Hi i change the head gaskets on my 93 impreza wrx at the weekend and now ive got a nasty rattle/tap which sounds like its coming from the top end that wasn't there before. It doesn't rattle on tick over but as soon as you rev it starts to rattle/tap. Everything has been torqued down, timed up and put back in its place. ive also done a oil change which helped a little but still taps. Im thinking maybe the lifters.

Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be? any help will be much appreciated.

 

Oil change.... Have you pushed fully home the dipstick!

 

i have a noisey lifter but hoping to do an oil change and shut it up or its coming out lol

 

ive done an oil with mobile 1 10 40 semi. Do you think Wynn's Hydraulic Valve Lifter Treatment could help?

 

I think the lifter treatments are supposed to help with hydraulic lifters only. A 93 WRX has solid lifters, excess clearance in these which is the most likely cause of the noise might have been caused by swapping the lifter caps around.

I once had an engine for which the ECU detected lots of knock above 5k, turns out that one of the cams was loose because of a stripped bolt, might be worth checking.

 

Can i adjust the lifters to get ride of the excess clearance, if so do you know how to adjust.

 

Just been looking through the service manual for the 93-96 car and it says that it uses hydraulic lash adjusters, however it does not mention any service procedure for them. I thought it was only some Legacy's that had hydraulic lash adjusters, so I'm now confused.

aHopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can provide you with an answer.

 

Yeah the MY93-96 phase 1 heads do have hydraulic lifters.

 

If it was a 'lazy' cam follower it should be worse at tickover and usually quieter as revs rise. take the cam covers off and using a clean flat headed screwdriver, try pushing the followers away from the cam (with the cam lobes pointing away from followers) you may see one stuck, with a large gap, or one may of gone weak which will be obvious when you GENTLY try opening the valve with the screw driver. At a guess I don't think its top end from what you have said, what milage is on the car/engine?

 

my cars done 90000. the engine sounded fine before i done the head gasket at the weekend, that why im thinking its something i might have done. i'll try checking the cam followers tonight. let you know whats happens

 

+ 1

You can strip the lifters down,clean them out and check for wear- should have been done prior to re-assembly tbh.






Mick

 

Check this thread:

https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...ease-help.html

Was the head gasket the correct thickness?

Anders

 

Did you skim the head. What size gasket did you use. The link above is my engine.
My pistons were hitting the head cos too much was skimmed and 1.6mm h/g wasn't enough

Get a compression test asap.

 

i had the same symptoms on my old 93wrx sa wagon was a tiny leak from the exhaust where the manifold meets the turbo only see it as it was very slightly black around it but i thought it was the engine sounded like a noisy tappet, used to do it under acceleration and not tickover reallllllly annoying

 

i had the heads skimmed slightly but they weren't that bad, i used a multi layer steel head gasket that was 1.4mm thick. i also put a wynns hydrolic valve treatment in last night that quietenedn it down slightly but it still rattles, which makes me think lifter. fingers crossed

 

That's cool then. Did u soak the tappets before putting them back in.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCaXOtN9FUY

this is a video of the rattle

 

Mate that sounds Like mine if I were u I would pull it out take one of the heads of and make sure the pistons are not hitting the head.

 

i was really hopeing you weren't going to say that, but onwards and upwards mate. i'll take them off at the weekend and have a look if the pistons are hitting then it looks like its a new engine. thanks for yor help mate

 

do you know if i can reuse the head gaskets and bolts i just fitted if the pistons arn't hitting

 

yer i did and got great compression and no problems, if there hitting you need thicker gaskets dude..

if the pistons are ok, ie not moving side to side you might have got away with it,..

the only other thing i can think of.....is the timing good

 

will pm you my number cos i have pics and videos of what i found

 

how did it go mate

 

well i took the rocker covers off and checked the lifters, they seemed ok so i took them out cleaned and oil'd them just to make sure put it back together and it made no difference at all lol. i think your right that its piston slap i cant think what else it could be, my mates going to strip the engine this week so i'll let you know what happens. thanks for your help mate.

 

No worries. Kinda hoping I'm wrong tho I know how much of a pain it is. Just hope no damage has been done.

 

any luck mate

 

nah mate its not the pistons and its still making the same noise, its not worth spending anymore money on so im just going to sell it and let someone else figure it out. thanks for all your help.