butler

Hi guys was wondering if anyone could tell me the problem. When i start the car from cold i.e morning it sounds very tappety and to be honest like a taxi but when it warms up it's fine. Also when it's cold and i come off the accelarator it's a bit louder tapping noise but again disappears whem warmed up. It's a 97 stiv3 and just had full service 2 weeks ago with millers 10w 60 oil but was maiking noise before that anyway! Any help would be very welcome.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

It "could" be piston slap, which the 97/98 cars suffered from, it could also be the fact that your oil is too thick, changing it to a 10/40 or a 5/40 may lubricate your tappets better as the oil gets there quicker

Tony

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

Piston slap was my first thought however, it usually disappears when you come off the throttle, not get louder!
JohnD

Marx Mcrae

iTrader: (4)

Definatly sounds like piston slap. Usually on the number 4 piston iirc
If it is piston slap then its advisable to get it sorted sooner rather than later.
Think its just a new piston thats needed.
Personally I think 10w 60 oil is too thin. My mate uses it in his high powered Cosworth and it just looks like water to me. I would personally change it to either 10w40 or 5w40 as said above.

butler

I was advised that 10w60 was the best oil! If it is piton slap is there much involved in solving the problem? Cheers

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

60 is a thick oil, these cars run 40 normally, 50 at a push on a classic, 60 is thick stuff compared to the others, especially in winter (takes longer to lubricate on start up)

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

60 is a thick oil, these cars run 40 normally, 50 at a push on a classic, 60 is thick stuff compared to the others, especially in winter (takes longer to lubricate on start up)

Tony

zedy

the first bit shows thickness doesnt it? i.e. 10w 15w??
isnt the 40, 50, 60 etc something to do with temp???

Northern Nick

iTrader: (1)

Oil is kinda rated at the first number is normally as thick as it is when its cold and the second number is as thin as it is when its hot.

These are multi grade oils and there properties alter with heat. Race engines use a mono grade oil as they are allowed to warm up to operating temp before they are strained.

A 10w60 has the protection properties of a 10w when it is cold even though its thicker than when its hot and the protection properties of a 60w when its hot even though its thinner than when its cold.

Its a hard thing to explain but Millers 10w60 fully synthetic is a very good oil and I wouldn't worry about using it. I use Mobil 1 10w50 fully synthetic and the cold protection is rated at the same as your 10w60 but yours will have a higher hot protection than mine.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

Little bit of confusion there?
You consider 10/60 too thin but, it's considerably THICKER than either 10/40 or 5/40!
Unless you've got an old, worn engine or one with large tolerances eg Ford Pinto or 2.8 v6 etc. you won't get much better "protection" by using such thick oil in a road car.
I don't honestly think that the oil grade has much to do with the problem the guys experiencing.
johnD

c_maguire

What you describe sounds more like worn seals on one or more hydraulic tappets. If you do a search on here it appears that some sti3's may have hydraulic tappets ( or maybe your heads have been replaced at some point ). If they are hydraulic and the noise dissappears once the engine has been running a short time then I'd put it on the low priority list. Some days my 19 16v would tap away till I was a mile down the road. I only caned it when hot and it ran fine for 30000 miles like this till I sold it. If you don't have hydraulic tappets then it probably wants looking at pronto!
Kevin