Noisy Tappets

Honest John Back Room » The Back Room Archive
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Sun 9 Sep 2001 19:03
Noisy Tappets - Michael Thomas
I've got a Rover 623 with the Honda 2.3L engine. I'm not sure if this is 'one of those things' with the engine but the tappets are fairly noisy. Once driving the tappet noise is non-existant as I think the oil pressure is up and OK. At idle, it's audible as a ticking noise.

The car has been fully serviced and 4 years old with 60K on the clock. I'm wondering if the oil is not the right grade but other than that I'm foxed.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 9 Sep 2001 20:41
Re: Noisy Tappets - honest john
Could be that the oil isn't right. Could be that the wrong oil filter has been fitted with no non-return valve to keep as much of the oil as possible up in the head. Could be that the tappets need re-shimming.

HJ
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 9 Sep 2001 21:47
Honda D23 engine - David Lacey
This excellent engine is fitted with adjustable rocker arms and not a hydraulic tappet in sight - a bit outdated

Even when they are adjusted to their correct clearances, they can still sound a little 'rattly' due to the ancient design, I suppose.

Valve clearance adjustment on this engine is fairly straight-foward - but time consuming, remember you have SIXTEEN valves to do!

Given the age/mileage of your car, I would not expect wear on the valve mechanism. A simple adjustment should quieten things down.
If my memory serves me correctly, you will require a bent (read 'angled') feeler guage to adjust the inlet rockers accurately. Access is not good.

BTW, has the cam & balance shaft belts been replaced? They are due at 60K/5yrs (Not that I have EVER seen one fail.........)

This valve clearance check/adjust is scheduled at 24000 mile intervals - I seriously doubt many dealer technicians actually carry out this check.

If you require valve clearance info, I will report back tommorrow night after work.

Rgds

David
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 10 Sep 2001 17:21
Re: Honda D23 engine - Michael Thomas
Many thanks! I will get the oil and filter changed as I'm not happy with the quality of the oil used. It was serviced last week and it's gone from a honey colour to a dark brown already. It's not smoking or burning anything at all, it was MOT'd and lamda checked. I just think it's cheap single grade oil, it'll be worth a few quid for a flush and a quality multigrade.

As it's a Honda engine, I'd automatically assumed hydraulic tappets if there are adjustable then that's given me some piece of mind as the noise does remind me of other engines of a similar config.

It is actually due cambelt change but I had a look and they look OK but I'll get it done as prevention is always better than cure !!!!!

Thanks for the clearance check as I was not aware of that, it was Rover dealer serviced so I'd hope they did it. I will take it down to my trusted independent garage who are excellent (Courtwoods of Uxbridge) and get the oil done to start with and see what they think. I don't want to put you out so don't worry about clearance info, I'll get the garage to do it if necessary.

As ever, many thanks for the technical know how.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide