Tapping Noise only when Engine Cold
#1
Tapping Noise only when Engine Cold
I get a noise when the engine is cold on my '02 RS, it sounds like a tapping of sorts but goes away in 5-10 min. depending on how cold it is -- and only does this when it's cold.
Any suggestion to help prevent this noise condition?
Any suggestion to help prevent this noise condition?
#5
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Eastern PA,
Posts: 10,346
All GM cars have the chance of the good old lifter tap. I am a little surprised yours would have it, Its normally caused by carbon deposits from not so clean oil. But sometimes they just act up cold. Wife's mini van started it around 130K Just cold (under 20 degs). What sucked was I did the intake gasket around 120K. tapping never got any worse, always went away as it warmed up. We ran it till 175K and I traded it because the trans was going.
Last edited by Gorn; 12-30-2013 at 09:48 PM.
#8
Old lifters, due to wear, have a tendency to leak down when engine is stopped, and have to get pumped back up when the engine is restarted, and will clatter away until they pump back up. In a cold engine the oil thickens up and it takes a while to push through the sludge and get to the lifters. A lighter weight oil such as a 5W something synthetic will flow faster when cold and may even help to clean up some of the sludge.