So I was heading to work a few days ago and half way there I hear this incredibly loud TAP TAP TAP from the top of the engine, the frequency varying with the revs, followed by the engine cutting out. I tried to restart it as I coasted along and it took about 10 seconds or more to get going again. It kept going, still tapping away, until it cut out a further two times before I arrived at work. When I eventually got the car home, I stripped off the cam housing and the cylinder head, hoping to find some evidence of, well, anything in the top end. Alas, the cam seems perfect, the lifters all seem to be in fair condition, and there looks to be nothing wrong in the head itself. All the valves and springs are in good order. Any ideas before I end up stripping the bottom end of the engine and rebuilding/replacing the whole damn thing?

 

I was going to say check your oil level, but then read that you just decided to go ahead and strip the whole top part of the engine off......I think you got far enough to check oil levels! haha

 

Oil was fine the entire time I've had the car. I checked it once a week and topped it up a little as needed. I'm at a serious loss as to what it could be, not ever having been further than changing the head gasket in my 924S back home.

 

A failed or stuck lifter will do that. Did all the lifters comr out easily or was one stuck? Do all the lifters pump? Try turning them in the bores they came from, do they fit smoothly and turn easily?

Also, Can you see the brand marked on all of them? All the same? If one was replaced in the past it might be an inferior brand, there were reports of a bad aftermarket on these in the past but I cannot recall the manufacturer.

 

Well scratch my comment on the lifters. I just tried giving each of them a squeeze and only 2 will compress by hand. Damn this is going to be expensive.

 

Is your cam sprocket bolt on tight?

 

Shouldn't be too expensive. Ebay always shows lifters someone's trying to sell. I'd backflush the oil galleries on the head before I ever put it back in.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the lifters that compress easily by hand the bad ones? I thought they were supposed to be pretty hard to press.

 

I'll second that thought!

 

Yes, they should press in and pop back out. That is what i meant by "pump". If they easily go in and don't pop back out there is a problem. If they cannot be pushed in there is a problem.

Sometimes with all the oil drained out they will collapse and stay in when pressed. They may be recoverable. First I would soak them in oil with the hole facing up. Leave them a few days and try "pumping them again.

 

I had them soaking over night and tried them again. Still only 2 of them pumping. If 944online will ship to me in Australia, it'll be a good bit cheaper than my other option for buying new lifters.

 

+1 thats what i thought too