Noisy lifters EA82

stempy07 · Post by **stempy07** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 7:45 am

didn't check clearances or oil pressure, have tried thin [ rattles, leaks ] and thick oil, as mentioned in early post car had been idle in paddock for some time, AND had horrific lifter noise when i bought it, doesn't use oil or blow smoke, did 3 oil and filter changes in approx; 2000 klms, what really amazed me is how the ATF turned a nightmare into a [ is the engine running ] situation, its a great car [ LUV EM] but am not going to delve any further $$$$, if they are born with it i'll continue to play with it.

stempy07 · Post by **stempy07** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 7:47 am

slight colour change

discopotato03 · Post by **discopotato03** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:25 am

I can only say what my experiences have been with the 64000 Ks I did on my 86 RX Turbos original engine , 249K when I bought it , and the 60K I've done on my rebuilt XT4 engine .
Whenever my belts have had any slack in them the valve train has made more noise . My original engine was making a bit of noise before it broke a belt not long before the engine change , surprisingly quiet when the belts/ tensioners/idlers were replaced .
And the fresh engine , once run in it sounded a little tappety so I reset the tensioners and it was quiet again . About all you could hear was the injectors clicking .
I'm sure I mentioned this already but the fella that rebuilt my engine gutted two pivots found nothing wrong so left the other 6 alone . I'm sure he would have washed them and you do cases and heads and blow everything clean anyway .
I think the bottom line is if you like your engines you do regular oil changes , 5000 km is my MAXIMUM no ifs and buts and my last was at 4000 Km because I changed to Shell Rotella T6 5W40 . I have found that engines with tapping hydraulics run quieter on diesel oils and there must be a reason for this . I have used Shell Helix 10W40 diesel oil in my Evo 6 as flushing oil and it ran quieter than the bike Mobil 1 (4T racing) it replaced . It was also used as mentioned in Ellies XT4 engine with no dramas . The 5W40 feels to run a bit more freely when cold though my engines get a short 1-3 minutes warm up when cold anyway .
You are going to be pushing it uphill with a pointy stick when getting around using high mileage engines . Crank seals are getting tired and no doubt the oil pump too if the engines not been serviced propery throughout its life . If anything high mileage engines need MORE frequent servicing than younger ones because they contaminate their oil faster reducing its ability to protect properly . I DONT GIVE A RATS what dealers/manufacturers say about more current cars and less frequent servicing . NO one EVER killed an engine by changing oil and filters MORE frequently than manufactures say to .
Oil changes colour for a reason and that reason is its absorbed generally fuel or condensation and or combustion by products . It may have been badly overheated but thats not something you would expect to see in a street EA82engine . If your engine leaks oil the seals need changing . If they don't seal oil in then its highly likely they wont seal air dust crud etc out . Engine will run like crap if its breathing in air and oil vapours from leaking oil seals . There is no magic bullet with high mileage engines though people think I can run it into the ground because its worth nothing to sell .
I have no idea what ATF does to seals bearings etc but if I was going to do that I'd do it with clean fighting fit oil and filter because I'm not sure how well ATF lubricates crank and cam bearings let alone cam lobes and rocker pads . It will dilute you engine oil so the propper oil wants to be at its best . At least diesel oil is an engine oil and you'd think being a higher detergent one would clean a slugy engine reasonably well .

Anyway roll the dice and accept the result .

stempy07 · Post by **stempy07** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:13 pm

i agree with u disco on the oil > air leaks, mine leaked around rocker covers, usual spot, when i used 10>30 oil, replaced gaskets >> new 20>50 fixed, i have rolled the dice, the car cost me [ wait for it ] $300, one may say u dont get much for $300, outa rego 2 years, prob; never started for same period, i got what i expected, a rattly motor, the car is a absolute gem , no rust , 14 inch sunnys, [ very wide ], dead straight, 1993 sporstwagon, last suby [ pushrod motor ] was truly unbelievable, i'll allways own a suby, BUT, this lifter prob; has been a challenge, i will take u advice and use 10>40 diesel oil at next oil change, worth a go, i took a punt on motor when i bought it, for 300 i'll bat on.

Mark_G · Post by **Mark_G** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 1:03 pm

I cut down allot of engine noise on my 89 model EA82 after fixing up the seals on the exhaust manifolds. I left the old gaskets on and added new gaskets with some gasket exhaust cement. This significantly cut down the engine rattles.

Cliff R · Post by **Cliff R** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:30 pm

Holy crap this thread has taken off !!
Never had a 5 pager before

My last post was back in the beginning of Feb and here we are in the beginning of March.
I dont recall exact ks travelled at the moment but based on going to and from work each day for a 50k round trip the car has put a few ks under its belt till now.
In my case all was well till yesterday when a slight tick came back and today it is gone again. I still say in my case a big difference was noted with the Nulon Lifter free.
That is what is working for me in my case at the moment.

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Sat Mar 03, 2012 7:30 pm

How big a job is it to replace the worn lifters?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sun Mar 04, 2012 7:44 am

I've done it in car L Series thanks to Allheadservice Melb servicing my heads and not picking a soft valve spring, who then claimed it would not be valve spring 9they were within spec , but not when I had them checked after

) , must be lifter and still not replied to my letter and marshmallows I sent them) , means undo crank pulley bolt, remove timing belts and their backing covers, rocker covers, cam and cambox and clean up all the sealant ( an El-Freddo hate thing) , carefully remove rockers as thy fall out, pull HVLA's and hope they not stuck tight, then reverse steps to reassemble trying not to teach the neighbours too many new words

nncoolg · Post by **nncoolg** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 5:10 pm

You can do it without removing the front pulley & belts, just loosen the tensioners through the rubber plugs. Have the cam wheel marks lined up with the notches on the inner cases and undo the cam wheel bolts before you loosen the belts and you will have no problem.

