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Ron Stygar Carl Buckland Dale Beuning Forums Help
From digest.v7.n147 Wed Aug 20 19:07:18 1997 Several digests ago, I posted ( a couple of times, actually) a request to help me determine why my 1992 318is (84,000 miles) has suddenly and sporadically started a ticking lifter noise, only at idle, only when the engine is hot, only on very hot days, and only up until about 1400 rpm, at which point it stops completely. Otherwisem then engine runs just fine. Mobil 10w-30 used year round. One gentleman suggested using Risalone engine treatment, then changing the oil. That was about it from the digest. A post to the alt.bmw newsgroup got a detailed response from a gentleman in the UK who suffered the same malady. He informed me that the 10w-30 oil was probably getting a bit thin at the high temps, and that the oil was probably leaking back down past the tappets at idle, due to the normal low oil pressure encountered at idle/low rpm's. Combine this with the fact that we are talking about a 5 yearold engine, and it's not too surprising to get a bit of minor lifter noise. Anyways, as soon as I would hit the gas, the oil pressure would pick back up, and the thinner oil would begin to circulate more, covering the lifters fully/properly. He stated to try using the owners manual recommended 15w-50, at least during the hot summer months and that would probably fix the problem, at least it did in his. Well, the weather here in the DC area is significantly cooler than it has been, and of course, no ticking. I will probably drain a couple of quarts of the 500 mile old 10w-30 Mobil1 out this weekend, and add a couple of quarts of 15w-50 Mobil 1. Thought the above may help some other ticking digester..
Ron Browne |
