Tappet Identification

[wasted]

The hydraulic lifters in my DX engine are tappy as hell, and I'm getting pissed off with it. Tried flushing with ATF, tried nice fresh oil, no dice.

Now I'm not a rich man, so the prospect of buying a full set of 8 lifters is not one I relish. Thing of it is, I'm almost convinced it's a single tappet that's causing all the noise, as it taps with a frequency that's almost exactly 1/4 of the revs of the engine at idle.

So, I'm planning an attempt to nail down the tappet that I need to replace, without having to remove the camshaft anything up to 8 times and redo the timing each time. Does anyone have any ideas on how I would approach this? I was thinking about a long tube held to my ear and then placed near the rocker cover, but I'm not certain whether the rocker cover will just 'spread' the sound so that it's no louder in one place or another.

Or alternatively of course I could just bite the bullet and replace all 8. Whaddya think?

[Roxylife]

Replace them all.

If one has gone then the others (more than likely of a similar age) wont be to far behind!

Failing that, you can strip them and rebuild them.

[Tim_R]

There is a guide on clubgti on how to strip and rebuilt them, although I've not tried it myself. I keep meaning to with some old 8v tappets I have around just to see how they come apart.

[roccodave]

link to the rebuild page bud hope it helps
http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76499

[dreleask]

i would (and did) just replaced the whole lot when i fitted my new TSR head! so much simpler and easier than trying to recondition them!

[wasted]

Cheers for the advice, guys - I have tried stripping down and reconditioning the tappets before using that guide, but couldn't dismantle the little piston assembly.

I have bookmarked a site that sells them for about £5.50 each, so I guess I'll have to go with that when funds allow!