16v tappets, etc

[benmk1]

Howdy, i just bought me a rather nice golf 16v E plate  '87, 135k on tha clock, red, 3 door good interior and bodywork, for (what i think) a bargain price of ?425.
Now the car has no t&T however as far as i can see needs a cv boot, and the handbrake sorting.
dunno whats wrong with the handbrake discs an pads look good, an both sides aren't siezed and lock when handbrake is up........ any ideas?
Also the engine is sounding a bit tappety, no smoke and pulls like jordan......are these hydrolic self adjusting tappets? anyone had them replaced and at what cost?
Anything else i should look out for?
blimey I've gone on a bit!
cheers
Ben

[tinman]

replacing them isnt a big issue.

alot of people here use Eurocar parts at around ?6 for each tappet. personally, i used new VW parts at about ?16. i decided it was best for the engine to use original kit, espeically for this job.

the other thing to do is check the tension in the cam chain. it should be tight wil virtually no play. its worth replacing when you do the tappets.

the noise it makes is the sound of a very fast chain moving. i warn you - if you listen for that type of noise - and you here it - you will never hear anything else afterwards and it will wind you up until you change it.

[Veedubgt18v]

dont get the original tappets from vw get the updated ones off of newer cars cos they are loads lighter and a lot quieter on start up

[Judderi]

How do you know if its tappets at fault? Mine has started to make a ticking noise that increases and decreses with the engine revs. Its goes once the engine is warmed up. Is this tappets?

[tobz.]

Hydraulic tappets become clogged up over time especially if the the oil isn't changed regularly enough. They usually start tapping when cold as the oil takes longer to fill them up, once the engine is warm and the oils thins they fill up and the tapping goes away. Once they become really bad the tapping will be present regardless of engine temperature.
Wynns make a hydraulic tappet cleaner, you put it in your engine for a couple of hundred miles then change your oil.
I had a passat once with really noisy tappets I used the wynns stuff and was really impressed it shut them up completely, I'd recommend it anyday.

[Veedubgt18v]

yes in all probability, try an oil change see if it quitens down if not the change them or live with it

[VeeDubGTI16v]

dont get the original tappets from vw get the updated ones off of newer cars cos they are loads lighter and a lot quieter on start up

mk3 ones wasnt it?

[tinman]

dont get the original tappets from vw get the updated ones off of newer cars cos they are loads lighter and a lot quieter on start up

the weight of the tappets make no difference. if the engine has adequate oil pressure they'll be silent from the start. if the engine doesn't ahve the correct oil pressure then they will click for a few moments until the engine comes up to pressure.

buy the real things. no point in cutting a corner when you dont have to.

[tinman]

changing oil wont really make much difference.

if you think it is old oil and build ups, use a proper engine flush.

i think you drain all the oil, fill it with engine flush, run the engine for 15 minutes, drain the flushing oil, and then refill with new oil and a new oil filter. (very important you change the oil filter).

it may help it may not. from what I've been told engine flush only really works on engines that are a little bit compact in places. The VW engine cannot be described as compact, so regardless of the muck flying around - you should get decent oiling everywhere.

an example of a compact engine is the Honda Legend 2.7V6 which is notorious for clicking tappets.

having said that, reducing the amount of rubbish flying round the engine is a good thing, even if you don't see the results.

[VeeDubGTI16v]

the reduced weight is for performance reasons tinman