Lazy Tappet?

[thegrayson]

I have a recurring tapping noise that is bad first thing in the morning, at low revs and very bad on long runs. After my last service and oil change it went away, the mechanic said from a time and money point it wasn't worth doing anything else. It came back last weekend.

Took it in to the main dealer this morning and was told I had a lazy tappet. Because I do mostly short runs, I now cycle more than drive and have clocked up less than 5K in two years, I was told I had the mayonnaise thing going on and that it can gum up the tappets.

He recommended a more frequent oil change to alleviate the problem. He said that short runs are the worst thing I can do to the car.

Does this sound okay?

[skudmissile]

I have a recurring tapping noise that is bad first thing in the morning, at low revs and very bad on long runs. After my last service and oil change it went away, the mechanic said from a time and money point it wasn't worth doing anything else. It came back last weekend.

Took it in to the main dealer this morning and was told I had a lazy tappet. Because I do mostly short runs, I now cycle more than drive and have clocked up less than 5K in two years, I was told I had the mayonnaise thing going on and that it can gum up the tappets.

He recommended a more frequent oil change to alleviate the problem. He said that short runs are the worst thing I can do to the car.

Does this sound okay?

What car?

[Soot1e]

Yes, cold thick oil does not circulate and lubricate the valvegear, check whether the correct oil is in the engine. You probably notice the tapping valve when driving from cold and will loose the tapping when a few miles under it's belt when the oil is hot. The only cure is to drive it more often and for some distance.

[Big Mikey]

<5k in 2 years, wow!

Engine flush and oil change might help.

[thegrayson]

I always seem to forget the useful info in these posts :( 2002 Fabia 1.4 MPi

The run to work is only 3.5 miles, do that twice a day and a grocery run at the weekend, it doesn't add up to much. Now that I'm on the bike again the car will prob only do two runs a week.

My last two oil changes were carried out by indies, I would hope they used the correct oil. The mechanic at the Skoda dealer talked about an engine flush but recommended against it as he said not all of the gunk would flush out leading to possibly more serious issues in other parts of the engine. He said I should consider doing the oil change myself and to use a semi synthetic oil.

The tapping is pretty bad when cold but very noticeable idling in traffic even when warm and can be quite loud on longer runs.

[rum4mo]

Yes as said cars are not really made for that sort of use. You really need to get the engine nice and heated up fully and dump the oil out, and change the filter, maybe use cheapish semi-synth oil and do this a couple of times with a month or so in between and do it while the weather is still warm/hot. After that you might want to try some of these "tappet noise sorter" stuff - I tried that on a Seat 1.4 8V engine and nothing much happened though - so success is not guaranted! Maybe also add in Comma Petrol Flush before dumping the sump oil out. Doing any or most of this is going to mean that you will need to change the way that you use the car unfortunately, because you really need to get some miles in to get anything to work on your engine.

[thegrayson]

Given where I live and work, and the way I lead my life there really is no way for me to use the car more than I do, traffic around town is getting heavier and moving more slowly so I really am better of on the bike. I can get a good run in some weekends but that doesn't seem to help.

Will have a chat with the garage I bought the car from about an engine flush and oil change. Don't have anywhere suitable to work on the car myself, drive in front of house is sloped.

Edited 10 June, 2009 by thegrayson