amsoil users, help req.

[spm01]

Morning all,
i after after a little advice on some oil from amsoil if poss please.
i want to do an oil change on my leggie but i am suffering with quite noisey tappets at present. i have used the amsoil 0W-30 before and it has cured the noise for a period but comes back.

I know this noise will never go away but i have read on here that some pople are using different types of oil but they are using oil such as 10W-30 etc and said that if the oil starts 10W then this will cure the noise for a longer period.

Can anyone comment on this as if this is the case i will buy the amsoil ATM 10W-30? i want to stick with amsoil but i just want to see what other people are using out of their range.

thanks.

[orionn2o]

If the tapping really annoys you, you could get some uprated lash adjusters and have silence forever more!

[Wodjno]

Morning all,
i after after a little advice on some oil from amsoil if poss please.
i want to do an oil change on my leggie but i am suffering with quite noisey tappets at present. i have used the amsoil 0W-30 before and it has cured the noise for a period but comes back.

I know this noise will never go away but i have read on here that some pople are using different types of oil but they are using oil such as 10W-30 etc and said that if the oil starts 10W then this will cure the noise for a longer period.

Can anyone comment on this as if this is the case i will buy the amsoil ATM 10W-30? i want to stick with amsoil but i just want to see what other people are using out of their range.

thanks.

Hi Mate

i used 0-30 amsoil for quite a few years in my 1st Vr4.. And Tappety noise was kept quiet as long as you thrashed it within an inch of it's life /yes Of which i did regularly :D

But on the present VR it's not driven so hard so Tappety noise was more apparent..

I came to a conclusion that Oil pressure must be having an affect on oil being put to the top of the engine and wondered if a diffeent grade of oil would make the difference ?
I changed to Silkolene Pro S 5-40... And the difference is amazing /yes no more tappety Tappety. It does occasionally Tap at start up but soon dissapears withing a few seconds. The car isn't driven hard that much and the oil is doing a great job .. I know a couple of Members using the same oil and heard good results from them also..
I'd recommend it /GJ

Cheers

Wodj

[Beastlee]

I tried Mobil 1 5w30 as an emergency oil change and my tappets are very quiet in comparison to when I use Amsoil. I'm due to go back to Amsoil very soon and will be interested to see the levels of tapet noise I get.

[spm01]

thanks for your replies everyone. interesting to see the different oils used.

i used to use Silkolene on my civic many years ago and didn't have a porblem with it, just never thought of it for the vr4.

orionn2o, if i had the £££ for new i would but just dont have it at the moment with all the other parts i have just had to change.

might try silkolene again for a time and see if there is any difference.

[amsoil]

This tappet noise problem has been the subject of heated debate for many years. It is good to revisit it from time to time as the membership of the club turns over.
The problem is that the bore diameter of the oilways to and in the hydraulic tappets is marginal. All is/was fine when the cars were new but this is not the case nowadays. You must also remember that 5 years was the expected life of the cars in Japan.
The result of using a poor oil over time is that there is a buildup of gunge in both oilways and the tappets themselves. There is also wear in the tappet bores and the outsides of the tappets themselves too. The reduced flow , stickiness of the hydraulic pump up tappets and wear allowing easier bleeding off of the oil pressure + inevitable wear in the pump (which can drop the flow/pressure) can lead to a situation where the tappets do not pump up quickly on starting and when the oil thins as it gets hot (and different components expand at differing rates to vary clearances) the pump pressure is insufficient to maintain continuous internal pressure inside the tappets to prevent lash noise.
This actually has very little to do with the oil. A thinner oil (0w-30) may be too thin for an engine with these problems, although it is the best oil. A 5w-40 will likely maintain the tappet pressure as the ticker grade of oil will be slower at bleeding away from the now slightly worn components. Perhaps a 10w-40 would be a better choice as the smaller gap between the numbers will give a more robust oil which is necessary for its survivability especially given the cooling and lubrication needed for the turbo.
But this is not the full story. Yes you can fit uprated lash adjusters, Larger oilway and no wear on the tappet so better sealing too. but it costs money.
The thicker oils will of course flow slower and therefore not strip the heat away from the turbos and pistons/ bearings so well. The engine will run hotter and the extra drag will reduce MPG and a few BHP. The problem may also be simply that the radiator is old and that overtime it has lost efficiency leading to the engine running a little hotter than originally. The hotter running thins the oil and the thinner oil may not be able to maintain the internal tappet pressure to prevent the tappet noise which is where we came in. In the same vein a proper oil cooler may well be effective.
So no it is not a clear cut problem but rather one of an accululation of very minor ones which finally gives the noisy result. But if you do use a thicker oil as a prop to mask the problem do consider a 10w-40 rather than a 5w-40.