It seems that when I start my car up after it has sat for an extended period of time (overnight), that the lifters make a slight tapping sound for maybe a second or 2. Is this cause for concern or is it normal? I use castrol pure synthetic 5w-20 and change it every 3k miles. I also always let my car idle for a few mins to warm up before I drive it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.



James

 

ur probably fine. The 'problem' may be the thin oil draining back when you shut it off. Under normal driving, any problems? What does the oil pressure gauge indicate? You may want to have an oil pressure test done to determine the exact PSI that your pump is putting out, to possibly prevent an engine failure due to oil pump failure.

Mine doens't do that, it just has a faint valve tap for a few minutes on cold starts because the lifters are worn, but I have extremely good oil pressure

 

You can do a test to see what the problem is.Hold the gas pedal to the floor and crank the engine.The engine won't start because when the gas pedal is held to the floor it shuts off the injectors.Crank the engine until the oil guage shows pressure.Release the gas pedal and start the engine normally.If the noise is gone it was worn lifters or timing chain tensioners.If the noise is still there,it's more than likely the beginnings of piston slap.This noise goes away upon start up because of heat expanding the pistons to better fit the cylinder bores.

 

usually piston slap takes 5-10 minutes to go away. My dad has this 'condition' in his buick, and it is very tappy for 5-10 minutes and then quiet.

 

Modular motor don't have lifters.

Dan04Cobra has a sticky on the top of the page.

 

they don't have lifters, but the rocker arms are still hydraulically lash adjusted... there are parts you can replace that look like little nipples that serve a similar function as a lifter.

 

The oil gauge reads fine all the time, but I am not sure exactly how accurate it is. Also the vehicle only has 23k miles on it and has been well maintained for the entire time, how could the lifters be worn so soon?

 

the factory gauge is a yes/no gauge. It reads everything is okay in the normal with like 4 psi.

The hydraulic lash adjusters (these are what we have, not lifters) could possibly be bad, and with that many miles, and the year of your car, you should be able to have it fixed under warranty

 

yes, hydraulic lash ajusters.

But I think you can get solid lifters for our cars.

 

it may actually just be a solid lash adjuster lol, and then you have to manually set them. I hear the main reason for these is higher revving? I'm content with 6000 rpm tho