Valve Tick

Hey Guys,

In both my Civic and my E36 325is I got some valve tick going on. Do you know of any simple fix? I overheard somebody at a PDX say they cured their tick in their Miata with a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil with their normal oil change and it never came back. Any body second this, or have other ideas?

Thanks, Steven

Valve lash adjustments on a SOHC Civic are really simple, and should cure any noise problems. I'm not sure about the E36, though, never messed with one.

My E36 always had a valve tick. It totally went away with thicker Mobil 1 synthetic oil. I always ran 15W-50 in my beast (it was stored in the winter).

I'll second the marvel snake oil, I've used it on a handful of hydro lifter vehicles with excellent results. I dump in no greater than 1/8th total oil volume, run it for 20-50 miles, ideally allow some time to soak and then change the oil.

e36 328i - 1 quart - 50 miles over the course of a week - lifters are still quiet a year later e150 4.6 v8 BileVan - 1/2 quart - 20 miles and let it sit for two days - still quiet

I used 10w40 oil in my Miata to cure the valve tick, worked great.

I don't think MMO will do a whole lot for cars that do not have HLAs.

I think thicker oil (I run 20w-50) would help more than MMO, but actually adjusting the valves would be the real solution.

There is a lot of confusion on which engines have hydraulic lifters and those that don't. MM works great on the ones with HL's A proper adjustment on the others will normally quiet things down. Learned this years ago on a Valiant. Heavier oil is a crutch.

Did the valve/lifter tick start now that it's colder out? And is it always present, or only at certain times and rpms?

Thanks guys, I'll check the shop manual on the Civic then adjust the valves and put some MMO in with the E36 oil change I'll do tomorrow. The tick has always been there, I can hear it from idle to a certain RPM in the E36 until the exhaust noise covers up the sound. The Civic is an ITA car so once I hit the gas, I can't hear anything, but it is prevalent at idle.

Steven

quote for truth

EvanB wrote: I used 10w40 oil in my Miata to cure the valve tick, worked great.

I put some Marvel Mystery Oil with the E36 today. I put a pint in, along with the oil. Shut things up nicely! I thickened the oil as well following factory guidelines b/c its going to be cold here.

Steven