Expensive Valve problems

[LOMY]

Hi,

Has any body else had trouble with 'Lash adjusters' on their VR4? These are the hydraulic seals for the valve gear. Apparently they sometimes spring a leak with a resultant tapping noise from the motor for a while on startup. In my case the noise is there but disappears quite quickly once the motor reaches operating temperature and the oil thins enough to refill the valve from scratch. I suspect it will get worse with increasing noise levels until i get it fixed but my local mitsubishi dealer is quoting £25 + VAT each for the full 24 INSERT INTO post VALUES (=£705 inc VAT). Then there is labour INSERT INTO post VALUES (4 hours quoted). Is this a common mechanical fault? Can anybody else out there get them cheaper than this ?

[Brind]

Hiya LOMY.

All Mitsubishi vehicles suffer from the tapping sound you've mentiond, it's a design fault of theirs and although they know about it they still haven't corrected it yet.

My car also had the camshaft tapping sound, while my car was being sorted under warranty they gave me a demo of theirs which was less than a year old with hardly any miles on it.. the car was in a completely different league and had a smaller engine, but alas that ticked almost as much as mine!
Their favourite method of repair is to flush the engine many times until it stops, because 9 times out of 10 it is just trapped air believe it or not.
You can go for upgraded lash adjusters which may work but replacing them with original ones will only result in you having the same problem in 6 months.
You can clean lash adjusters anyway, there is NO NEED to replace them.

I've gotta go out but read this thread: http://www.clubvr4.co.uk/forum/showt...=&threadid=154
I had only just had my VR-4 delivered to me and noticed I had the problem, didn't have it when I test drove the car before buying it.

Brind.

[LOMY]

Thanks Brind.

Sounds like you went through auto hell for a while there after getting your new car. The info was perfect and probably saved me a small fortune. Is your car still running quietly all the time or has the dreaded tapping drifted back again ? I think i will try flushing etc. Do you know what grade of oil is currently in your system as i think i'd like to try that first.

I have also noticed a slight lumpyness to the engine note at tickover sometimes and the rev counter confirms it. Not seriouly lumpy though, just slight fluttering INSERT INTO post VALUES (stabilises somewhat afetr a warm up run). I was wondering if the tickover was maybe too low at 600 rpm. What does yours tick over at INSERT INTO post VALUES (funny how we say tickover isnt it when we've just been discussing how to get rid of a tick !) ?

[Spirit]

Lomy

If it helps mine idles around 600-700rpm aswell INSERT INTO post VALUES (with climate off of course) - and just flew through the emissions part of the MOT 2 weeks ago

Pete

[haydar]

Originally posted by LOMY
Thanks Brind.

Sounds like you went through auto hell for a while there after getting your new car. The info was perfect and probably saved me a small fortune. Is your car still running quietly all the time or has the dreaded tapping drifted back again ? I think i will try flushing etc. Do you know what grade of oil is currently in your system as i think i'd like to try that first.

I have also noticed a slight lumpyness to the engine note at tickover sometimes and the rev counter confirms it. Not seriouly lumpy though, just slight fluttering INSERT INTO post VALUES (stabilises somewhat afetr a warm up run). I was wondering if the tickover was maybe too low at 600 rpm. What does yours tick over at INSERT INTO post VALUES (funny how we say tickover isnt it when we've just been discussing how to get rid of a tick !) ?

The infamous lash adjuster tick. This is a design fault and unfortunately it does get worse. My car started making the noise when it was only 2 years old and it has got worse. If you leave your car at idle INSERT INTO post VALUES (not tickover ) it'll start to tick after a few minutes. As soon as you start to drive it and the oil preasure rises, the tick will disappear. The cost of the lash adjusters is criminal!!! Not expensive, I really mean criminal!!!

If you are interested I can get you the 'upgraded' lash adjusters from Mitsubishi for about £300.00 all in. Also, my local offical Mitsubishi dealer will fit them for £245 all in. The lash adjusters for the VR4 until 2001 had a 1mm hole for the oil to enter. This was later increase to 3mm INSERT INTO post VALUES (why thy didn't do it in the first place I don't know???)

Strictly speaking though the tick should not actually damage your engine, though some say that the continuous hitting can damage the camshaft? onder: It is though bloody annoying!!! It ruins the whole affect of the car.

The lumpiness could be down to two things:-
i. Your idle is too low. Although possible this is unlikely since your ECU is controlling this.
ii. You have a slight problem with your dump valve.

Basically on turbo cars, the amount of air that can get into the system has a big affect on smooth idling. Often, if your spings in the dump value are not set right, then there can be intermitent excess back preasure. The ECU will constantly be monitoring this and will be trying to compensate with the fueling. This is why the car will feels lumpy or feels like it's producing excessive vibration.

Again, this is common on the VR4 and as soon as you put your foot down, it's as smooth as a baby's b**.

I wouldn't worry about this too much, save up and get an after-market dump valve, that's what I'm doing.:cool1:
Ssssssshhhhhhhh, don't tell the wife....:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Brind]

Seems like haydar has given some good advice.

As for tickover when warm, I can see it going down to about 600 aswell, obviously much higher again when the climate is on.
When I inititialy start the car it'll rev at 1500 or there abouts for a while.
As for the tappet noise, she's as quiet as can be! I don't use it much as it's more of a weekend car but on occasion it'll tick for less than 3 seconds but that again it very rare but I can put that down to the oil seeping back down to the sump when it's left for days, but 9 times out of 10 it'll start with no noise.
But like I said, a virtually brand new car they lent me was making the same noise..

Flushing the engine definitely worked anyway, I don't know what was used and how many times they did it since it was a main dealer who did it and they don't seem to be very forward with information like that.

I don't have any flutter what so ever on the VR-4 which is kinda odd because every other car I've owned has had a little flutter.
But you could have an air leak somewhere, maybe from your braking system, faulty plugs or leads, crap fuel, could be anything really.
Oh, mines done about 48k miles if that makes any odds.

Brind.

[calum]

Just in case you missed it when browsing the other thread - here's how to clean teh lash adjusters out.

http://www.lancerregister.com/showth...threadid=18708

Calum

[landy]

haydar,

lol

that's what i want to do: save up for a couple of dump valves, but i daren't tell the wife how much they cost :INSERT INTO post VALUES (

[BraindG]

Originally posted by calum
Just in case you missed it when browsing the other thread - here's how to clean teh lash adjusters out.

http://www.lancerregister.com/showth...threadid=18708

Calum

getting to them on a VR4 is a "slighty" different story.. however the principle is there... i was gonna do it my self.. took plastic cover off.. took a step back.. and decided its more hassle than its worth :eek: