Noisy tappets when warm.

[Lap]

Had a head gasket blow which emitted great clouds of steam from the exhaust and made the traffic behind instantly back right off.

Got it repaired yesterday including a head skim/new valve stem seals and drove about 30 miles. All seemed OK. This morning, driving to work, I noticed that the engine sounded very tappety and this was after 20 miles of driving so everything was fully warmed up.

There was no buzzer or oil warning light and oil level and coolant are at max. I did notice some mayo still on the oil filler cap though and a bit of steam came out too. When started from cold, the engine sounds OK but within 10 minutes the dreaded tappet noise is back.

I'm not using the car now in case it is damaging and I'll be phoning the garage first thing Monday but if anybody has any ideas, it'd be much appreciated. 

[herbster]

Hi, sounds like an oil problem, the sludge and steam are a normal thing after a repair such as that, but the oil could be the wrong grade, check with the garage, old cars need thicker oil due to more mileage, but people seem to neglect tappets and if its too thick it ain't gonna get in there, even when warm. Personally I don't think any harm will result by the sounds, but you done the right thing, check with the garage soon as, if it is oil you could do that that yourself this weekend.   

[Organisys]

could be block oil ways caused by the mayo. ask them to do a flush and replace the oil again.

[Lap]

Cheers for that. I did wonder about the oil but I know its Shell semi synthetic 15W40. Also, the head was cleaned while it was off so I assumed the oil ways were clear.

Just confused why it doesn't do it when cold, only when warm. Is it possible for the oil to be too thin when hot because of the coolant contamination?

I'll ask the garage about a flush and change on Mon. I'll report back with the solution, if I ever find it!