Hydraulic Lifter Noise

[Steve_P]

One of the lifters doesn't see to be working too well. It's normally ok at start-up, sometimes not, but once the engine is warm the ticking comes back. The oil was changed about 500 miles ago for Castrol Edge 5w40 - other
oils have been tried but the noise persists. I assume the cams have to come off to remove the lifters, so as a last try before doing this I was thinking of taking the cam cover off and pouring some lifter flush directly
around the lifters and leaving it to soak - have tried lifter flush via the oil filler and it made a marginal improvement.

Any thoughts/advice welcome Is it possible to take the lifters apart to give them a clean if I do take them out?

Cheers, Steve

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Any thoughts/advice welcome Is it possible to take the lifters apart to give them a clean if I do take them out?

Cheers, Steve

Look at these:
http://www.lotusm100.com/manuals/Lifter ... ifters.mp4
http://www.lotusm100.com/manuals/Lifter ... charge.mp4

[Steve_P]

Posting this as it might just help if you are in similar predicament with a sticky lifter. One of the lifters on my Elan has been refusing to work properly for some time (over 2 years) and has been getting steadily worse. Have tried different weight engine oils and some Liquid Moly lifter treatment - all with little or no improvement

Was just about to start working on physically removing the lifters when I found some positive comments on US forums about Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) curing lifter issues. Managed to find some MMO online from a UK supplier for £13.

Anyway, warmed the engine a bit, drained about 350 ml of oil from the sump and topped up with 350 ml (10% of oil capacity) of the Mystery Oil. Have idled the engine with some short periods of revving the engine (2-3k) and within 1 hour of running the engine the lifter noise has gone!! I would say the engine has never sounded better at idle!!!! Can't quite believe it yet as it has doggedly remained noisy for so long.

I would not feel happy driving the car with MMO in the engine, although the instructions say you can, as the oil pressure has dropped. So I will drain and change the oil before running on the road again. Fingers crossed that MMO has finally cleaned and cleared the lifter.

Hope this might help someone else with the same issue - Steve

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=marvel+mystery+oil

[sideways]

Posting this as it might just help if you are in similar predicament with a sticky lifter. One of the lifters on my Elan has been refusing to work properly for some time (over 2 years) and has been getting steadily worse. Have tried different weight engine oils and some Liquid Moly lifter treatment - all with little or no improvement

Was just about to start working on physically removing the lifters when I found some positive comments on US forums about Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) curing lifter issues. Managed to find some MMO online from a UK supplier for £13.

Anyway, warmed the engine a bit, drained about 350 ml of oil from the sump and topped up with 350 ml (10% of oil capacity) of the Mystery Oil. Have idled the engine with some short periods of revving the engine (2-3k) and within 1 hour of running the engine the lifter noise has gone!! I would say the engine has never sounded better at idle!!!! Can't quite believe it yet as it has doggedly remained noisy for so long.

I would not feel happy driving the car with MMO in the engine, although the instructions say you can, as the oil pressure has dropped. So I will drain and change the oil before running on the road again. Fingers crossed that MMO has finally cleaned and cleared the lifter.

Hope this might help someone else with the same issue - Steve

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=marvel+mystery+oil

Interesting, don't have the 'tick' in my Elan but do have it in the wife's BMW - common to that series - so I may give this mystery oil a go in HER car.

Will look for it on this side of the puddle.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Marvel Mystery Oil is available at every National DIY Store: AutoZone, Advance, Pep Boys, NAPA, O'Rileys

Look for a red can with black writing in the sprays and other chemical area.

[Simon_P]

It is mostly oil, with some phosphate "flat tappet lubricant" and a bit of cleaner.

Do you use your car regularly? I'll guess that leaving it running for an hour helped.

You can (I guess you did) read similar reviews about Liqui Moly. Similar stuff but doesn't seem to have the phosphate lubricant.

Wynns also gets good reviews.

If it worked for you great.

[Steve_P]

Simon, yes, think the problem initially started when the car was not being driven enough, probably less than 1000 miles per year. I'm just lucky the MMO stuff worked as I was gritting my teeth in anticipation of having to strip things down and service the lifters

Having just removed a door window and repaired the runners and regulator my motivation for further Elan repairs this year was wearing very thin!

[Simon_P]

I've got noisy tappets on the Blue Car which has stood for 4 years, I'll probably clean them when I do the cam belt.

I used to get one sticking on the Green car if I didn't use it and it always tapped. Cleaned the tappets when I did the engine rebuild and it was one of the most rewarding jobs I've done on the elan, but now I notice all of the other noises.

I don't think it is a big job on its own.