Love my tappets
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- payaya
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Re: Love my tappets
That single tap noise can be serveral lifters being noisy. Sounds like one but could be more than that.
I know on my last set of lifters a single tap resulted in three lifters that I know of being noisy.
Sure your cam timing is bang on? Sometimes it's easy to get the cam on the left side of engine wrong. Your crappy idle seems to point to a cam being one tooth off?
I know on my last set of lifters a single tap resulted in three lifters that I know of being noisy.
Sure your cam timing is bang on? Sometimes it's easy to get the cam on the left side of engine wrong. Your crappy idle seems to point to a cam being one tooth off?
- Vectose
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Re: Love my tappets
Yeah, timing was spot on when we did it. Crappy idle is I believe the stepper motor, it's still the original and I usually get a rough cold start.
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- PHIL069
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Re: Love my tappets
Akys told me that his engine idled like that after adding a pod filter and intake pipe, as the ecu can't quite get idle correct
mikeey01nzl wrote:Hats off to you too Phil for spending so much time on the phone trying to help someone out, your a top man and only a few would've spent so much time. well done!![]()
Daniel2019 wrote:Come on phil, we bonded at the bonfire, lets be honest here...me and phil are besties now...![]()
- ZFL45H1
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- PHIL069
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Re: Love my tappets
Vectose, I ran your issue past a tafe teacher today and he said.....
The sludge may have been making your tappets quiter/muffled and when we played with them and disturbed the sludge they became noisey. He thinks it sounds like that one or more of your lifters are not getting/filling with oil due to sludge blocked oil galleries. He suggests that you idle your engine with the front rocker cover removed and touch/feel with your hands, the rockers and lifters, and you should be able to pin point the ones that are noisey due to the vibration/knock that you will feel. You should be able to see if the noisey lifter is oil filled by pressing on it and looking for oil escaping. He also suggests that it may take up to 4 engine flushes and oil changes to clear the galleries. He said that you should go for 20-30 min non-spirited drives with the engine flush mixed in with the oil and then drain and replace with fresh oil. Change the new oil after 1000km of driving, but do more engine flush before the oil change. repeat upto 4 times and it should clear out your galleries of sludge.
Good Luck
The sludge may have been making your tappets quiter/muffled and when we played with them and disturbed the sludge they became noisey. He thinks it sounds like that one or more of your lifters are not getting/filling with oil due to sludge blocked oil galleries. He suggests that you idle your engine with the front rocker cover removed and touch/feel with your hands, the rockers and lifters, and you should be able to pin point the ones that are noisey due to the vibration/knock that you will feel. You should be able to see if the noisey lifter is oil filled by pressing on it and looking for oil escaping. He also suggests that it may take up to 4 engine flushes and oil changes to clear the galleries. He said that you should go for 20-30 min non-spirited drives with the engine flush mixed in with the oil and then drain and replace with fresh oil. Change the new oil after 1000km of driving, but do more engine flush before the oil change. repeat upto 4 times and it should clear out your galleries of sludge.
Good Luck
mikeey01nzl wrote:Hats off to you too Phil for spending so much time on the phone trying to help someone out, your a top man and only a few would've spent so much time. well done!![]()
Daniel2019 wrote:Come on phil, we bonded at the bonfire, lets be honest here...me and phil are besties now...![]()
- payaya
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Re: Love my tappets
This is what I have learnt from reading crap on the net and from people telling me stops lifter noise.
Engine flush to fix lifter noise - Doesn't work.
Thinner oil/ticker oil - Doesn't work.
Genuine oil filter - Doesn't work.
Cleaning lifters - Does work but noise comes back quick.
Bleeding lifters by cycling rpm - Doesn't work.
Cleaning oil galleries - Doesn't work.
ATF in oil to clean lifters - Doesn't work.
Nulon lifter free - Doesn't work.
Pumping all lifters manually and eliminating lifters then are able to be compressed. Used lifters from old set and made sure there was not play in any lifter - Doesn't work.
It's not the lifter is not getting oil, its more the lifter cannot keep oil from bleeding out of it, causing too much lash which causes the tap. A whole point of a lash adjuster (lifter) is to keep the lash to within spec to stop the tick. What happens with a mivec when it gets noisy? You do a lifter adjustment. Same theory with a hydaulic one, it does the adjustment for you, but a bad lifter cannot do this.
Nothing works except replacing them!! If there was a miracle cure wouldn't it be known now? Mitsubishi's have been ticking for decades now!
Also it doesn't help when you do more than one thing at once and get ahead of yourself. I always will do one thing at a time to make sure it's right. So if you just did your timing belt and had a good drive and then doing your lifters and the noise started then, you then know it's your lifters.
But doing timing and lifters at once, now you don't know if it's your lifters of your timings off. Its so easy to get your timing off one tooth even when it looks like the timing is bang on.
Engine flush to fix lifter noise - Doesn't work.
Thinner oil/ticker oil - Doesn't work.
Genuine oil filter - Doesn't work.
Cleaning lifters - Does work but noise comes back quick.
Bleeding lifters by cycling rpm - Doesn't work.
Cleaning oil galleries - Doesn't work.
ATF in oil to clean lifters - Doesn't work.
Nulon lifter free - Doesn't work.
Pumping all lifters manually and eliminating lifters then are able to be compressed. Used lifters from old set and made sure there was not play in any lifter - Doesn't work.
It's not the lifter is not getting oil, its more the lifter cannot keep oil from bleeding out of it, causing too much lash which causes the tap. A whole point of a lash adjuster (lifter) is to keep the lash to within spec to stop the tick. What happens with a mivec when it gets noisy? You do a lifter adjustment. Same theory with a hydaulic one, it does the adjustment for you, but a bad lifter cannot do this.
Nothing works except replacing them!! If there was a miracle cure wouldn't it be known now? Mitsubishi's have been ticking for decades now!
Also it doesn't help when you do more than one thing at once and get ahead of yourself. I always will do one thing at a time to make sure it's right. So if you just did your timing belt and had a good drive and then doing your lifters and the noise started then, you then know it's your lifters.
But doing timing and lifters at once, now you don't know if it's your lifters of your timings off. Its so easy to get your timing off one tooth even when it looks like the timing is bang on.
- PHIL069
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Re: Love my tappets
WE adjusted tappets and then lifters started ticking instantly, the tappets were already out triple spec gap, we corrected this back to spec.
Weeks later we replaced the timing belt, the original timing belt was out by one tooth and we corrected this with the new belt (cycled through engine rotation 6 times just to tripple check timing marks), lifter noise remained after belt replacement, power increased after belt replacement.
Weeks later we replaced the timing belt, the original timing belt was out by one tooth and we corrected this with the new belt (cycled through engine rotation 6 times just to tripple check timing marks), lifter noise remained after belt replacement, power increased after belt replacement.
mikeey01nzl wrote:Hats off to you too Phil for spending so much time on the phone trying to help someone out, your a top man and only a few would've spent so much time. well done!![]()
Daniel2019 wrote:Come on phil, we bonded at the bonfire, lets be honest here...me and phil are besties now...![]()
- payaya
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Re: Love my tappets
Ah I sort of see whats going on now. I never have bothered looking at tappets adjustment threads as mine is a GR. Looks like not only the mivec has valves that need adjusting, but also has a lash adjuster for every two valves?
So in reality you need a good lifter in a GR to keep it quite and you need a proper adjustment of valve clearances and a good hydraulic lifter to keep it quiet?
If your hydraulic lifter is no good how are you meant to properly adjust the valve? Adjusting valves to specs is one thing but if the spec of the lifter is no good, you basically will never be able to get a proper adjustment which could make the issue worse! Bad lifter will give too much lash causing your valve adjustment to get screwed up.
So no one has replaced a mivecs lifter? No wonder so many FTO's I hear sound like crap. Most I hear either rattle of tick.
So in reality you need a good lifter in a GR to keep it quite and you need a proper adjustment of valve clearances and a good hydraulic lifter to keep it quiet?
If your hydraulic lifter is no good how are you meant to properly adjust the valve? Adjusting valves to specs is one thing but if the spec of the lifter is no good, you basically will never be able to get a proper adjustment which could make the issue worse! Bad lifter will give too much lash causing your valve adjustment to get screwed up.
So no one has replaced a mivecs lifter? No wonder so many FTO's I hear sound like crap. Most I hear either rattle of tick.
Last edited by payaya on Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- payaya
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Re: Love my tappets
Tappets, lifters, lash adjuster, all the same thing??PHIL069 wrote:WE adjusted tappets and then lifters started ticking instantly, the tappets were already out triple spec gap, we corrected this back to spec.
Weeks later we replaced the timing belt, the original timing belt was out by one tooth and we corrected this with the new belt (cycled through engine rotation 6 times just to tripple check timing marks), lifter noise remained after belt replacement, power increased after belt replacement.
As you say adjusting the tappets, you mean you are adjusting your valve clearences right? This has nothing to do with adjusting a lash adjuster???
In thread viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7582
Why is everyone referring to this picture as a tappet?? So confused!!!

