Solve for very noisy lifters?

[Brett Dikeman]

At 9:17 PM -0500 3/8/03, Shawn Kubik wrote:

>I had read that specific oil filters actually decrease the tap because they
>have some valve in them that doesn't all ALL of the oil back in the pan
>after the engine's turned off?

Correct, but it's not "some", it's "most".  Most filters have the
checkback valve; it's a gasket at the top of the filter that presses
against the body of the filter and only allows oil flow in one
direction; you can sorta see it on the mahle filter underneath the
little holes around the edge, it's white.  The valve you see at the
bottom of the filter(through the center hole) is a bypass valve- that
lets oil by if the filter becomes clogged.

>I'm using 10w-30

Synthetic, or regular?  Beware, Mobil was at one point selling a
non-synthetic that was packaged nearly identically to Mobil 1
Synthetic, trying to trick people.


>  and a basic fram filter as of now, I've heard I should
>switch to a MANN/Purolator and 10w-40 oil from now on?

Dump the fram.  -Pronto-.  Mobil 1, Mann, Mahle are the ones that are
fine, off the top of my head.  The VW ones are overpriced for what
they are- they're not Mann/Mahle units, they're made by an american
company.


>Am I causing damage letting it tap?

Not likely, but the vastly inferior filtering surface area is
restricting oil flow.  Valve tapping is a sign that the oil is 'past
due', wrong grade, or there isn't enough of it getting to the engine.


>   Anything I can put in the crankcase just before an oil change to
>clean those lifters up?

No, since the problem is at least partially a crap oil filter.

Most Fram units don't have valves- bypass or checkback.  The filter
is held together using CARDBOARD.  There's a reason they're orange-
it means "Danger, stay away!"

As for the soda- soda is loaded with mostly sugar, and it's rather
acidic to boot.  Sounds really dumb, if you ask me.

   Run a good synthetic oil(no 'blends' like Syntec)- if the car's
been running mostly dino oil, the synthetic will clean it up over
time.  Don't be surprised by a dribble of oil or two from various
gaskets- it will usually stop.

   Engine oil flush can speed up the cleanup, but shouldn't be used on
severely neglected engines- it can cause cruft to loosen and block up
stuff.

B
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