Lifter tick from passenger side bank.

[Green1995SVX]

I'm trying not to let this concern me, but I thought i'd post just in case. My SVX has a single ticking lifter on the right bank. It only does this when the car is cold, and it goes away by the time the car reaches operating temp. My SVX only has about 40,000 miles on it, but was driven at least twice a week since it was new - Just short trips.

Once the roads get nice, i'm going to take it to the Subaru dealer and have the oil changed. Is it too late to switch to synthetic?

Is there anything I can do to quiet this lifter.

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by Green1995SVX

I'm trying not to let this concern me, but I thought i'd post just in case. My SVX has a single ticking lifter on the right bank. It only does this when the car is cold, and it goes away by the time the car reaches operating temp. My SVX only has about 40,000 miles on it, but was driven at least twice a week since it was new - Just short trips.

Once the roads get nice, i'm going to take it to the Subaru dealer and have the oil changed. Is it too late to switch to synthetic?

Is there anything I can do to quiet this lifter.

The noisy lifters are pretty much normal from what I understand on Subarus.

As far as synthetic, you can switch a car to full synth. at any time, just realize that if you have any type of gasket leaks, they will get worse.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by 1986nate

The noisy lifters are pretty much normal from what I understand on Subarus.

As far as synthetic, you can switch a car to full synth. at any time, just realize that if you have any type of gasket leaks, they will get worse.

+1

When the car is cold, they tick a bit. Or if they've been sitting a while and the oil has drained out of the heads, they'll tick until the oil gets flowing all the way. Even brand new Subarus do this in my experience.

Keep in mind that a car that only gets driven short distances will wear much faster than one that gets fully warmed up and driven for on long trips regularly. You should treat the car as if it's seeing "extreme duty" or whatever they call it in the service schedule booklets these days. Change the oil more frequently. Synthetic would help, but like nate said, if you've got any leaks, they'll get worse.

[Crazy_pilot]

I had about 120K miles on my car when I switched to synthetic, but I completely re-sealed the engine before I changed the oil. Even with that, it actually started leaking through the silicon sealing the oil pan to the engine. I put the oil in back in August, and now almost 7000 KM ago (4000-4500 miles), and the oil is only slightly brown. Conventional would be tar coloured by now. I'm running AMSOIL 5W30, which has a 25,000 miles guarantee.

[svxistentialist]

Mike,

I have exactly the same problem with my Mitsubishi RVR. Clicking on the hydraulic lifters.

Warms up, it goes away. Sometimes.

Here is what I have discovered. It is exacerbated by coking of the engine. [and made worse as well ]

The Mitsi engine has much in common with the SVX, though it is not obvious. High compression for one thing. The SVX is 10:1, pretty high. The Mitsi is lean burn direct injection, and is 14:1. Stratospheric for a petrol.

Both are paired to auto gearboxes that hunt for higher gears and low revs. The result is the engines run cool a lot, and get coked a lot. The answer is use a chemical foam into the intake, or possibly a chemical additive to the fuel to decoke the heads.

Personally I use the foam into the intake method, as it goes right in with the fuel and coats and cleans the moving parts. The product I use is EcoteK, and all I can say is it works if you do it like the instructions say to do it.

It has stopped mine from clicking. You have to do it every six months or so, as the engines tend to coke up depending what quality petrol you use.

Hope this helps

Joe

[Mensaf]

I don't understand. Foam? As in Seafoam?