The last couple of times I started up my Sei the engine has made a weird, loud, fast tapping noise, if you give it a few good revs it goes. Any ideas what this could be?
I have checked the oil and that seems fine ( I topped it up a little as a precaution)

could be a piston?

noisy tappet, you could flush the engine out with diesel to cure it if you want.

oooh sounds serious

how would I go about flushing out the engine with diesil? is it difficult?

what would I do if it was found to be a piston?

:bang: I have only had the car for 4 days :bang:

whered you buy it? private or trade?

just give it an oil change

i brought it privately. It is in good condition and came with full service history so I thought I was on a winner. The man who owned the car b4 me treated it like it was a baby, it had never spent a night out of the garage, had never been through a car wash etc etc
It is due a service about now so I think I will just bung it in next week.

yeah, don't worry about it. I don't see how it could be a piston. Its nothing scary, or particularly nasty.

Its just a tappet not getting enough oil straight away, and then u rev it - it builds a bit more pressure and then it shuts up.

A service should see it right. Ask them to flush the engine out with engine flush if you want, but then if its been well looked after and serviced - it shouldnt need that.

Hi,
Yeah my cinq 899cc does the same, Fiat recommend 10w40 engine oil but I found that a bit too thin (rattled more), 15w50 oil seems to be best bet so far...

Thanks
Paul T

An 899cc has hydraulic tappets which are self adjusting , so it's normal for them to sound tappety when starting and then to quieten as oil pressure builds up
The OHC engines aren't self adjusting so the tappety noise here could be just a lack of oil when starting . As ARC says , get the oil changed first - that will probably cure it
John

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help

Im gonna call the garage and book her in for a service tomoz. I will you know what they say once its been in.

If the noise disappears soon after starting you do not need to get worried.

Last time I changed my oil I used Magnatec 5w-40w, which was really far too thin. Now that its due for a change its so thin the top end sounds like a singer sowing machine! Probably go for either 10w or 15w next time

Please don't say oil is too THIN.... you must of missed the page long posts made by Oilman

well someone didnt read it right, if its from startup then 5w40 would be too thin.

You sure? I thought it was when the oil is hot it is thinner?

Gonna go read them ALL again

in a nutshell, the first number is the viscousity when cold, and the second when its warm. so 5w40 could be too thin when cold, where as 10w40 is fine. (just picked some numbers here, don't quote me on owt!)