[879000turb]

I have an 87 9000 turbo and there is a clanking noise that is from the valves. I was told that I should get my valves adjusted. I am on a very limited budget, and am attempting to teach myself how to work on cars. Anyone have any advice for me on how to do this? Should I just suck it up and go to a shop? Thanks

Alex

 

[valbowski1980]

Welcome to SC

My 93 is making the same noise that yours is and the adjustments is something which I will a pro take care of.

 

[Marrk]

There is no facility to adjust the valve setup as the lifters are maintenance free hydraulic lifters.

It could be that the one or some of the lifters might be sticking but I've never experienced it, if the noise is there on start up and after about a minute clears means the oil is draining out of the lifters when the engine is off. This is common but not detrimental to the running of the engine as long as it clears.
Low oil pressure can also cause the noise to as the lifter oil supply is reduced.

I would take a guess as the noise could also be a rattling timing chain, check adjustment first.

The lifters can be cleaned out but both cams need to be removed, not a hard job and then the lifters washed in a degreasing solvent then recharged with oil before putting back. Time consuming thats all.

 

[djtaylor]

Might be worth trying one of those "hydraulic lifter" potions to put in with the oil but my concern with things like that is that oil is formulated to do a specific job and as soon as you start adding potions you have a ****tail that reaches the parts you didn't necessarily want it to reach.

In other words, I'd be planning on an oil change fairly soon after trying an oil additive.

When I was young, I rebuilt an engine and coated the main bearing shells with Molyslip MoS2 thinking that it would help. I guess it didn't really give the parts an opportunity to bed in because not long afterwards, I was rebuilding it again.

David.

 

[BRAVO382]

My tapping does go away after the oil has a moment to circulate to the valves, but that wasn't good enough for me. I tried a solvent which claimed to eliminate the tapping noise from sticky lifters. 4 days later I am scheduling an oil change. Apparently the solvent thinned the oil too much to the point the engine rough idles and stalls after driving 1/2 hour. Be careful if you use this method and use the solvent sparingly.

 

[djtaylor]

Exactly my point! Thanks for confirming it. Probably better to do as Mark says and take them out and use solvent on each one.

David.

 

[djtaylor]

Oh and I see that someone should tell the mods that c0cktail is not a bad word!!

What happens if I say that I sent to Sussex university? Does part of that suddenly become bad?

Censorship (tut)

 

[Last_straw]

Oh and I see that someone should tell the mods that c0cktail is not a bad word!!

It is if your a recovering alcoholic (only kidding :cheesy: )

 

[Marrk]

Might be worth trying one of those "hydraulic lifter" potions to put in with the oil but my concern with things like that is that oil is formulated to do a specific job and as soon as you start adding potions you have a ccktail that reaches the parts you didn't necessarily want it to reach.

This is why I keep telling people not to use any type of flushing oil unless you do about 3 oil changes immediately after each other. I took all my lifters out and put them in a plastic container, 2 weeks later they were submerged in oil which had leaked out, I was amazed at how much oil they actually hold and when additives are circulated around the engine the lifters keep hold of the additive even when the sump is drained and then can immediately contaminate the new oil.

 

[midway]

One thing I learned long ago is that there are just some things I will pay the man to do. Adjusting valves, timing chains, and brakes are at the top of that list. I also learned that 'High Mileage' oil works wonders on older high mileage engines. Not a universal cure for age and miles, but the different formulation that gives much better performance. Try it after you get the valves taken care of.

 

[djtaylor]

Timing chains are something that every 9000 owner should do (along with the headgasket change)!

Brakes aren't so hard, especially if you're using new parts, not much to worry about. Out of curiosity, what's the thoughts there midway?

David.

 

[Superaero]

My 86 makes this awful noise every time it starts up. The important thing is does it get reasonably quiet after the engine runs for a few minutes? If so then just ignore it.


The hydraulic adjusters (lifters) wear as the engine ages (my 86 has 290,000 km on the original untouched engine/turbo unit). Often one or two lifters will leak down after the engine is shut down. They take a few minutes to pump back up and the valve clearance is too large while that process goes on. Eventually the noise should die down to a reasonable clatter similar to older engines that had solid lifters with screw type or shim adjusters.

If the noise remains very loud while driving normally then you need to do something before the camshaft gets hammered to bits.

For a dirty sticking lifter my SAAB dealer mechanic recommended Rislone oil additive. You drain a litre of oil out and add a litre of Rislone, drive for 1000 km or so then do a complete oil and filter change. Don't worry about the little bit of Rislone remaining in the lifters, they could care less what oil is in there. The main reason for draining the Rislone out is the viscosity isn;t very high (which is partly how it works) and it has a ton of detergents in it so you really need to clean out the now very dirty oil and filter you get by running the Rislone.

I don't know what Rislone type products might be called in the UK but you are looking for an oil additive designed to "clean" rings and valvetrains.

 

[7RIPP3R]

i have the same tapping sound but it seems that it gets louder when the engine gets to normal operating temperature. some days it seems as if the problem had gone away but then when the engine gets warm the tapping sound comes back.

any thoughts on this? have you guys experienced or know of what may be the cause? the car is a 94 9K Aero with a manual box and 148 on the clock. previous owner said that the timing chain had been replaced at 100. any insight would help a lot.

- 7ripp

 

[Marrk]

Classic timing chain noise, quiet when cold and noisy when hot...the previous guy might have just changed the chain without the sprockets, thus life expectancy of chain diminishes rapidly. Take the rockerbox cover off and check the chain tension and also the chain guide which is fitted in the cover.

 

[7RIPP3R]

Thanks a lot Marrk,

I will check this out this weekend and, i thought it was the lifters that was making all that racket. thought the may need replacement soon i think.

- 7ripp

 

[djtaylor]

Marrk I don't see how you can check the tension of the chain just by taking off the cam cover. The chain will be in tension due to the chain tensioner.

The "approved" method is to remove the inner screw on the tensioner plug, then remove the the tensioner body and measure the extension of the ratchet. I can't remember if it's over 9, 10 or 11mm and the chain is stretched. Having said that, a severly groved slipper guide won't help this measurement either.

David.

 

[Jamal Bryant]

I can't remember if it's over 9, 10 or 11mm and the chain is stretched.

Pretty sure 11mm is the limit for chain tensioner measurement. At or above 11mm its time for a change.