a little off for some groups: 1989 Mazda 626 clacking from top of engine

I don't have much experience with hydraulic lifters, but the one time I had
to replace some I replaced them all. Replacing them isn't without risk,
since the cam lobes were fitted to the originals and now they're pushing a
whole new set, but the buzz was that if one or more were collapsed the
others were in similar shape. I got rid of the car for other reasons a few
months later.

I was advised any attempted repair is temporary. Maybe that would have been
good enough for a few months :-(

Mike

 

I agree. Once a lifter becomes noisy, it's time to bite the bullet and
replace 'em all.

Regarding "fitting to the cam," well that's another issue nowadays since
modern motor oils tend not to support good lubrication of direct
contact engine parts (also due to EPA restrictions). So far, diesel
rated lubricants still have the additives to prevent wear on direct
contact engine components.

Roller lifters available for vintage cars including Honda anyone?

JT

(Who's manual calls for motor oil for the tranny which is also a no-no
these days...)

 

I just thought you'd like the association with what looks like an Atomic
Bomb...

 

I put what I had left of a Qt of MMO in the Mazda...after a 20 minute
drive the clacking was gone. Sure beats ripping the Valve Cover off,
taking out the rocker shafts and replacing the HLA's!

 

I suspect it's a temporary fix, that wear will cause the problem to return.
Sometimes a few months' reprieve is a very useful thing. If you are far from
home on vacation or in the middle of rotten temperatures it is mighty
attractive.

I don't know how Marvel Mystery Oil changes the operation of oil for
bearings and such though.

Mike

 

Hmmm...excuse me if I seem a bit ignorant here. What this car has is
Hydraulic Lash Adjusters (HLAs). It is at the end of the rocker and pushes
the shims over the valves down to open the valves. (Um, what's the
difference between this and a hydraulic lifter...?)

You can replace them without removing the rocker shafts, but I have seen a
couple write ups that say they don't go bad for no reason, and the reason
is usually that the holes that feed the oil to the HLAs are plugged. So,
it is possible to clean the HLAs and the holes feeding them oil.

I guess I'll investigate when I park the Mazda and put the Supra on the
road...!

 

Me either, but I've had a couple of high mileage engines using Castrol and
MMO mixed.

As long as it lasts until I get the Supra on the road and the Mazda
parked, I'll open the valve cover and have a look. It doesn't look all
that tough.

I have heard of this (MMO or ATF) solving the problem long term, though.

 

I never heard anything negative about MMO in the forty-five years that
I've been "tinkering" with cars. Makes a hell of an "oil can" squirter
lubricant too..

JT

 

If a lifter begins to make noise, two possibilities are lack of oil
pressure (unlikely) or excessive wear of the component itself (likely)

Plan on replacing 'em all.

JT

(Who owns nothing with hydraulic lifters!)

 

It's not really a 'lifter', as I think I understand the term.

The car has an OHC, 3 valves per cylinder. They are actuated by rockers,
and at the end of each rocker is an HLA (Hydraulic Lash Adjuster). I guess
it's supposed to eliminate the need to adjust the valves by expanding or
'deflating' with oil to take up the slack. It seems they collect gunk, as
do the holes providing the oil.

It seems the MMO added to the oil has taken care of this for now. They
look fairly easy to replace. Once it comes off the road for the summer.

 

Sounds like the same operation as a hydraulic lifter, but located on the
other end of the rocker arm. Lifters deflate in pretty much the same way,
but I don't know if it is usually that they stick "down" or if they leak too
badly to work.

Your plan to tackle it when more convenient sounds good to me. At least a
collapsed HLA (almost wrote "lifter") won't strand you anywhere.

Mike

 

Marvel Mystery Oil

Manufacturer Name THE MARVEL OIL COMPANY, INC
Street 5655 W 73RD STREET
City CHICAGO
State IL
Country US
Zip Code 60638
Emergency Phone 708-563-3766
Information Phone 708-563-3766

Ingredient # 01
Ingredient Name BENZENE, 1,2-DICHLORO-
CAS Number 95501
Percent 0
Ingredient # 02
Ingredient Name MINERAL SPIRITS
CAS Number 8052413
Percent 0
Ingredient # 03
Ingredient Name NAPTHENIC HYDROCARBONS
CAS Number 64742525
Percent 0

I got the above info from here:

http://www.setonresourcecenter.com/msds/docs/wcd00043/wcd04377.htm

 

Interesting...BENZENE?!?!?!

 

good on you! i have a really strong opinion on anything related to oil
sales and the total lack of labeling thereof. it's all to deceive the
consumer. manufacturers all know what their competition is using - they
have labs. consumers don't, and this information vacuum is the void
into which garbage is sold. msds info like you've dug up /is/
available, but it's not exactly front and center, and even then, there's
get-outs for "proprietary" contents. the whole machine is a scam.

i say:
1. label all products, just like food and shampoo.

and while we're at it:
2. make publication of the calorie content of gasoline mandatory.
alcohol content is mandatory on beverages, calorie content is published
for natural gas. same principles should apply to gasoline.

 

really? where's you get that information from?

why diesel lubes? what's the composition difference?

 

We went through this a few months ago. I'm much too lazy to do it again.

JT

 

Well, once it fianally STOPS snowing I'll pull of the valve cover and have
a look. I have a Supra I use in the summer, the Mazda's a winter beater.
When the Supra goes on the road I plan on giving the Mazda a better going
over than I did in December when I bought it. But the forecast is for more
snow this week.

And the funny thing is, I drove it about 20 miles yesterday, no problem.
This afternoon it fired up just fine, I drove it about 7 miles and the
ticking came back. I stopped for a cup of coffee, and the next three times
I started it, it ran fine.

So, I guess the cover comes off in the (real) spring...

 

I did a little research on this Mike.

" On the other side of the engine block are those additives which will
cleanse your engine, not coat it. Stuff like Bardahl, Rislone and Marvel
Mystery Oil claim they can make your engine run quieter and smoother, and
reduce oil burning. These are products which contain solvents or detergents
such as kerosene, naphthalene, xylene, acetone or isopropanol. If used
properly, I suppose these products will strip off your Teflon and zinc
protective coatings! But unless you have a really old and abused car, you
probably have no need of stripping away sludge and deposits from your
engine. Thus, you probably have no need for these wonder cleaners. If you
overuse such products you can damage your engine by promoting metal to metal
contact".

This came from the following site: http://skepdic.com/slick50.html. I
couldn't find much about the contents but I would conclude that it is a
petroleum distillate solvent that removes sludge, dirt, and other corruption
thereby enhancing the oil flow but I can't prove such. I would say it is a
temporary fix for an engine that has been neglected over time...

DaveD