1992 Audi 80 2.0E - ticking when warm

Yes, automatic valve clearance. You'll only hear them when cold and for seconds only. No idea about your problem though.

Ronald

That is a possibility, but it could also be a lazy hydraulic tappet (ie the bit that does the auto valve clearance adjustment. The two sound quite similar: A friend once had a Mk3 Escort, with hydraulic tappets, and spent a lot of time with engine flush and the like trying to cure the tapping. He was on the verge of changing them, but asked a mechanic to look first. He found several loose manifold nuts. If it is the tappets, it's not too bad a job. You have to remove the camshaft, but then the bucket tappets just lift out.

My 1988 Audi 100 makes a similar noise, and I was told it's from a hydraulic tappet. They said I shouldn't worry, which is difficult. Is it true that it doesn't matter?

Christoph

Christoph, Yes, it's true that it doesn't matter. My '87 5ktq had some noisy lifters when I got it a few years ago, the switch to synthetic oil and proper filter (with a check valve) helped somewhat - I also used an engine flush which helped immensely, and I put a can of (IIRC) Wynn's Engine Restore in with every oil fill. I've heard some Audis that sound like they have a typewriter under the hood - the common advice is that it won't hurt the engine, just your pride when every pedestrian turns to see your clattering car. If it worries you so much, the hydraulic tappets are fairly easy to replace (just pull the camshaft and replace the tappets), and not too expensive to buy. Since the job involves releasing the timing belt - you could change it as well while you're in there... Cheers! Steve Sears

1987 Audi 5kTQ 1980 Audi 5k 1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes (SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply) 8< snip

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the advice. I will probably try to play around with the engine flush and type of oil. I don't feel comfortable (yet) to mess around with the camshaft and valves yet.

Christoph

My 1988 A100 has the tappet problem occasionally. Strangely it always does it on the journey home from Speedway! This particular journey is usually at night (so cool) and starts with queuing. After I clear the queue I can hear it clicking for about 1 mile before it clears. Don't know if there's some theory behind that. When I first got my car a mechanic said sounds like a cracked exhaust manifold. So I investigated and indeed it was. A broken studd too. Horrible job fixing that. This was many years ago but I seem to remember that noise was a little louder than the tappets one. More of a slap than a tap. This noise was worse when cold too. I'm guessing expansion in the heat closes up any gaps.

Gary

Rather than experimenting with filters I would suggest that you buy the Audi OEM filter (Mahle). They support a higher volume of oil flow than most after market filters which may, very well be, be one source of the problem. They will cost very little more than after market filters.

T> Hi Steve,

Hi again,

Just to make sure I understand this correctly:

Do you mean the oil filter? I didn't know there were any with or without check valve.

I asked someone at a spares shop today who used to work for Audi/VW. He thought an engine flush is not a good idea at such a high mileage (220 k km), since it would remove some of the carbon which holds the oil in place.

I don't know whether that's available here, will have to check.

Thanks anyway, I will keep you updated.

Christoph

Christoph, Yes, the correct oil filter has an internal check valve that holds the oil in the engine's passages when the car is not running. As Tony said, the proper Mahle (make sure it's the correct one, some don't have the valve) or Bosch (ditto) ones will help. Unfortunately, some filters (Purolator, etc.) fit on the engine but either do not have the check valve - allowing the oil to drain into the pan while stopped - or, even worse and common on a certain Orange filter - the filter media offers too much resistance to the high flow of oil causing media implosion and the fluffy bits get sucked into the engine causing blockages in the oil passageways. A search on Audifans or Audiworld should give you the correct Mahle part number. The Engine Flush (only did it once) worked for me, but of course, YMMV, etc. etc. The hydraulic lifters appear to be gummed up causing them to stick. Of course, any liquid that will remove the sticky stuff around the lifter will also remove sticky stuff that is sealing the old, dried up gaskets in the engine. Apparently Synthetic Oil - true stuff like Mobil 1 (not Castrol Syntec) - will do the same, just not as aggressively. I noticed a huge increase in leakage when I put the M1 in my old 5000 - turns out that synthetic also shrinks cork gaskets - such as the ones installed on the valve covers of old Type 43 Audis. Wynns seems to work a bit for me - it's on sale every once in a while. If anything, it makes me feel better knowing I'm doing something to combat the sound. Cheers! Steve Sears

1987 Audi 5kTQ 1980 Audi 5k 1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes (SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"Christoph Bollig" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...