E30 Zone

hello folks, my 1990 318is, has a tapping noise coming from the engine, i've been told it's the hydraulic tappets, one garage, said that a flush, an oil change and a new filter, might solve the problem, other than that, new tappets, has anyone got any advice, ideas, any guesses as to how much i might be to getting this sorted? cheers don.

Alright mate,

Engine flushing usually does more harm than good on older cars and hence making the noise louder.

Probably the first thing to check is the valve clearance which is a pretty simple job (Ԛ£30 at a garage or Ԛ£60 at a dealers). I was under the opinion that the tappets on these engines are non-adjustable but others on here say im wrong.

If not those, could be others but check the above first.

Good luck

thanks for the advice mate, cheers

massive wrote:Alright mate,

I was under the opinion that the tappets on these engines are non-adjustable but others on here say im wrong.

Your opinion is correct mate Hydraulic tappetts are non-adjustable but on the M20 engine (which is what is being referred to on the other tappetts post) the tappetts are not hydraulic and can be adjusted.

Cheers

are the tappets on the m42 hydraulic or adjustable?

just a quickie,people say 'make sure car hasnt been run for 6 hours' before you do your tappets. so what to dealers do? wait 6 hours? or use a different feeler gauge?

massive wrote:. I was under the opinion that the tappets on these engines are non-adjustable but others on here say im wrong.

No knowledgeable person on here has told you that M42 tappets are adjustable. If anyone did post this, then they would have quickly been corrected.
For the record - M10 and M20 have adjustable tappets. M40 and M42 do not.
M20 and M40 have timing belts. M10 and M42 have chains.

First garage was right in that an oil flush etc. MIGHT solve the problem, (clogged tappets), but in practice a flush is more likely to make them worse, (worn tappets).
If it just taps when cold or when idling, then it's nothing to worry about. It's non destructive and has little effect on performance.

telski789 wrote:just a quickie,people say 'make sure car hasnt been run for 6 hours' before you do your tappets. so what to dealers do? wait 6 hours? or use a different feeler gauge?

Where i work we ask that the car is dropped off the night before, it then spends the night on the ramp where it will be worked on the following morning