Hello,

I recently purchase a manual mk3 2012 and it has a valve lifter noise.
The previous owner said the repair shops told him to ignore and drive this way.
I went to 2 service centers and both told me it's not that critical and I can continue to drive the car.
The car drove 175K km and was services by the book with original parts.

I did an oil flush cleaning to the engine (using a special machine, you empty the oil, connect a dedicated machine which circulated diesel fuel via the engine 
from oil cap to draining exit. This diesel fuel breaks apart the residues and clean the engine. The machine vacuum sucks everything and then a new oil and filrer are added)

I filled a synthetic Motul 8100 oil with a Mann oil filter) 

 

Noise came down a little bit, but still can be heard and it drives me crazy.
Any suggestions?

Could it be a faulty oil pump that need to be replaced?

Should I remove valve cover, remove timing belt / camshafts and replace / clean manually the lifters / valves?

Or maybe simply sell the can and purchase another one without this problem... before the engine goes dead?

 

Regards,

Eitan 

Hello and welcome to the Ford Owners Club 👍

This type of engine has solid valve tappets and not hydraulic valve tappets. The valve lash adjustment needs to be checked and adjusted at the same interval as the timing belt replacement which for this engine is every 100.000 Miles / 160.000 KM or 8 Years.

In this case it is highly recommended to check the valve lash adjustment and correct if needed. This engine has solid valve tappets without shim plates. This means that if adjustments are needed the timing belt and camshafts need to be removed and the valve tappets in question need to be replaced (about 50 different sizes are available from Ford). 

That sounds expensive

That is why the valve lash should always be checked on this type of engine when the timing belt is going to be replaced. When the timing belt and rocker cover are already removed to replace the timing belt it is only about 1.5 Hours extra work to remove the camshafts, correct the valve lash and reinstall the camshafts. 

Thanks @JW1982.
Here in Israel, the local dealers suggest timing evet 120K / 5 Years.
As far as I asked around, checking valve lash is not common here when doing timing.
Mine had timing done with the previous owner at 120K (almost 4 years ago).
Now I'm with 175K km, so my next timing should be in 1 year.

I'm deliberating if I should promote the timing replacement and check lash + fix this already now, or wait an additional year...
Do you think there could be an engine damage due valve ticking (it's a moderate sound..)

Do  you have a reference to how this procedure is done?
I don't want to do this alone, but I want to understand what and how this is done

 

Regards,

Eitan