I have a mk1 fabia which has covered 60000 miles .The top end is starting to get a bit noisy ,I have been using 5-30 synthetic oil would using  a thicker oil say 10-40 quieten the engine?

I have a mk1 fabia which has covered 60000 miles .The top end is starting to get a bit noisy ,I have been using 5-30 synthetic oil would using  a thicker oil say 10-40 quieten the engine?

 

The 1.4 16V engine is notorious for top end noise, the only way to quieten it is to replace the hydraulic lifters, however it doesn't affect performance or reliability so I wouldn't worry about it.

Which engine is it?

 

I've found with tappity older VW engines that using the right grade "Quantum" oil (main stealer's parts counter, a friendly TPS branch, or ebay) really does a good job of reducing the noise. 

His forum sis says 1.4 dohc which narrows it down to the 1.4 16V, all of which are functionally mechanically identical.

All the time or just when cold?

 

Different engine, but mine gets "quietly tappety" on a cold start when approaching service, which I think is due to the oil getting thicker when cold and taking longer to take up the tappet gaps.

Noisier when cold but still a bit noisy when hot