Thread: oil issues & noisy tappets

any other ideas (other then finding out which is the right lifter and putting
in a shim/replace

A shim( presumably under the rocker pedestals) is the opposite of what you want, as your problem is most likely to be insufficient preload of some or all of the tappets.
There are variations of the base circle of some cams and variations in lifter length. IMHO you should measure the preload of the tappets. this can be done by making a tool ( from a hanger) with about 4mm 90degree bend at each end and filed to 20thou one end and 50 thou the other) This is tried between the limiting spring and cup of the lifter, and the preload should be between 20 and 50 thou.

I suspect some or all of your tappets have insufficient preload, or maybe you have lost the pad from one rocker so check that also.

If you have a general preload problem , you have to machine the bottom of the pedestals on that side to correct the preload.
Regards Philip A

Is the oil gauge still reading 0 at idle
Sounds worrying as no oil lubeing anything if it is the case.
I'd be trying to confirm the reading and work from there.

My RRC has a noisy lifter on startup but the noise stops once the oil light goes out.
Havn't looked into it yet, it's only the daily driver

Since then I've had issues the tappet is noisy then ever. more worrying the
mechanical oil pressure gauge reads 0 at idle (was reading 8-12 previously @
idle).

Nothing you did should have affected the oil pressure,but maybe something went wrong in the reassembly.

1 swarf in the pressure relief valve. Maybe remove it and check that the piston is shiny and the bore has no ridges.

2 wrong/misplaced timing case gasket? I know that there is a difference between later crank pump engines and earlier ones but I don't know whether this affects oil pressure, however if the gasket in the area of the
oil pump input is misplaced, it could cause air to be ingested in the pump.
3 did you dismantle the oil pump? If so if you renewed the gasket it could be too thick.
that is about all I can think of.
Regards Philip A

thanks guys I'll look into that Phillip.

In terms of reassembly mistake I don't think it would be the cause as the car is a daily driver and I did the conversion about just over a over a month ago and put ~2000km on the clock since, so I would think this problem should have presented earlier, possibly not?? in that time other the the one noisy lifter I haven't had any indication of oil pressure issues, until 2 days ago when i wrote this post.
didn't touch the oil pump so that should be good.

my thinking with regards to the oil pressure is the wynns stuff lowered the viscosity so much that it wasn't registering on the gauge but I'm no expert

just to clarify its only one lifter (pretty sure its passenger side), and the noise doesn't occur on start up only awhile after the car is warm - probably should have mentioned that at the start.

Use of an inductive timing light will allow you to establish the frequency of the noise in relation to crank rotation and this helps narrow down your search for the source.

Bear in mind that each lifter is not moving every time the crank rotates, only every second full rotation. A knocking sleeve or bearing noise will be heard at least once every rotation of the crank.

So listening, a noise that corresponds 1:1 with every ignition cycle of the chosen cylinder could well be a lifter (or possibly exhaust manifold leak, but let's look at the last place you worked before blaming other things).

If it is heard 2:1 (twice as often as light fires) or more often then you're looking at bearing or lifter noise (assuming it's only one lifter playing up).

If it doesn't occur at cold startup, I fear you might actually be listening to a sleeve moving once the block is warm.

I've had two different timing cover gaskets with different oil gallery hole patterns. Is it possible that you have installed the wrong gasket?

Did you renew the oil pump gasket? In my recent rebuild, the gasket supplied with the kit was about twice as thick as it should have been, meaning the pump gear to housing clearance was too great. This caused low oil pressure at idle and was only rectified by installation of the correct thickness gasket (around 0.12mm). Immediately, hot idle pressure went from between 10 and 15 psi to between 20 and 25 psi (about 30 psi cold).

Originally Posted by brend0n

is this the right oil or should I try a different weight?

Sounds as tho you've got an older bottom end ........

Dump your oil

Gulf Western ..... They have a mix for "Older Engines"
Great stuff and usually fixes temperamental lifters

Cheers
Mike

bit of any update change the oil.

still had same problem, I ran the car and got a torch and looked in the oil filler on the rocker cover and could see oil moving around the rockershaft and draining back into the motor at the front of the heads. the gauge was reading zero at the time.

I've ordered some valve lash caps which will bring the lift back to within standard range hopefully solving the one lifter noise. it is 1:1 (tappet noise: engine cycle).

next steps (going in order to remedy):
install lash caps (once they arrive).
investigate why low oil pressure light doesn't work & fix
pull off an electric gauge of one of the other cars and see what reading it gives me.
flush out copper capillary line for mechanical oil gauge
remove oil pump & inspect.
buy/installed oil pump upgrade kit.

shoot myself if i can't solve it

I have just replaced the cam,lifters and timing chain and gears and when I started it up it was nosier than ever, then remember reading about checking the exhaust manifold surprised to find most were a bit loose tightened them all up and now silence . the noise sounds just like sticking hyd. lifters.