V3 STi Lifter noise solutions.

[Firenza]

Hey, I've got what I belive are noisy lifters in my car, which after being told is normal I have finally decided has to go! Its a consant TAK-TAK-TAK noise that increases with revs.

Its a V3 Sti thats done 186k, and serviced every 5000km with Shell Ultra 5W40 (also, I've had a look and I'm not really too sure what kind of lifters I should have........)

So having a look around teh intarnets, I have seen a few ways that I could fix it;

1.Taking it to a garage and having them adjust the shims

Now this was the first way I found, mainly on US websites. I found a recording on a website that sounded pretty much EXACTLY like what my car sounded like, and it showed a walkthough on how to do it. However, this was on a SOHC Legacy, and I assume a much bigger pain in the arse in my car.

2.Dumping some Proma MBL8 into it next service

This should supposedly quieten down the noise, but not fix it. Might break up any little bits stuck that might cause the lifters to be out of adjustment.

However, i've read its quite acidic, and altough it might quieten down the noise, I dont really want to bung it in EVERY time I change the oil.

Is it safe? Will it just hide the problem, or actually cure something that might be causing the TAK-TAK-TAK noise...

3.Change oil

5W might be a tad thin, so replace it with something a little thicker due to the age of the engine. I was thinking ELF 10w, as I've hear thats what Subaru uses. Anyone concur? Also, where can I get it near the shore?

So, is it just an something needing a bit of adjustment after a butt load of Ks, something that needs unblocking, or just the engine getting older and needing something different. OR something completely different I haven't thought of....

Cheers,

[Guest DMSREX]

I'd do your proposed actions in reverse, 1st try thicker oil (yer right 5w anything is too thin for that vintage EJ20).

Then that ProMa stuff, heard its good but really maybe just a band aid fix if neither of these do it, then mechanic (costly ??)

Good Luck

[readosnr]

yeah dmsrex is right do it in reverse

with the adjusting shims/lifters you may find that the sohc legacy had adjustable lifters, where as your v3 sti will have shim over buckets. to replace these you need to pull the engine out and check valve clearances, then buy shims to suit.

i do have a range of shims available if you need any

has the heads/cams been off it at any point?

[pedro]

How often is it recommended by subaru to remove your engine to reset under bucket shims or do they expect the factory settings to last the life of the engine?

[Firenza]

 readosnr said:

yeah dmsrex is right do it in reverse

with the adjusting shims/lifters you may find that the sohc legacy had adjustable lifters, where as your v3 sti will have shim over buckets. to replace these you need to pull the engine out and check valve clearances, then buy shims to suit.

i do have a range of shims available if you need any

has the heads/cams been off it at any point?

I dont know, the engine looks uniformly dirty for something thats done 186k, so maybe never ???

I think i'll try the elf oil in it first (once i find somewhere that stocks it!) just a shame as I just did a service. I live down the road froma Mitsi dealer, so might try the MBL8 soon to.

Should I go for the Competition SM, which i belive is 10w40??

I hope that cures it, as i'll I will have to take it toa dealer and that will most likely be $$$$$

[Guest DMSREX]

I'd run 15w50 ST Competition in it if i were you. I actually use Penrite 10w50 in mine (MY99) reasonably priced stuff though so is the ELF oil also.

Cheers

[Guest]

The Pro-ma MBL8 is not just a noisy lifter treatment and also it dose usually fix the problem not mask it as it flushes oil galleries which is often why subaru's have noisy lifters.

Firstly MBL8 plates lubricates and cleans it coats motor in copper and lead so gives instant protection on cold starts.

I would not run a vehicle with out it we have done a disservice here in NZ of promoting the product so well for noisy lifters we have neglected it's true potential.

Check out http://wilkinson.promastore.co.nz/Store/CarPerformance.aspx see the range.

Thanks Mike.

[log1call]

 Firenza']

[quote name='readosnr said:

yeah dmsrex is right do it in reverse

with the adjusting shims/lifters you may find that the sohc legacy had adjustable lifters, where as your v3 sti will have shim over buckets. to replace these you need to pull the engine out and check valve clearances, then buy shims to suit.

i do have a range of shims available if you need any

has the heads/cams been off it at any point?

