Lazy tappet?

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G4VSQ

New Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2002
Messages
15
Location
Caversham, Berkshire
Car
1990 Mercedes 500SE
Hello one and all,

My 1988 260E (148, 000 miles) was serviced about 600 miles ago. Since then (and maybe before) I notice two things:

1) On cold starts, it rattles for about 1 second-I guess this is due to the oil taking time to reach the cyclinder head and then on to pump up the hydraulic tappets. Is this normal? I have heard the sound before, but only on a (eurgh&#33<img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> Sierra! I have never owned a car with hydraulic tappets before though...

2) After starting, I notice an intermittent tap tap tap from the top end, which certainly sounds like a loose tappet. It goes away after about 1-2 minutes of idling and doesn't reappear at all whilst the engine is hot. It also only appears after the first start up of the day. Now the big question is...SHOULD I do anything about it? (Sleepless nights thinking of worn valve gear, disintegrating tappets, dropped valves, no lubrication of top end, shudder) Or should I just ignore it until it becomes vocal all the time?

I do plan to have a valve stem oil seal job done some time soonish to reduce the amount of breathing that the engine is doing (and hoping/praying that this will cure it) so a check and replace of tappets could be done then as well.

What do you think? Thanks in advance... <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>  <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>  <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>  <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>
 
THE golden rule with hydraulic tappets is regular ol changes, if you leave the oil past the stated mileages then you will get problems. By the sound of things you are changing oil on a regular basis, so that shouldn't be an issue.

However as with all things mechanical, if you use them then they wear, you say yours has a fair amount of mileage, and so the poor old tappet is probably getting a bit past it's &quot;sell by date&quot;. A classic tell tale that hydraulic tappets are in this condition, are the symptoms you describe.

When i bought my 250D, there was a quiet rattle when warm from the tappets, Haynes go to great lengths to describe how to test them tosee if the are within tolerances, i just changed the lot (10), it totally transformed the car, not only did the rattle go, but it had a smoother idle, and was far smoother to drive.

My advice to you is this, buget for a new set of tappets when you have the valve seals done, and don't leave it to long before you do.

Hope this is of use. <img src="http://www.mbclub.co.uk/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>
 
Afternoon.

Regarding point 1, mine does the same thing. From a cold start watch the oil pressure needle, its takes, as you say, about a second to go from 0 to 3 Bar. as soon as it hits 3 the tappets stop rattling. Hence the old rule never rev your car on a cold start up....so i have to keep reminding the missus.!
 
Hi, I had the exact same problem with my '89 230ce (intermittent tapping noise from the head for a couple of minutes after starting) . I had to replace the head gasket just recently as the engine was burning coolant and decided while I was at it to get the head overhauled. They replaced the valve stem seals and all the hydraulic lifters and I haven't heard any tapping noise since. The lifters were only 10euro each so it'd def be worth doing whenever you decide to get the seals done

Kind regards,
Declan
 
Welcome Deco. You do realise this is a 2002 thread? No harm done just usual to say it yourself before everyone gets smart.:D:D
 
Ooops :doh: cheers for that. That was my first post ever and it was only 8 years late :bannana:
 

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