I was out of town for a week and I got back and I started the car. I gave it a little rev and like 30 secs after it started hearing a tapping sound coming from the engine. Any ideas what it could be and is it serious?

 

Mine has done that once or twice after sitting for a week. I think the reason is that the oil has leaked out of the lifters, idling doesn't seem to fix it, but getting it out and driving did fix it. I can't remember how long or what type of driving I had to do.

 

Thanks man! I hope just driving works.Thanks again BriGuy
P.S. I'm looking for a tan cargo cover to buy.If you know where I acn source one let me know

 

From what I've heard about this - I think your lifters are sticking. This could mean there's some gunk building up. The best solution is to change the oil. My car does it really bad because of the poor treatment it got from it's previous owner. I've been trying to change the oil more frequently to clean them out. Right now, mine starts tapping about 1500 miles after an oil change. Hopefully as that gets cleaned out with more oil changes it'll start going longer.

 

Usually after sitting the oil tends to bleed out of the lifters. Normal driving after getting the engine up to operating temperature usually cures the problem. A good engine flush and oil change probably would not hurt either,

 

I guess my problem must be different, because my taps constantly. Very annoying when going through a drive-thru where the sound echoes off the wall.

 

If it is constant, then I would guess you either have a sticky or otherwise bad lifter. Try flushing the engine with some motor flush and then change the oil to see if that helps.

Glenn

 

...and to free up the sticky lifters, try Mobil-1 or any full-synthetic oil to see if it does something.


JPN

 

Actually on that note, I just joined the First Driver's Club from Car & Driver (www.firstdriversclub.com). The first product that I'm getting to test (and tell others about) is Pennzoil Platinum synthetic oil. I'm going to try putting that in to clean out the engine. I'll try to remember to post here and let you know how it goes (it might take awhile to put another 1000+ miles on it though to verify improvement).

Also, if anyone is interested in receiving a $10 rebate from buying the above mentioned oil or getting it in an oil change from a shop, let me know. I have a bunch of them to hand out.

 

It could also be bad Oil pan o-rings making the lifters tap.

99V70 I will bet that is your problem if you have tapping all the time.

 

Tech, glad to see you are back! Hope all is well.
I do have tapping all of the time (once it starts), but it clears up for about 1000 miles after changing the oil, at which point the tapping returns.

I actually wasn't worried about it because I was told by a Volvo shop (not the dealer) that it should go away if I change the oil frequently.
How critical of an issue do you think this is, tech? Do bad oil pan o-rings cause any other problems? I'm guessing it might cause an oil leak? How difficult would it be to fix? I'm not familiar with what that would entail - are the o-rings in the same place as the valve cover gasket?

Thanks for your help.

 

https://volvoforums.com/m_6170/tm.htm


JPN

 

Tech,

Why do bad oil pan O-rings cause the constant tapping? Trust me, I definitely believe you, I have just never heard of that before and would love to have thefile the info to file away for future reference!

Glenn

 

Tech,

I have the same question as Glenn does.


JPN

 

The oil pan o-rings are between the oil pan and the block.
The oil pump is mounted on the front of the engine driven by the crank. The passages go from the oil pump through the pan and filter then up to the top of the engine.

When the o-rings go bad oil pressure is lost due to the o-rings being sucked in (usually).
The the oil pressure drops and only minimum oil pressure is pumped to the top of the engine causing the lifters to tap due to low oil pressure. It is not low enough to make the oil pressure light come on but enough to make the lifters tap.

 

Thank you Tech, very informative!!


JPN

 

Tech - thanks for those details - I'll add that to my list of needed repairs.

 

Ditto, Thanks for the info.

Glenn

 

+1

 

I have 2 850's. The '95 has a ticking sound intermittently at idol which my Volvo dealer said was a normal emissions noise. At times it would double-time, ticking twice as fast as it would before, and they assured me this was normal. My '96 never ticks, nor have I inquired as to why this is...or isn't.

On the other hand, if you think it's a lifter ticking, chances are you may not be getting your 850's oil changed at the dealer, or with the proper oil filter. These cars require a special oil filter, one which has a CHECK VALVE inside it, which keeps oil at the top of the engine to reduce cold starting wear. Stop going to rinky-dink express-lube joints for oil changes that cost the same as the ones at the dealer, and provide inferior filters with essential parts missing. 6.2 quarts of synthetic blend oil along with a Volvo oil filter should eliminate that ticking noise, unless you have more severe problems.

A good place to start anyway. Good luck