General Noisy tappets solution required

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General Noisy tappets solution required

fiatrookie85sx

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Hi All,

I've joined the world of Puntos. One problem though...

My car, a 1999 V-Reg Fiat Punto 85SX 16V is noisy. Coming from in front, the engine area. Self/Fiatforum diagnosis leads me to believe its the hydraulic tappets. Its mainly when the engine is on for a while, rather than on cold startup. Starts excellently though. Currently on 60,000 miles.

I had it serviced when i bought it last week, and its using 10w40 oil.

Considering:

1. flushing it (which flush?) and then adding quality oil (which oil?).

OR

2. getting tappets replaced at the garage (quoting £417).

Please comment. Any other better solutions welcome. :)
 
wrong oil for your car mate

flush and replace with quality 5/30 semi synthetic and they will shut up

I recommend selinia

available at shop4parts.com about 7quid a litre

if you run for too long with 10 40 you will destroy your tappets

all fiat 16v engines take 5/30

only consider replacing tappet after the oil change and a good thrash does not sort it out
 
wrong oil for your car mate

flush and replace with quality 5/30 semi synthetic and they will shut up

I recommend selinia

available at shop4parts.com about 7quid a litre

if you run for too long with 10 40 you will destroy your tappets

all fiat 16v engines take 5/30

only consider replacing tappet after the oil change and a good thrash does not sort it out

i thought of using the selenia oil.

btw is not the selenia oil SAE 10W-40? (selenia 20k) and also i was confused with castrol magnatec recommending:Castrol's best oil for your vehicleEDGE 0W-30 (f,t) Alternative recommendationMAGNATEC 10W-40 A3/B3 (f,t)

I do prefer this oily route to the replacing tappets route. (y)

take me out of my confusion.
 
Can never understand what type of oil to put in either since i joined this forum
 
i thought of using the selenia oil.

btw is not the selenia oil SAE 10W-40? (selenia 20k) and also i was confused with castrol magnatec recommending:Castrol's best oil for your vehicleEDGE 0W-30 (f,t) Alternative recommendationMAGNATEC 10W-40 A3/B3 (f,t)

I do prefer this oily route to the replacing tappets route. (y)

take me out of my confusion.
hydraulic tappets wont benefit from 0w30.. well definately not on an older engine..

i run 10w40 mobil1 on my stilo

10w40 or even 20w50 has a higher "Winter" viscousity which will protect both from cold start up and once warm....

20w50 can be used in engines with high mileage... it will help clear up slight taps and knocks as 40 grade and 30 grade cant take up the tolerances...

used it in my k-series rover when taps were domed... too much hassle to change em.. mainly down to 121k miles:D


other route you can take is ptfe oil treatments... some work some dont... all they do is raise the viscousity levels of the oil once up to temp..


some people wont agree im sure... but im not saying it to prove people wrong... just through my own experience and asking questions!(y)
 
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I dunno why but i believe this is the way.

so i'll go for it.

btw what is the oil capacity for my fiat punto 1.2v 85sx?

i guess 4L of this stuff will be more than enough. (y)

I think its 2.5....2.8 with a new filter, so yeah you should be fine (y)

And deffo go with the selinia I also had noisy tappets on one of my cars when I first got it..sorted now and I always use selinia (y)
 
Thanks all for your help.

It has lead me to buy:

Forte Engine Flush - £6.00
Selenia Performer 5W40 (5L) - £41.81
Oil Filter - £8.77
Paraflu - £5.99

Time to get messy...:cool:
 
Thanks all for your help.

It has lead me to buy:

Forte Engine Flush - £6.00
Selenia Performer 5W40 (5L) - £41.81
Oil Filter - £8.77
Paraflu - £5.99

Time to get messy...:cool:

no 5w30 NOT 5w40 FOR HEAVEN SAKE

once you have got the right oil in there it will take a few good runs to quieten down as the oil flow through a hydraulic tappet is very slow

your engine takes less than a normal 8v would as the alloy casing supporting the crank shaft bearings sits in the sump taking up some of the room

it's something like 2.8 start with 2.5 and dip from there on
 
Hey All!

Unfortunately the flushing, changing oil thingie did not work! :(

The sound has'nt got louder or anything, just feels the same.

I will be pondering for a while whether i should replace the tappets with new ones. Like i said, i have a quote for £417, and although people say it might not be worth it, i certainly DO!

This car is for long term, before who knows another Fiat car? :eek:

Anyway i love the car so i should get it sorted sooner, rather than later.

GTG.

Any more advice, feel free.
 
Hey All!

Unfortunately the flushing, changing oil thingie did not work! :(

The sound has'nt got louder or anything, just feels the same.

I will be pondering for a while whether i should replace the tappets with new ones. Like i said, i have a quote for £417, and although people say it might not be worth it, i certainly DO!

This car is for long term, before who knows another Fiat car? :eek:

Anyway i love the car so i should get it sorted sooner, rather than later.

GTG.

Any more advice, feel free.

how long have you run with the new oil in it will take some time maybe up to 4 or 5 weeks it's hard to say as I don't know how many miles you do a week

in case your wondering £417 is a very good price considering the parts price and the work required to do the job the top half of the head needs to come off then the tappets removed from there

but in the proses you will be replacing an oil seal that is quite prone to leaking on older cars

you would be wise to change the cam belt and tensioner at the same time unless they have been already within the last 20k miles as the cam belt has to come off to get the top half of the head housing the cam shafts off
 
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how long have you run with the new oil in it will take some time maybe up to 4 or 5 weeks it's hard to say as I don't know how many miles you do a week

I've had the oil in for about a week. I will give it a few more weeks before any operation on my car.

but in the proses you will be replacing an oil seal that is quite prone to leaking on older cars

so that means it is good to replace right?

you would be wise to change the cam belt and tensioner at the same time unless they have been already within the last 20k miles as the cam belt has to come off to get the top half of the head housing the cam shafts off

yeah i thought if i do this now it would be good too. will have to get the quote revised then i guess.

Thanks for the advice. I will give it a couple of weeks before i hand my car in. Hopefully i won't have to, but for some reason, having a car fixed correctly gives me a good feeling for the future. :cool:
 
Just to let you know, Selenia performer was the right oil to be used in the 1242/1368 16v engines.

But it does not exist anymore. It has been replaced by the new WR (=Wide Range) from Selenia, which is a 5w40.
 
Just to let you know, Selenia performer was the right oil to be used in the 1242/1368 16v engines.

But it does not exist anymore. It has been replaced by the new WR (=Wide Range) from Selenia, which is a 5w40.

interesting to know

so stock of 5w30 will be diminishing very soon

well from fiat lubricants anyway

i now it's right for 16v 1242 and 1368 but is it also right for hgt 1.8 16v petrol

or just basikly all fiats with 16v
 
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