Tapping noise?

Sal329

Sal329

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The car sat for about 2 months. I drove it and it had a very slight tap, but it went away when the car warmed up. Changed the oil yesterday and the tap is still there. I listened to the car as it idled, could not hear the sound from the bottom of the engine, but you can hear it from the top, sounds almost like it is from the intake. Well I shut the hood, and the sound went away. The temp guage just barely moved. I drove to work 30 miles. Parked the car and then I heard the tapping sound again. Any idea? Lifter maybe?
 
What year?

Could be a rocker spring. Could also just be the injectors, but that would sounds like a lot of taps. This is just one continuous tap?
 
Its a 94, sorry I ment to add that originally. Has 144k on it.
It is continuous, then it stopped right after I shut the hood, did not hear it my drive to work. Then I parked and I faintly heard it, opened the door and yep, there it was. Damn noise.
 
OHC engines don't have "lifters" they have tappets (not that anyone cares about correct terminology). If the sound goes away when you start to accelerate, you've got low oil pressure to your tappets. They pump up like hydraulic lifters do when you accelerate and your oil pressure increases. If the sound is only masked by closing the hood and it is in-fact still there when the RPM's go up.... you've got a failing tappet.

Other possible issues could include timing chain guide or tensioner... although were this your problem I'd assume you'd describe the sound as much worse than a little tapping.

HIGHLY unlikely to be a valve spring issue; you'd suffer poor performance, a bit rough of an idle and less than ideal starting (you'd essentially have a dead cylinder)

Seized valve is always a possibility... but this too you'd have the symptoms described above.

Loose valve-train hardware also a possibility... but again, this would come with poor performance.


My money would be on one or more of your tappets failing or low oil pressure.
 
if it increase when you accelerate, it's almost a sure thing it's tappets. Get a stethiscope ($20-$30 at a parts store) and you'll be able to pinpoint the sound better. But usually tapping noise from the top side of the engine is tappet related. How's your oil pressure?
 
ok this car is makin me crazy... I went out there started the car, I heard the noise, I got out the car and noise changed from tapping to sounding like crickets in the front of the engine....
how can i check oil pressure? never had a light come on, the readout in the dash says oil pressure is ok.
 
Put a can of Marvel mystery oil in the crankcase and I'll bet it quietens up. I had the same problem on a BMW and used this stuff and it works very well to loosen up sticky things. A can of Seafoam in the gas tank probably wouldn't hurt if its been sitting awhile.
 
Hemihed426 said:
Put a can of Marvel mystery oil in the crankcase and I'll bet it quietens up. I had the same problem on a BMW and used this stuff and it works very well to loosen up sticky things. A can of Seafoam in the gas tank probably wouldn't hurt if its been sitting awhile.
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I heard Marvel Mystery oil is pretty much ATF? I run BMW (castrol) full synthetic (it's free). When I first drove the car I put 2 gallons of 100 octane in the car with the gas that was sittin in there. I run a bottle of full sysytem cleaner 2x a month (once again its good enough for BMW and it's free lol). I have been wanting to try some seafoam.

"Crickets could be a leaky air injection system."

How do I check for this?
 
if your car sat a while, it could be carbon deposits. had the same problem.
 
oil additives not already in the oil are by and large junk... any GOOD, experienced and up to date mechanic will tell you the same thing.

It's simple really...

Since when can liquid be a solution to a mechanical problem?

Sure, it might loosen up that junk in your engine or transmission... but lets be smart here... would you rather have that junk stay where it is, or end up at the oil pump pickup tube, moving by the filter with the other 40% that by-passes and being fed right through your crank to your bearings? Or better yet, clog your passage to one of your heads, starving your entire valve train of oil...

I'd rather let sleeping dogs lay and actually REPAIR the problem.
 
oh... almost forgot... throw in some dry-gas or some sort of fuel treatment; fuel with excess water in it can cause a great deal of problems (unlikely to be related to this problem), but still a VERY good idea.

next time when you store a vehicle for more than a month, put some STABIL in the fuel, then run it for a few minutes. This treatment helps to keep water out of the fuel and prevent it from gumming up in the lines
 
NateRW21 said:
oh... almost forgot... throw in some dry-gas or some sort of fuel treatment; fuel with excess water in it can cause a great deal of problems (unlikely to be related to this problem), but still a VERY good idea.

next time when you store a vehicle for more than a month, put some STABIL in the fuel, then run it for a few minutes. This treatment helps to keep water out of the fuel and prevent it from gumming up in the lines
Click to expand...

Car didn't sit on purpose. A spark plug blew out of the head. I had a heli coil put in. After doin a lot of research I found this is somewhat common on Ford aluminum heads. Its all over the net especially in the 5.4 F series truck engines.
 
I drove the car home last night and the noise was there. It does increase when I accelerate.
 
Sal329 said:
Car didn't sit on purpose. A spark plug blew out of the head. I had a heli coil put in. After doin a lot of research I found this is somewhat common on Ford aluminum heads. Its all over the net especially in the 5.4 F series truck engines.
Click to expand...

Very true, 5.4 F-series are the biggest culprits.
 
Sal329 said:
I drove the car home last night and the noise was there. It does increase when I accelerate.
Click to expand...

Get a stethiscope... pinpoint the noise. Chances are it's tappets. I don't know what else to tell ya!
 
Sal329 said:
Goint o see if someone in the shop has a set. How do you replace the tappets?
Click to expand...

It's somewhat time consuming; you have to disassemble the valve train. They sit under what is basicly the rocker arm. I'd get a good repair manual that shows set-up of the cams and what not before tackling this job... You might be able to remove the rockers and tappets without pulling the cams, provided you're able to compress the valve springs... It's been a while since fiddling with the valvetrain of a 4.6... I'll see if I can look into it
 
Thank you for the help. I went out to the car with the stethiscope but the tapping sound was not present. This car is messin with my head all because I have been debating on selling it lol
 
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