Just something I read in another post and was wondering what it was.

 

Mike

its the infamous subaru tick from the lifters

Is it a constant ticking, or intermittent? When you hear this is it pretty much done?

 

Mike

it all depends, one of mine ticks at startup but as soon as the oil starts pumping it goes away..

with others, sometimes is constant and quiet or .......loud non stop:lol: . switching to a heavier weight oil, or using some MMO or sefoam has cleared it up for many alot of usmb folks..do a little searching of old threads and you will come across alot of info on the subject.

-Brad

Is it a constant ticking, or intermittent? When you hear this is it pretty much done?

 

Mike

 

Depends. One of my Subarus was intermittent, and it sounded like a sewing machine at times, other times was nearly silent. My current one is nice and quiet, unless it's been sitting for a week or two without running, then it taps for a few seconds as things pump back up.

 

(assuming basic familiarity with engine operation here)

 

The clicking/tapping is coming from the hydraulic lash adjusters. The EA82 engines are overhead cam (not sure on the EA81, someone feel free to say "Yes, this applies" or "No, it's different for those"). The camshaft presses down on a rocker arm that then pushes the valve shaft. The other end of the rocker is supported by the lash adjuster, which is supposed to pump up and prevent the cam from "slapping" the rocker. If it doesn't pump up properly, it just gets pushed back down by the cam as things rotate.

 

"Tick of death" isn't really a good name. Engines can and do run for 50k+ miles without problems while ticking madly. The lash adjusters are usually toast after this, but the engine is just fine.

 

However, you're not getting as much power as you could. Some of the cam's travel is spent pushing the lash adjuster down, not the valve. So, the valves open for a slightly shorter duration, and slightly less total lift. Less valve opening, less power (for the most part). It's not major, but with 90hp on a good day, every little bit helps.

 

Fixes include resealing the cam cover o-ring (pain in the rear little piece that gets old and allows high pressure oil to either vent into the cam cover and not get to the lash adjusters at full pressure, or vent to the outside of the engine and make a huge mess), cleaning the adjusters if they're sludged up, Seafoam, playing with oil weights, etc.

 

Summary? Don't worry about it. If you want to fix it, it's not that bad to fix, but it's not hurting the engine.

 

-=Russ=-

Hello All,

 

I have the same problem and wonder if Duralube can fix it. My car is Leone, '86, EA82, 200.000 miles.

 

 

 

 

Thank you.

Mine is intermittent, clicks like its goin out of fashon some days, slight tickin some other days and silent some days as well.

I read somewhere on the board that its the oil pump gasket?

Is it the cam cover gasket or the head - cam section gasket?

 

Haynes manual also says that the oil pump gasket can allow aeration of the oil and cause valvetrain noise

 

 

Gannon

My wagon had it for a year and then I had a new oil pump put in and no more tick! Now I have more oil pressure for all the leaks. lol

Mine is intermittent, clicks like its goin out of fashon some days, slight tickin some other days and silent some days as well.

I read somewhere on the board that its the oil pump gasket?

Is it the cam cover gasket or the head - cam section gasket?

 

Haynes manual also says that the oil pump gasket can allow aeration of the oil and cause valvetrain noise

 

 

Gannon

It's a cam to head O-ring gasket. And the oil pump can be a source of the noise as well as a cause of noisy lifters.

 

More info, which is great read for anyone interested... found by someone on the board and bookmarked by me:drunk:

http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~camncath/ea82_hydraulic_lifter_fix.htm

mine had it and i had to buy a new oil pump:banghead:

"Tick Of Death" or "Tick Of Doom", its just a noisy lifter (HLA). Just like having a flat lifter in an American car, or a misadjusted valve in a non-hydraulic valve train. Causes seem to be lack of oil pressure to the HLA(s), aerated oil reaching the HLA(s), gummed-up HLA(s), worn-out HLA(s), or some/all of the above.

 

Fixes start with getting your oil system in order: Change seals on the oil pump, and change the o-ring on the cam-carrier to head joint (also requires special sealant for the rest of the joint's "gasket"). Once you know that you have good oil to it, you could use one of several methods to ungum the HLA(s): MMO, Seafoam, ATF.

 

I have had HLAs that made so much noise that I (and the person I was buying the car from) thought that a rod bearing was about to fail. The noise went away after 15 minutes, once a good supply of fresh oil got to them.

it all depends, one of mine ticks at startup but as soon as the oil starts pumping it goes away..

with others, sometimes is constant and quiet or .......loud non stop:lol: . switching to a heavier weight oil, or using some MMO or sefoam has cleared it up for many alot of usmb folks..do a little searching of old threads and you will come across alot of info on the subject.

-Brad

i don't mean to jack his post. but i have a question for you about the ticking, how long after you start you suby does it tick for. my 86 will tick for like ten minutes, i know my oil pump is leaking.

In my situation I was told that the crank bearings were gone/too thin oil/ old lifers/a bunch of other stories..every now and then all the lifters would make noise and then sometimes only ONE lifter would sound like somebody beating on it wih a hammer...ever since I changed the oil pump...No more problem

petersubaru - your problem was indicative of an oil pump issue as it affected multiple lifters.

 

a stuck HLA will be obvious by it's noise from one side of the motor and one particular cylinder and possibly even bad compression readings. a bad cam carrier to head o-ring would only show itself on one side of the motor as well.

 

oil pump seals affect all HLA's.

 

oil pump reseal - new seals and gaskets. replace or fix fauly HLA and finally replace oil pump. those are the fixing options.

 

band-aid options including changing oil viscosity, additives, sea foam, ATF, MMO...etc.