E30 Zone

Hi guys,
I have raised this topic before and have gotten nowhere so far.
Basically i have a tapping in the top end, sounds like someone is gently tapping the inside of my rocker cover with a metal toffee hammer.
I have adjusted the clearences 3 times now, well once and the other times there was no need they were perfect!
The only thing i know is that its not there for a good 30-60 seconds until the engine warms then it appears! Its deff not the injectors as the tap is much more prominent and to my fears getting louder.

Any ideas?
its a 320i with 63K on her

Have you checked the oil spay bar?

yea i have had the bar out, cleaned it totally, replaced it and seems to spray ok. unfortunatly i have no way to check the oil pressure.

could it be the lifters ? ? ?

lifters?

the hydralic lifters mate my m42 318is had a noisy / tappy top end and not that i want to scare you but then on the way to london engine blew up becuse they had callapsed inside he engine dunno if all engines have them

Try a new spray bar, it is nigh on impossible to clean them out properly.

A new spray bar is not that expensive.

You don't have hydraulic lifters.

no its a 6pot and they dont have tappets/lifters. just camshaft to rocker to valve.

oh sory mate thats what happeed to mine thats all i know sorry for the info being wrong matey good luck

oh sory mate thats what happeed to mine thats all i know sorry for the info being wrong matey good luck

no worries all input is good m8

have been for a good long listen and the tap is almost def comming for one part of the rocker cover inlet side around cyl 2!!?? does this help

rocker shafts then mate

ajm e30
i know it off topic but the car in you sig is absaloutlly stunning i love it i hope i can have a car like that one day

belongs to a guy in germany, full bare metal resto, all original bmw parts

amazing theorange ne in the sig is also stunning is that bad boy yours ???

if it were shafts, for example what sorta costs you think this will impose?
is it one/two shafts? i forget!
will i need all new rockers etc too?
cam?

you cant get the shafts out unless the head is off,its got two shafts mate so while they are out i would buy new rockers as well, so all in you will the above plus headset(gasket-set) head gasket, head bolts, may as well change the waterpump and belt while your at it. adam

shit that sounds expensive! poor cars only done 63K and has been treated so well throughout lol typical

headset is £28,bolts£15,pump£25,belt kit£35,rockers£8each,rocker shafts £18each, i priced these from gsf though and im trade

nightroamer ,

Check your camshaft for scoring marks on the lobes. My spraybar got plugged with gasket material and has trashed 3 of the lobes on the cam. Lift the rocker lid and turn the engine over with a ratchet on the bottom drive pully. That way you can check each lobe in turn. If it is the cam then its replacment im afraid.

Would also check the rockers for any nasty wear on the pads. I have a pick somewhere



HTH

lee

Cheers Lee, ill have a good look tomorrow but i would have checked shaft b4 def and was fine! its odd, usually i would expect wear to show less at temp than when cold in terms of noise

Ok i have taken a look and can find no scoring on the cam, and no shift of the rockers on the shafts !!?? Help
Now i realy am stumped, the noise is around cyl 2 or 5 whichever is the drivers end! and sounds like inlet but nothing seems wrong!?

anyone in the basingstoke area with am eye for this? otherwise im gonna have to go to a mechanic and i only trust bmw as im new to the area!

Have you tried running the engine with the rocker cover off, after getting it warmed up first and at the tapping noise. Then with a hammer shaft or your fingers, push on the suspected rocker and try and isolate the culprit. Could be a bit messy with oil flying about, but at least you might focus on the problem.

i tried this today to no avail, i will try again tomorrow but its so irritating i think im going mad lol
a tappet would be noisier cold than hot when mal adjusted but mine is reverse!?

Another thing to check is that the exhaust gaskets aren't leaking or manifold studs have broken / snapped.

From what i remember there is a post on this somewhere.

Im sure it makes a sound like you have cam problems.

I could be wrong , but its worth a look.

lee

Ok guys just been down and reajusted all rockers from fresh, i.e. off adjusted and started afresh. has made no difference, again tap starts as soon as engine warms. Only thing i could find was a potential warn cam lob on cyl 5 inlet. there are no scores or scratches as such but its profile looks slightly smaller than the others, this may just be me being paranoid but would this shound worse hot??
If it is the camshaft what else should be replaced at the same time other than the spray bar!?

Thanks guys

Tom

Worn camshaft is easy to see as the rocker doesn't cover the full width of the lobe. If there is any ridge between the shiny part of the top of the cam lobe and the browner areas each side, the cam is worn out.

Worn camshaft is easy to see as the rocker doesn't cover the full width of the lobe. If there is any ridge between the shiny part of the top of the cam lobe and the browner areas each side, the cam is worn out.

thats the thing i couldnt feel any ridges and i had a damn good look! its baffling me!

anyone know what else i gotta replace if i do camshaft

Have you found which tappet it is? see my earlier suggestion. Wouldn't plan on stripping down until you have identified the fault, as you could spend a shedload of money and effort and the tapping may still be there.

i tried and this made no difference no matter how hard i pushed, although this is a little hard when its running! i will have to see a mechanic i think! more money..............