Okay i know alot has been covered in regards to lifters tappets and belts, but I want to clarify the problem or pin point what the cause is.

On cold start up there is the loud clattering for 1-2 minutes then it goes away once its warm-up a bit.
If i start it up....hear the clatter then shut the motor off and start again it instantly goes away....leading me to the believe that it may not be the tappets/lifters...

Can someone please lead me in the right direction with getting it fixed....or is it as simple tighnening something, changing the oil etc

Thanks

There are 2 casues for your noise, depending on what it sounds like....

tappets, I have seen this many a time

The bleed holes get blocked in the rockers, the valve in the lash adjuster gets blocked and they bleed off over nights, especially when that particular valve is open and there is pressure on that lash adjuster. I fixed one of these only a few weeks ago for PeteW and also not that long ago had a TH in here, had been to mist for 24 new lash adjusters, the noise was back in a few weeks as the rockers had not been cleaned properly.

In short when I do them, I dismantle the rocker gear, clean it up (looks like new once done) and re assemble with new lash adjusters.

Timing belt pre tensioner, this can also cause similar noise but is more of a vibrating noise than a tapping noise, your symptom of shutting down and restart would lead me to think this is what you are hearing

There are 2 casues for your noise, depending on what it sounds like....

tappets, I have seen this many a time

The bleed holes get blocked in the rockers, the valve in the lash adjuster gets blocked and they bleed off over nights, especially when that particular valve is open and there is pressure on that lash adjuster. I fixed one of these only a few weeks ago for PeteW and also not that long ago had a TH in here, had been to mist for 24 new lash adjusters, the noise was back in a few weeks as the rockers had not been cleaned properly.

In short when I do them, I dismantle the rocker gear, clean it up (looks like new once done) and re assemble with new lash adjusters.

Timing belt pre tensioner, this can also cause similar noise but is more of a vibrating noise than a tapping noise, your symptom of shutting down and restart would lead me to think this is what you are hearing

Thanks Madmagna, it seems to be more of a clattering against something rather than a orcheshra of tapping from the tappets....which leads me to the timing belt pre tensioner. and yeah i tested this morning the shut down and start up method and noise totally disappears on second start up

Method 1 - (crank - 1-2 seconds the clattering starts - shut down - restart - clattering totally gone)

Method 2 - Normal Start and leave it would last a few minutes then clattering fades away.

is the pre-tensioner easy to adjust/replace? costly?

Re noisy hydraulic lash adjusters:
MadMagna - you say "In short when I do them, I dismantle the rocker gear, clean it up (looks like new once done) and re assemble with new lash adjusters."
I was wondering why you say to replace them.....why not clean and refit or are they so cheap it's not worth risking one failing and having to do the job again?

It is really up to you and depends on how bad the old adjusters are, if any are damaged as often the case hardening wears off them and they then pit and damage the valve stems and most important, often when they have been subject to this they will often not bleed and hold pressure.

If you can get them to bleed up then you should be ok to use them

Pre tensioner, is about 2 hours labour plus the part, often again a simple re tension of the belt will solve this problem as it may not have been correctly installed in the first place or the belt may have stretched a little which happens more these days for some reason, perhaps belt quality has dropped

Thanks Madmagna, it seems to be more of a clattering against something rather than a orcheshra of tapping from the tappets....which leads me to the timing belt pre tensioner. and yeah i tested this morning the shut down and start up method and noise totally disappears on second start up

Method 1 - (crank - 1-2 seconds the clattering starts - shut down - restart - clattering totally gone)

Method 2 - Normal Start and leave it would last a few minutes then clattering fades away.

is the pre-tensioner easy to adjust/replace? costly?

I have that exact thing. Only figured recently that doing the start-stop-start makes the sound go away. But my car is in desperate need of timing belt change so yea its pretty much my own fault its rattling.

My TW had exactly the same problem. When I bought the car the dealer did the timing belt, but was too cheap to replace the tensioner. Once the tensioner was replaced, nice and quiet.

My TW had exactly the same problem. When I bought the car the dealer did the timing belt, but was too cheap to replace the tensioner. Once the tensioner was replaced, nice and quiet.

Hey bjbcats,

So you had the tensioner changed after having the timing belt done previously.

How much did it cost to get the tensioner changed on its own?