Need Help

[aellerker09]

Hi Guys,

Well as you can tell from the title i need some help.My new baby is poorly and im after some advice.There is a rattling noise coming from the engine,it sounds very much like its coming from the 16v ACE unit that sits on top of the engine.
Ive had someone take a listern and they seem to think that its to do with the cam,i was told the its something to do with skimming rocker buckets or something?

I really dont understand what needs doing,is it a big job and how long roughly does it take and is it expensive?

Also the car seems down on power.

Please help.

[scotty33]

Hi

Sorry to hear your woes, this sounds like noisy tappets? This used to be something that was corrected by 'shimming'. That gave way to Hydraulic tappets which are supposed to be self adjusting and need no maintenance. Unfortunately, if maybe some spacks of carbon build up in the engine, they can find their way into the hydraulic tappets which can affect them. Does the noise die down when the engine warms up?
You may improve the problem by changing to a fully synthetic oil, ideally a more viscous one such as 15w-50 grade in my experience. But this masks the problem rather than eliminating it.
If the tappet is totally failed it can cause the valve(s) to not lift to their full extent, so the engine would be down on power.
Replacing tappets involves removing the camshafts, which means removing the inlet manifold and cam cover first.
While you are at it it would be an ideal time to replace the small chain that links the two cams together. New tappets are approx £7-8 each from GSF etc.
The Cam caps need to go back in to their original positions and be the right way around.
Torque them up carefully, the studs can snap all too easily..
Should be able to finish it in a day first time around

The ACE engine is covered by the Audi 100/early A6 manual