speed rII

So, my 3.4 developed a small lifter ticking on idle.
Noise goes away if I lift the rews to 1500, and slowly comes back on idle.

And the question, what do you think about those topend treatments?
Or should I just go to thicker oil, I'm now running Castrol 5W-40 syntec.

I know that the lifters from bmw will fit to my engine, and costs about 15usd a piece. But I just got the engine back to car and I have no time to do it again now. (lazy)

So if anyone of you have any ideas, please chime in

RPMulli

I do not think putting BMW lifters in is a good idea. I am not an expert on the valvetrain on the 996 but in previous cars I have owned I could adjust the valve lash to reduce ticking.

Pac996

The obvious of keep the rpms up

Some times liters free themselves. Had a car a long time ago that loved to do it intermitently. Maybe see if it goes away after warmed up. The lifters are know to mushroom a bit with age.

speed rII

Lifter ticks only when engine is hot, so the higher oil viscosity might help.
Issue is not that the lifter sticks, but it leaks a little on lower oilpressure.

Bmw hydraulic lifters are the same that Porsche uses. Manufactured by INA.
Only 50% cheaper

RPMulli

I stand corrected.

ivangene

change oil brands

cheap way to try something else, I suggest Shell Helix Ultra (should be a Euro oil)

as for the lifters I think its only a matter of time till we start seeing more of them stuck. What happens is the inner cylinder becomes mushroomed at the top and causes it to either get stuck in or partially out. Here is a pic of the issue... I have taken quite a few of these apart and can tell you they will get stuch at some point due to wear...

the ticking stems from the lifter running on the wrong portion of the cam, in the vario cam the center section rides on the lobe at low rmp and the larger section runs on the lobe above 1500 rpm...so if the center is stuck, that valve ticks - (more or less the way it works)

Flat6 Innovations

Using flushes and treatments are only going to make the situation worse. These lifters have only one inlet hole into them, so when they become clogged its impossible to free them up without pulling them. The single oil inlet makes the lifter become a small filter for debris that ends up at the furthest portion of the pressurized portion of the oil system.

Most every engine with more than 50K miles will have at least 25% of it's lifters become clogged and sticky. We see this all the time when performing update work and teardowns. I have seen one 47K mile engine that has 22 of its 24 lifters stuck in the collapsed position, it didn't sound all that bad, but it did only get 15 MPG.

The extended oil service intervals contribute greatly to these problems along with the choice for oil. The same goes for tensioners.

ivangene

+1 for the one hole thing... I forgot to mention... the oil in your lifter is most likely the oil that was in there when it left Germany no matter how many oil changes you have done.... I also noticed that and was like... WTF????

yea, any dirt that goes in aint neva comin out! (sorry, but its true)

speed rII

Ivangene, my car is 3.4, so no variocam plus.

I'll try the oil change.
And if that wont work, I'll change the 1-3cyl lifters.

ivangene

DOH.. I should read ALL the words

I need to pull some of these apart and get pics for you guys

Pac996

I still believe if you accelerate and brake making max G's and take turns at max G's the debri and old oils are worked out of the lifters into the filter.

Macster

In your area I would think you should be running a 0w-40 oil.

Before I replaced the lifters I'd try an oil/filter service.

Even after the oil change the noise might be present. It takes some running to replace the oil in the lifters with fresh oil.

Also, Porsche techs tell me a noisy engine can sometimes be quieted down using a Swepco 502 oil treatment. If the oil change alone and some running time, during which the engine gets hot and higher rpms are reached (though there is no need to thrash the engine) you might try this Swepco stuff.

Only if all of the above failed would you then replace the lifters.

But do you know for sure it is a lifter noise? You just had the engine out. Perhaps a plug is loose, or cracked? Or there is an exhaust leak?

Sincerely,

Macster.

speed rII

Thanks for good ideas

I have drove 3k km after I put the engine back. (including couple of 600km road trips)
I had this same problem in my Z32 tt and it went away when I changed the oils to 20w-60 castrol racing.

I think that the exhaus leak can be heard on upper revs allso?

Pac996

Exhaust leaks can sound like a valve ticking when the leak is at where the headers go to the heads.

jumper5836

I thought I read Porsche started using 0w-40 because of complaints about lifter noise.