I learned a valuable lesson recently with my 1991 318ic.
I was getting a lot of lifter noise coming and going randomly. Then I could hear the timing chain tensioner failing to engage for a few seconds when I started the car.
For a little relavent history, I had been putting a bottle of "Lucas upper cylinder lubricant with injector cleaner" in the gas tank about once a month or so. I changed the oil back in march and from the looks of the oil from the dipstick I thought everything was fine. I only drive it about 8 miles to work and back and around town a little.
Anyhow, after thinking about all the symptoms, I started suspecting my oil was too thick. I had been using Castrol 10w-40. I'm in South Carolina and it has been pretty hot out so I decided to go with 5w-30.
After draining the oil, I took the top off of the filter container and it had a LOT of what I would describe as SLUDGE in it. My theory is that the cleaner did its job and the crap from the engine was caught there in the oil filter bowl. I'm going to check it again here in about a month to make sure its not gunked up again.
After the change and the 5w-30, that engine has never sounded so good. All symptoms I was hearing are completely gone.
It would have been nice if the oil light had given me some kind of indication that the oil delivery system was choking on sludge.
That was my lesson. After worry about needing lifters, oil pump, and anything else I could have night mares about, it turned out I just needed a simple oil change.
Will I continue to use the Lucas Oil Stuff? I think so, unless some of you come back and tell me I'm being stupid. Seems to me it is cleaning as I wanted. I'll have to change the oil more often until it cleans itself up.
Thanks for listening. Comments welcomed.
Topic: lifter noise - lesson learned (Read 2542 times)