Clio 172 slight rattling noise on tick over. Any ideas??

[Mux1988]

Hi. Just bought my 2002 Clio 172 about to weeks ago and what a car! Since I have bought it it's started to develop a slight rattling/rubbing noise on tick over which sounds like its coming from the top of the engine. It only happens once the car is warm and disappears when the engine is revved and doesn't effect the performance at all. I've heard dephaser pulleys are common to go on these as they have a valve for the oil feed that fails. I think it could be this but I thought with the dephaser pulley the oil valve was to retain oil while cold so it doesn't rattle from cold(correct me if I'm wrong) and as mine only happens when it's warm it's got me thinking it might not be. Also if it is the dephaser pulley what will happen if i leave it? As I said, this is only what I've heard and could be wrong so I'd be grateful of any thoughts.
Cheers

[MrGman]

If it gets worse the warmer it gets then it is most likely the dephaser i'm afraid!

How many miles has it done? I've read that quite a few people are having problems with these now on their 172s so i imagine it's that time where they're getting to that age now. Fortunately I replaced mine a couple of months ago when i had all the belts done.

I can't help you at all though with what will happen with it if you just leave it, might be worth a search on the cliosport forum.

MrGman

[anonymous-user]

MrGman said:

If it gets worse the warmer it gets then it is most likely the dephaser i'm afraid!

+1 on this but that's not the issue luckily as it goes away.

Mine also has this rattle but goes after the engine is warm. From what I've read it's the hydraulic lifters that sit between the cams and valves. If they aren't filling with hydraulic fluid they can rattle, but once warmed up the fluid flows better and the clicking goes away. Not sure of a fix but I don't think it's a huge issue, seems fairly common. Just don't take the revs up too high until it the car's warmed up.

[eybic]

Hmmm I have never heard of dephasers being worse when warm. A dephaser will tap like a tappy thing on first start up then go away after a few seconds

[megamaniac]

If it is a gummed up lifter an engine flush and oil change should do the trick.Cheap option ,can't do any harm.

[Acehood]

You sure it's not coming from inside the car? The climate control fan thing (where the interior light is) is a really common thing to make an annoying noise. In my 182 I only ever hear it on idle because when moving there's plenty of other rattles to mask the sound