Engine recently developed a tappet type rattle on first start of the day. Would last a couple of seconds then quieten.

Called in to the local mitsubishi dealer yesterday and had a chat to the foreman. He believed it was a faulty cam belt lash adjuster. First 380 he had come across with the problem but had had a few magnas over the years.

Replaced today. Covered under warranty so no idea what price would normally be.

Provided for information in case anyone else experiences the "rattle" on start.

Cheers
Mike

Hey Mike,

I take it this got rid of the rattle then?

The wife and I both own 380's with the same problem (one far worse than the other) and so far two dealers have been unable to fix it. I've followed a suggestion made by Madmagna to shutdown then restart the engine (after a 10-20 second wait) when this happens, to rule out a faulty timing belt pretensioner, with no luck, so I'm keen to hear how this worked for you.

Cheers,
Adam.

Advice Mad magna gave to you about stopping and restarting is the same the mechanic at Mitsubishi gave to me.

Usually only rattles first start of the day. Started this morning with no rattle so would say mechanics diagnosis and fix was correct.

Warranty note states that adjuster/tensioner unit was found to be sticking when they removed it from the car.

Cheers

Mike

The chances of a lash adjuster being the issue is remote. If the sound occurs again do as above, as soon as you hear the rattle, shut down and count to 10 and restart. If no rattle is the pre tensioner

edit above, sounds like they have changed the pre tensioner anyway which has hopefully solved your issue

So far so good.