I use a long piece of alfoil, folded up a couple of times to cover the exhaust and crossmember as you can mold&fold it around stuff to keep it in place to run the oil off to a low point and keep it away from where you dont want it.

brockharro · Post by **brockharro** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 7:22 pm

i got constant ticking on a ea81 is that normally oil pump seals aswell and tappet adjustment

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:03 pm

brockharro wrote:i got constant ticking on a ea81 is that normally oil pump seals aswell and tappet adjustment

Only if your 81' has hydraulic lifters, which I don't think is very likely. Just tappet adjustment. But a little noise is ok, on mine you can't adjust the noise out; it goes quiet for a few hours then the tapping comes right back but not too bad. Just have to live with it

brockharro · Post by **brockharro** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:41 pm

ok cheers i dont think i can live with its a pain in the arse ill do the tappets when i get a tappet cover gasket

then ej conversion once i get my full liscence

Cliff R · Post by **Cliff R** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 3:40 pm

I have to say my 1982 EA81 with 264 thousand ks on it has always (since 1998 when we bought it) been quite. I might be lucky though.

stempy07 · Post by **stempy07** » Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:04 pm

the EA-81 is a pushrod motor, adjustable tappets, they normally dont rattle, prob; the best most reliable car i ever owned since the old 186 holdens, [ going back a bit ], the EA82 is a hydraulic valve system, cant adjust tappets, they all great

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:16 pm

steptoe wrote:... means undo crank pulley bolt, remove timing belts and their backing covers, rocker covers, cam and cambox and clean up all the sealant ( an El-Freddo hate thing)

Pretty much, hopefully I won't be playing with it for some time even though we've now got another EA82 in the family that will hopefully pass rego in the next week - so we'll see what happens there...

And it's got the dreaded lifter tick that goes away once warmed up and revved, but comes back slowly when left to idle for a bit

Other than that it's a gread little unit, best body I've seen on an L series in a long time!

Cheers

Bennie

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:34 am

Cliff R wrote:I still say in my case a big difference was noted with the Nulon Lifter free.
That is what is working for me in my case at the moment.

I just re-read this thread for some inspiration with the new L series we've got and this quote caught my eye Cliff!

Do you use this as a once off or with every oil change? And is it much that's used, I'm guessing if I check one out it'll explain everything. Notice any other noises once you'd dropped this stuff in the oil?

Cheers

Bennie

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:59 am

see if you can get the not for retail stuff if it is any different to retail. I tried it in my early attempts to fix the what turned out to be a weak valve spring not found or replaced when serviced at all head service in Melbourne - and Mark - if you find this when googling yourself am still waiting for your reply !

Lifter free did not fix my problem or cause any others.....

Cliff R · Post by **Cliff R** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:37 pm

Bennie

Its in a 300ml bottle and if you type "nulon lifter free and tune up" into a seach engine (Google) part of the specs on this stuff is as follows.
(I intend to put a bottle in on each oil change)

Benefits:

Quietens noisy hydraulic lifters / cam followers (ticking noise from engine)
Suitable for all petrol, diesel & LPG engines
Cleans oil galleys in hydraulic lifters
Removes sludge and soft carbon
Frees-up sticky lifters
Will not affect oil viscosity Reduces oil leaks

Features:

Simple to use
Suitable for petrol, gas and diesel engines
Safe to use in older engines
Safe for use with all oil seals or gaskets
Can be safely left in the engine until the following oil change
Compatible with mineral and synthetic engine oils

Directions for Use:

After changing the engine oil and filter, add one bottle per 5 litres of engine oil capacity. Leave it in the engine until the next oil change.

Note: It may take 14 days or 500 km to achieve the maximum benefit.

Application Rates: Add one 300 ml bottle per 5 litres of engine oil capacity

king_kawaka · Post by **king_kawaka** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:06 pm

hi guys good info nothing has really worked tried 10w 30 oil no good tried 500ml atf with 10w 30 no good used 500ml atf with 10w 30 and a bottle of liquid moly lifter stuff worked fantastic not one bit of noise until now done 350 ks then the tick is back motor has done a genuine 184000k in 88 l series ea82 also cleaned out check valve behind banjo bolt on top of rocker gear engine is very clean inside like it was new so im assuming its not sludge blocking galleries so im assuming oil pump seals can these seals be bought anywhere aftermarket or is it only a genuine part can adjustable solid lifters be bought for ea 82 willing to try other things if anybody knows of some other tricks for the dreaded tick

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:45 pm

Thanks Cliff! Since sorting out the oil leak and finding out that the front crank seal was dodgy the tappets have gone quiet after a warm up and some gentle revving

I'm not celebrating yet but I'm hoping that it all stays quiet!

I replaced the front crank seal, oil pump seals including the shaft seal as this is known to suck air and aerate the oil resulting in lifter tick. I also slotted a shim behind the oil pressure relief valve spring - 3mm or there abouts, it's done the trick and hopefully has solved the issue.

King Kawaka, I'd suggest you go through the painful motions of replacing the oil pump seals including the shaft seal; contact FROG on the forum for a quote. Also have a go at shimming the oil pressure relief valve spring, hopefully it'll work as well for you as it has for me so far.

Cheers

Happy (for now) Bennie

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Noisy lifters EA82

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