Where is the tappet??? The Mivec has hydraulic lifter like the GR and no adjustment will make the tick go away if the lifter is bad.
The valve adjustment was probably in spec but out of spec with a bad lifter causing you to make the issue worse by putting it in spec???
- PHIL069
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Re: Love my tappets
Yes, we adjusted the valve clearances back to specs, (aka....done a valve set)
Blue arrows = Rocker arm spring (hydraulic tappets)........
Blue arrows = Rocker arm spring (hydraulic tappets)........
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mikeey01nzl wrote:Hats off to you too Phil for spending so much time on the phone trying to help someone out, your a top man and only a few would've spent so much time. well done!![]()
Daniel2019 wrote:Come on phil, we bonded at the bonfire, lets be honest here...me and phil are besties now...![]()
- payaya
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Re: Love my tappets
So the lash is taken up by the tappets. So even with a proper valve adjustment it may not solve your ticking issues. I mainly adjust valves if the engine is running a tad rough and thats it. Going by the marks fresh marks on the left rocker arm defiantly looks like it's slapping against the lifter! Tick tick tick!!PHIL069 wrote:Yes, we adjusted the valve clearances back to specs, (aka....done a valve set)
Blue arrows = Rocker arm spring (hydraulic tappets)........
- PHIL069
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Re: Love my tappets
OK IT'S TIME
I'm happy to have a tappet DIY @ mine on Saturday 29th September. Due to popular demand
We can only get through so many in one day though. We can go through to Sunday if required, sleeping over will be a bit tight, although I do have floor space.
I live at Blue Haven on the Central Coast. We have to work without cover, so it will be weather permitting.
I would like to request the help of ZFL45H1 and Vectose and any other members, to help members strip down their engines.
Members on top of the list; ie first dibs are........
1.Daniel2019
2.bass_twitch
3.Crosso
4.ninpofto
Note: I know I can adjust your tappets back to specs, if you end up with more noise after adjusting I am not to be held responsable
P.S. I drink Jim Beam and I like FTO spare parts
I'm happy to have a tappet DIY @ mine on Saturday 29th September. Due to popular demand