/quote]

I dont know, the engine looks uniformly dirty for something thats done 186k, so maybe never ???

I think i'll try the elf oil in it first (once i find somewhere that stocks it!) just a shame as I just did a service. I live down the road froma Mitsi dealer, so might try the MBL8 soon to.

Should I go for the Competition SM, which i belive is 10w40??

I hope that cures it, as i'll I will have to take it toa dealer and that will most likely be $$$$$

Mate... do not buy Elf oil... have you looked into the bottom of a bottle of that stuff?

I have seen and heard of water, brass and steel sediment in the bottom of their oil packs... Buy one of the old established oils.. not jusy some johnny-come-lately that sponsers a race car with their shit product.. that doesn't mean anything. I have seen guys tip the bottom fifty mills of oil out of a twenty litre barrel because it was so shitty.

Also, if you have shims then a change of oil or an oil additive is going to do nothing... you just need to adjust them.

Adjusting shim clearances is a simple process. You measure all the clearances that you have at the moment and write them all down. Then you pull all the shims out and measure them and write that down under the first lot of figures. Now calculate how much thicker or thinner each shim needs to be to get the clearance within allowed spec. There will be two figures you come up with, one for the minimum c;earance and one for the maximun clearance. Now that you know what thickness shims you can use for each valve, go through the shims you have there and see which ones can be used where. Thnk it through and use them in the best combination possible and you may only need to buy one or two shims.

Engine reconditioners or someone in the club will likel have the shim you need.. swap them for your old unneeded ones.

[Guest DMSREX]

Some pretty big statements there ^^^^ care to show the evidence ? They're no Jonny come lately's (ELF that is) been in business a long time. Not that i care one way or the other about oil brands but people who make statements like that on the interweb can be entertaining.

[log1call]

I've seen in the bottom of their five and their twenty litre bottles and there is what looks like brass, steel and water contamination... lots of it sometimes.

If you buy it often, take a look in the bottom of the containers and report back if you like.

I don't buy it but I know someone that buys lots for his vintage engine and car collection and he goes through heaps of it... the amount of s*** in the barrels is staggering.

[Koom]

 log1call said:

Mate... do not buy Elf oil... have you looked into the bottom of a bottle of that stuff?

I have seen and heard of water, brass and steel sediment in the bottom of their oil packs... Buy one of the old established oils.. not jusy some johnny-come-lately that sponsers a race car with their s*** product.. that doesn't mean anything. I have seen guys tip the bottom fifty mills of oil out of a twenty litre barrel because it was so s***ty.

Johnny-come-lately that happened to sponsor the winning car in the 1969 Formula One Championship and then sponsored the winning car in the 1972 Le Mans 24 Hours. How long does a company need to be in business before you'll even look at their products ???

Just doing a tiny wee bit of research before you open your mouth stops you from coming across like some sort of tinfoil hat crackpot with something against a particular company. I've been using ELF for a while now and never seen what you talk of. Might have to look into some of the bigger containers that are lying round at the workshop. Still only ever seen oil come out of them though.

[log1call]

I don't care how long they have been sponsoring racing, they are a relative new-comer here and it is entirely possible that there is parallel importing or second grade goods being sent down to NZ. I have seen heaps of contamination in their oil..

It sounds to me like you two sell their products, possibly because just like me you can get it at a good rate and onsell it at a profit... that is your business.

I looked at it and decided not to sell it to my customers no how good the deal being offered was. My opinion and advice is offered independently... if the original poster is interested.

[Koom]

I'm a Design Engineer for a Sheetmetal/Fabrication company, chances of me making a profit from selling oil to anyone is about the same as Jesus walking down High st looking for a decent coffee. I switched to it from Castrol as they don't charge the earth for a 40 weight and your experience is the first that I've heard bad things about it.

Maybe try buying it from the Elf distributor?

[Guest DMSREX]

So you're selling a competitors brand, not really an independant opinion then is it ?

[log1call]

I got put right off the stuff the second time I saw it Koom!

To tell the truth, it was when it was new on the market here, and they may have had contamination in their new plant.. perhaps it is better now.

