1.6 Engine top end rattle

[Paul Pearl]

HI ALL, I AM THINKING OF BUYING A 1999 1.6 fELICIA THAT I VIEWED TONIGHT, ITS ON E-BAY, AND LOCAL TO ME, OVERAL VERY GOOD COND, HOWEVER THE ENGINE APPEARS TO HAVE A TOP END RATTLE/TAP WHICH I SUSPECT TO BE A STICKING HYDRAULIC LIFTER, IS THIS A COMMON PROBLEM? THE CAR HAS 71K ON THE CLOCK BUT HAS NOT BEEN USED MUCH LATELY,IS IT LIKELY TO CLEAR WITH A GOOD RUN AND A OIL AND FILTER CHANGE? IF NOT DOES THE CYL HEAD HAVE TO COME OFF TO GET THE CAM OUT TO CHANGE LIFTERS? ANY IDEAS ON COST OF PARTS? HELP!!

[TeflonTom]

the cylinder head does not need to come off to change the lifters, personally i would top the engine up with oil then go for a good run in the car to give it enough time to pump up the lifters, after all they do natually drain down over time

if that doesn't solve it, before you go taking the cam out, try removing the rocker cover, then press down on the tops of the lifters with a piece of wood, if they move more than about 1mm before they touch the top of the valve stem then they are proably NFG.

to get the camsahft out you have to remove the timing belt, and camshaft pulley, then take off the upper inner timing belt cover, then pop the distributor off the other end.... and the rocker cover

then remove the bearer caps and lift the camshaft out, you will need a new front camshaft oil seal, and a new o-ring for the distributor too

i bought a brand new set of lifters off ebay for