Engine Tappet Noise

[cavebloke]

Hi Guys,

I need some help curing a problem. I'm due to go on a long distance road trip in a couple of weeks but the engine has just started misbehaving.

When starting the engine it's making tappet noise. This is only under load though and not if you free rev the engine with the clutch in. Sometimes it goes away on its own and then it's gone for the duration of the run. But sometimes it is persistant for a long time (well beyond when the car reaches operating temp). Its occurence seems quite random - more common when the car is hot but recently happening when it's cold too.

The car is relatively new to me and only started doing this when I changed the oil/filter (breathers cleaned at the same time).

Oil is Fuchs Titan Race Pro 10w-50 fully-synthetic (as advised by Opie)
Engine is a 430 Pre-cat

Oil pressure reads 23 lbs on the guage rising to 26 lbs under throttle but never any more (this is slightly down 1-2 lbs since changing the oil).

Any ideas on what this could be and if there is a home-mechanic solution? Could it all be down to a worn oil pump???

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Simon

[cavebloke]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Kevd your post sounds like you are trying to make me look like a nutter - but I'll give it a go.

Cheers,

Simon

[cavebloke]

gateeast said:

Is it on the passenger side? If so, probably the gasket as the driver side was done after giving the same symptoms as you describe.

Hi John,

Hope you are well. Actually it was the drivers side. The rear two bolts were so loose I could turn them with my fingers. A quick nip up with a spanner and the problem appears (on initial testing) to be gone. So all is well with the world. I love a free solution.

Thanks to all who posted.

The hosepipe trick works like a charm! My alternator makes a funny noise though - I think listening to too many things might make you paranoid.

Simon