stonk

Well, here we are two years later :) and still no change. It taps away like a goodun. I have had the rocker cover off - no sign of any wear on the lobes but still am convinced that it's just a lazy tappet. I had been quoted over £1000 to replace all the tappets as there's no way of knowing which one. The cars not wort it. I've run it with the rocker cover off (messy) and have narrowed it down to a few. Does anyone know if it's possible to just pop the odd tappet out without making it a big deal? Thanks

Thanks Randombloke. The car has a full service history & as far as I know it hasn't been run low on oil. I'll remove the rocker cover and report back. :blink:

Thanks both for your replies. The alt seems OK. I've had my ear to the end of a screwdriver and can confirm the noise is definatly coming from the top end. Must be the cams as iannez says. So what are my choices? do I have the local garage replace them all (huge cost?) or can some sort of flush or additive help? Appreciated. Steve

Hi Citroen C5 03 reg 1.8 petrol 115k miles with full service history. Owned by me for about two months. The engine has developed a quite loud tappety noise at the top. When I bought the car it was quite then after about a month it occurred once warm only but now it's there regardless of engine warmth. I took it to a Citroen dealer and asked him (him being the service reception guy, not a technician) if they had hydraulic tappets and would this likely be the cause. He listened and replied that it probably is a loose spark plug as they have only once had this problem with this engine before and that was the cause. I drove home and checked the spark plugs - all nice & tight. Any suggestions? It sounds like it's coming from under the rocker cover but it's certainly the top part of the engine. I recorded the sound on my mobile and uploaded it for anyone who's interested - tinyurl.com/yu3n7j Many thanks, Steve