Some people mistake the sound of the injectors firing for a tappet noise. It would be the tappets if you hear it when the bonnet is closed as well.

[The Don]

  big Daddy said:

Thanks Don... Will use an aditive and see. Where can I buy this (Abro)? I don't think it is a big problem as the noise goes away after sometime..

No Big Daddy, its in fact normal, the oil takes a bit of time to warm up,

you can buy the additive at Laughs, you should never use it on a warm engine. What you need to is on a cold engine put the additive and start the engine and run it for 10 mins or so, and then drain the engine of all engine oil, change the oil filter, and replace the engine oil. The additive should clear out all sludge.

but in your case I suggest you do not do anything but basically change engine oil at regular intervals, and monitor what happens,

The Don

[big Daddy]

  The Don said:

No Big Daddy, its in fact normal, the oil takes a bit of time to warm up,

you can buy the additive at Laughs, you should never use it on a warm engine. What you need to is on a cold engine put the additive and start the engine and run it for 10 mins or so, and then drain the engine of all engine oil, change the oil filter, and replace the engine oil. The additive should clear out all sludge.

but in your case I suggest you do not do anything but basically change engine oil at regular intervals, and monitor what happens,

The Don

Guess you are right. Should not mess with the engine too much... Thanks for the infor Don....

[The Don]

  big Daddy said:

Guess you are right. Should not mess with the engine too much... Thanks for the infor Don....

Yes because the additive is petroleum based, and when you drain the oil after treatment might not get rid of all the additive unless you are patient with it, the same goes for engine flush, which is another technique of flushing out sludge. The laughs quick lube station where I got mine done was of the opinion, they should only be used to solve an obvious problem as there are certain risks of usage.

In your case you do not seem to have a problem, and as they say it if it ain't broke don't fix it. Do consider using a good synthetic or semi synthetic engine oil at the next oil change which would have active detergents which would flush out sludge in the system anyway.

[Dinu]

  nira74 said:

Is the noise audible from outside the car or do you hear it only when the bonnet is open ? Some people mistake the sound of the injectors firing for a tappet noise. It would be the tappets if you hear it when the bonnet is closed as well.

u can hear it even when inside the car and when the bonnet is closed. So i guess it's the tappets? i'll hve it fixed. thanks