tap tappety tap tap

[Brodie320]

Hi guys.

Can anyone shed some light on an annoying noise coming from my engine area.
When driving the car I can hear what sounds like tappets, the noise is a bit like the one we all used to make when pretending to fire a machine gun in the playground at school (dont pretend you dont know what i mean)

The noise gets quicker under acceleration but isnt noticable at tickover, only when the car is moving/accelerating.

Strangley I can only hear it when inside the car, when standing outside and revving it, bonnet up or down, I cant really hear it anymore.

I would have sworn it was tappets or a manifold/exhaust leak but the fact I only hear it from inside the car has me stumped.

The car is a 93' 318i tourer.

[cass1_5503]

typical 318i im afraid the cam lobes wear due to oil starvation from the oil spray bar common problem not many m40 engines that dont tap

[march109]

You can try putting a blob of blu tak under the BMW roundel on the steering wheel, this has been said to reduce cabin noise, sounds mad butit works.

But this is a characteristic of hydraulicaly adjusted tappets, like the M40 and CVH. Try some diesel oil in her for a couple hundred miles or until the noise dies down, then change back to the right spec oil and fresh filter. Oil meant for Diesel engines has more detergents and has been known to help, previously suggested by Brian Moore himself.

[Brodie320]

good advice, may try that thanks.

is there anything that can be done to eliminate the problem meachanically? is a cam change a good fix? is it worth removing and cleaning the spray bar?

[rossd]

You can try putting a blob of blu tak under the BMW roundel on the steering wheel, this has been said to reduce cabin noise, sounds mad butit works

Ive got a tappy M42, ive always thought the noise sounds from behind the steering wheel
Im going to change the timing chain pre tensioner at the weekend but might do this also

thanks for that mate

[scottidog]

you could always put the radio on, or earplugs are a cheap fix

[magpie]

let me know how the m42 pre tensioner change went...
how much is one and are you going bmw part?

[H7AVY]

Sorry to but into the thread. My 325i's similar its also got a sight whistle to it aswell i thaught it was the heaters frst switched them off and was still there its like a whistle to wen your driving can't explain it apart from when your kids you try making the sounds of an engine sounds bit like that got me confused dont no what it is? any suggestion guys?

[Brodie320]

you could always put the radio on, or earplugs are a cheap fix

Hence the fitting of a tasty stereo system...
but i get enough stick from my mates from driving around in what I consider a retro beauty, but what they consider an £800 shed....
If I could make the engine purr like a kitten and nice and quiet...I reckon id get more kudos!
Plus I love my car, I want it to perform like it did when it was new.

Any more advances on blue tack and diesel oil?!

What if I change the spray bar?

[Elecblondie]

It'll help with wear prevention but not cure any existing problem presumably.

[Brodie320]

i still dont get what the problem is exactly?!

surely its possible to eliminate the cause of the tapping sound ?

[Ilkorin]

The problem is the spray bar and hydraulic adjusters were an early design and were a weak point on the M40 and tended to get clogged. So after you've done a good 100k plus miles, the oil starvation and poor tappet adjustment means the camshaft starts to wear on the lobes and soon it starts sounding like a diesel. There's nothing you can do but live with it or replace the camshaft....(or this blutack thing - gotta try that!)

I got a new head with camshaft for £120 off a zoner and it fixed the noise

[Brodie320]

tried the blutack thing....dont believe the hype.


camshaft replacement - im a novice so guessing its beyond my own skills? how much to have this carried out at a garage roughly?
plus- are there any performance cams worthy using instead?

[Ilkorin]

I'm pretty much a novice also, but I ended up replacing the whole head! It's a good few hours worth of work just doing that though, but when you think about pulling off the existing head, getting the camshaft off putting a new one in with new seals etc. then putting it back on the labour costs will soon add up.... If you are interested though, I have my old head minus camshaft if you want to recondition that slowly and keep the car on the road (blatant selling :p)

Catcams? Schrick? Not sure if it's worth sinking money into performance cams for the M40 really.....it's probably better saving up for that engine swap

[Brodie320]

I might just have your spare head actually, would be fun getting it cleaned and putting a new cam in then fitting it all back together.

Just out of interest .... does anyone know the costs involved if I were to ask a garage to do the work for me?

What parts would I need to buy if I decide to carry out all the work myself?

[Ilkorin]

When I put the new head on, I got a big gasket set which had the whole lot, including stem seals and the like, so I'm guessing you'd just end up getting a camshaft kit with rockers and lifters (they'll need replacing because they'll be worn and gummed up no end). Never tried to recondition a head, but it sounds quite fiddly - although if you had a garage/kitchen table you could do it in the warm indoors and it'll make it infinitely more pleasant.....

you can have the old head for scrap value if you want it (although I have no idea how much that is nowadays)...obviously postage becomes a whole new kettle of fish....I've got a couple of seals and bits from that gasket set but I'd still recommend getting a new set to make sure - think of them as spares (yes yes, I'll move the selling to pm now)