We can only get through so many in one day though. We can go through to Sunday if required, sleeping over will be a bit tight, although I do have floor space.
I live at Blue Haven on the Central Coast. We have to work without cover, so it will be weather permitting.
I would like to request the help of ZFL45H1 and Vectose and any other members, to help members strip down their engines.
Members on top of the list; ie first dibs are........
1.Daniel2019
2.bass_twitch
3.Crosso
4.ninpofto
Note: I know I can adjust your tappets back to specs, if you end up with more noise after adjusting I am not to be held responsable

P.S. I drink Jim Beam and I like FTO spare parts

mikeey01nzl wrote:Hats off to you too Phil for spending so much time on the phone trying to help someone out, your a top man and only a few would've spent so much time. well done!![]()
Daniel2019 wrote:Come on phil, we bonded at the bonfire, lets be honest here...me and phil are besties now...![]()
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Re: Love my tappets
sorry just seeing your on the central coast otherwise id be there.
- PHIL069
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Re: Love my tappets
Blue Haven 2262, Google maps ithogan wrote:id be interested in dropping up, where you located? add me to the list thanks

Will you be coming for tappet adjust on yours or to help others?
If tappet adjust, I will have to put you on reserve pending turnout & time.
EDIT: it's only about 1 hour 30min Drive from the City
mikeey01nzl wrote:Hats off to you too Phil for spending so much time on the phone trying to help someone out, your a top man and only a few would've spent so much time. well done!![]()
Daniel2019 wrote:Come on phil, we bonded at the bonfire, lets be honest here...me and phil are besties now...![]()
- Daniel2019
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Re: Love my tappets
Sounds awesome Phil 
Im in, pending work. I'll try and get time off for it. I dont usually work Saturdays so it should be fine.
Cheers bestie!

Im in, pending work. I'll try and get time off for it. I dont usually work Saturdays so it should be fine.
Cheers bestie!
I fix cars.
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- ZFL45H1
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Re: Love my tappets
Dam all the fun things are happening while I'm away I'll be on my cruise going to isle of pines and islands around with my girlfriend for our 5 year anniversary other wise I'd be there unless I can work out a way to make my Fto a submarine I don't see y not if Phil can make a space ship one
still sorry guys I'm so angry now I wanna help just make sure u plug your injectors in hahaha

gotta get there one day :)
- Vectose
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Re: Love my tappets
I can come down and help out with stripping the top of the engines down.
Bennoz wrote:A whoooole lot 'o jismTechnikhaus wrote:What is in said Bens big penis by the way?
- ZFL45H1
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Re: Love my tappets
Vectose did u read lolPHIL069 wrote:OK IT'S TIME
I would like to request the help of ZFL45H1 and Vectose and any other members, to help members strip down their engines.
gotta get there one day :)
- Vectose
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Re: Love my tappets

Bennoz wrote:A whoooole lot 'o jismTechnikhaus wrote:What is in said Bens big penis by the way?
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