Technical Cold Start Tapping

[mypandapop]

Hi all, if I start my 1000CL from cold the engine sounds quite tappety. It quietens down after a few minutes and sound nice a me quiet again. It sounds like oil starvation, any other ideas or clues how to rectify? Thanks

 

[kolza]

As we all noticed ambiet temperatures has dropped, thereforemy inicial question would be what oil grade is in currently? I will not mention checking oil level first. Are you changing oil filters on each oil change? What milage does the car do and whats on the clock?

 

[mypandapop]

Oil and filter were changed a couple of months ago and level is good. Not sure what grade but will check. I think I went off what's stated in the handbook. It's not an everyday car and dosnt get used that often at the mo. But it was used on Friday and still sounded the same when I started it on Saturday morning. Mileage is 74,000.

 

[bluejohn125]

I think it is related to the oil quality or grade... I had a similar thing with my 16V FIRE Brava a while ago. It's the hydraulic tappets combined with the lower temperatures as mentioned previously. You should have probably used a decent semi-synthetic 10W/40 since this has became the standard oil for that sort of engine since the mid-90s.

Check the quality of your recent oil and filter.. since your car is probably a late-80s model the official oil originally would have been OlioFiat / Selenia VS+ 15W/40 multigrade mineral oil which is slightly thicker when cold.

The best current equivalent would be Mobil Super 1000, Shell Helix HX5 or Comma XT2000 (which is semi-synthetic..).

If you're going to do another oil change then give the engine a good ragging and drain it when nice and hot... the leave it to drip for a good few hours until the last of the sludge has come out of the sump. Your "noisy" oil should have done a reasonable cleaning job in case anything internal was a bit mucky.

 

[mypandapop]

I think it is related to the oil quality or grade... I had a similar thing with my 16V FIRE Brava a while ago. It's the hydraulic tappets combined with the lower temperatures as mentioned previously. You should have probably used a decent semi-synthetic 10W/40 since this has became the standard oil for that sort of engine since the mid-90s.

Check the quality of your recent oil and filter.. since your car is probably a late-80s model the official oil originally would have been OlioFiat / Selenia VS+ 15W/40 multigrade mineral oil which is slightly thicker when cold.

The best current equivalent would be Mobil Super 1000, Shell Helix HX5 or Comma XT2000 (which is semi-synthetic..).

If you're going to do another oil change then give the engine a good ragging and drain it when nice and hot... the leave it to drip for a good few hours until the last of the sludge has come out of the sump. Your "noisy" oil should have done a reasonable cleaning job in case anything internal was a bit mucky.

Thanks for the info I've still not yet managed to look at the oil in the garage to see what viscosity it was. Although this morning it was a lot quieter when I started it. Maybe it's helped using it three days running. Will have a look later to see what I've used.

 

[mypandapop]

Just checked, 15W-40 semi synthetic

 

[Dragon Man]

hmm sounds like the right oil grade.
i use 15w40 fully synthetic oil in Talon and Fallout. (fully synth is about all i use in everything now)

as said though, it has been known that some oil filters can cause quite a restriction.
the panda's fire engine is a wonderful engine in that its compatible it loads of different kinds of oil filter. when you next go to get one, try looking for one that's a bit longer. the longer they are the more flow you can get through them..

our marbella had an oil filter from god knows what on it, it was very wide and quite long. its one i had for a while, so that went on when i gave it an oil change. that engine ran very quiet for a push rod engine with no hydraulic valve running gear.

always remember if it has a turbo always use fully synth. not that us panda people have to worry about that.

 

[bluejohn125]

I agree it does sound like the right oil, what make is it? It's not easy to find a semi-synth 15W/40 since it's an "older" grade.

If the car isn't used much it could be a bit gunked-up... if you want to clean it out then you can add half a litre of paraffin or diesel to the oil and idle it for 15 mins before draining.. this helps loosen and lift deposits the same as those Engine flush products do.

Then I would fill it with some cheap Diesel spec 10W/40 or 15W/40 mineral or semi-synth oil - these have extra detergents in compared to petrol spec engines and they would gradually and gently lift any old crud from the various tubes and recesses of the engine (put a decent filter in too).

 

[kolza]

always remember if it has a turbo always use fully synth.

What if car is twin-turbo?




fully synthetic and 4k intervals in my Sub, oil filter is smaller then tea cup.

 

[mypandapop]

Thanks for all your replies, the oil is carlube from gsf. Maybe not the greatest. Think I will run it over the winter as its only just been put in. Then give it a change in the spring, the car won't get used that much between now and then.
Just a quick run to keep it ticking over.