I figured that if their quality control was allowing that sort of thing through.. other shit could happen too.

I have heard of water within the lasy year and a bit though, so I suspect it is still about the same as it was.

If anyone else does look in the bottom of their oil packs.. tell us what you see.

[log1call]

 DMSREX said:

So you're selling a competitors brand, not really and independant opinion then is it ?

I sell several brands... what's your problem?

[Guest DMSREX]

No problem at all.....you're an entertaining character who's entiled to your opinion just like the rest of us. But i do know of others running ELf Comp ST in their EJ engines and ELf Comp GT before that & having no problems at all with it.

[Koom]

 log1call said:

I got put right off the stuff the second time I saw it Koom!

To tell the truth, it was when it was new on the market here, and they may have had contamination in their new plant.. perhaps it is better now.

I figured that if their quality control was allowing that sort of thing through.. other s*** could happen too.

I have heard of water within the lasy year and a bit though, so I suspect it is still about the same as it was.

If anyone else does look in the bottom of their oil packs.. tell us what you see.

As I said earlier, I've only ever seen oil come out of the containers that I use. Thats both stuff that I bought from the local Speedway shop and that RDL has bulk bought (so 5 and 20 L containers). Plus I often use the old 20L containers for other things so clean them out and cut the tops off (I don't remember ever seeing anything but golden fluid in there).

The one thing I have noticed with ELF is that my engine doesn't burn it off half as fast as Castrol Edge. So I don't need to top it up to make it to 5000kms where I change it.

[log1call]

Groovy Dmsrex dude.

I thought you were being a little defensive is all.

No worries though.

They do give good discounts and their oil is quite dear on the retail shelf so there is a good mark-up to be had from selling it. Good luck with it.

[Guest]

 log1call']

[quote name='readosnr said:

yeah dmsrex is right do it in reverse

with the adjusting shims/lifters you may find that the sohc legacy had adjustable lifters, where as your v3 sti will have shim over buckets. to replace these you need to pull the engine out and check valve clearances, then buy shims to suit.

i do have a range of shims available if you need any

has the heads/cams been off it at any point?

/quote]

I dont know, the engine looks uniformly dirty for something thats done 186k, so maybe never ???

I think i'll try the elf oil in it first (once i find somewhere that stocks it!) just a shame as I just did a service. I live down the road froma Mitsi dealer, so might try the MBL8 soon to.

Should I go for the Competition SM, which i belive is 10w40??

I hope that cures it, as i'll I will have to take it toa dealer and that will most likely be $$$$$

Mate... do not buy Elf oil... have you looked into the bottom of a bottle of that stuff?

I have seen and heard of water, brass and steel sediment in the bottom of their oil packs... Buy one of the old established oils.. not jusy some johnny-come-lately that sponsers a race car with their s*** product.. that doesn't mean anything. I have seen guys tip the bottom fifty mills of oil out of a twenty litre barrel because it was so s***ty.

Also, if you have shims then a change of oil or an oil additive is going to do nothing... you just need to adjust them.

Adjusting shim clearances is a simple process. You measure all the clearances that you have at the moment and write them all down. Then you pull all the shims out and measure them and write that down under the first lot of figures. Now calculate how much thicker or thinner each shim needs to be to get the clearance within allowed spec. There will be two figures you come up with, one for the minimum c;earance and one for the maximun clearance. Now that you know what thickness shims you can use for each valve, go through the shims you have there and see which ones can be used where. Thnk it through and use them in the best combination possible and you may only need to buy one or two shims.

Engine reconditioners or someone in the club will likel have the shim you need.. swap them for your old unneeded ones.

You can Buy MBL8 online for alot cheeper than has been previously stated at http://wilkinson.promastore.co.nz/Store/CarPerformance/Lubricants.aspx

[Firenza]

It doesnt matter any more, new engine solved it

[WRXONP]

Hey man . Did you replace engine just from the valve noise ? Or was some thing else wrong ?

[Firenza]

Nah im not that rich to be able to do that!

Changed engine due to possible head gasket/soft head probs

[crazymf]

Do you still have your old engine kicking around? Wanna part with it for a reasonable price??