ticking engine

[ol' dirty]

Can anyone help?
I bought a gti 6 with a tapping noise from the top end. I have reaserched it (after I bought it!) and found that if the belt breaks or they get timed up wrong the valves will kiss the pistons.
I asked the previous owner who was a trader and he said it had the head done a month ago but did not know if the tick was there before, as it was a non runner when he bought it.

The tick seems to quick to be a bent valve IMO, and surely there would be other symptoms like missing, blue smoke down on power etc...
I have had a thinner fully synthetic oil put in it which does not seem to have done alot.
Any ideas (worn cam lobe or hydralic lifter?) before I start going about getting a compression test done
Anyone had this problem before with one of these, the noise is definately comming from the inlet rocker box side.

[Mikey G]

May sound strange but is it a tick or a tap?

Have known injectors to give a light tick when they are running slow.

[Alpineandy]

Are you sure the tappets are adjusted correctly?

[Mikey G]

Alpineandy said:

Are you sure the tappets are adjusted correctly?

Hydraulic lifters so could be a little sticky. XU 16v engines are prone to some lifter rattle.

[ol' dirty]

Deffinately not injectors, too loud for that. I took it down to an engineer to have a look at he recons hydraulic lifters as theres no other symptoms to sugest valve damage. Quoted £400 for the job, just thinking ill do it myself, bank the money and buy a decent cam

[Mikey G]

I have fitted new lifters to an Mi16 engine and it only cured it slightly. Make sure you are using the right grade of oil for a start, too thick and it wont fill the lifters properly, too thin and its likely to bleed out of them quickly. Make sure all the oilways are clear and the lifter bores are clean and not worn.

[megamaniac]

I would try a good quality engine flush first, as it could be a buildup of varnish in the lifter that the flush might clear without having to resort to stripping the top off .

[ol' dirty]

Ive heard that winns is pretty good?

[Alpineandy]

ol' dirty said:

Ive heard that winns is pretty good?

Spelt Wynns... www.wynns.uk.com
Can't comment on it's effectiveness.

[steve_d]

Have you been all round the engine with a listening tube.
An exhaust manifold gasket leak or crack can often be mistaken for a ticking sound.

Steve