Frank -
The six cylinder healey motor has an extremely long rocker shaft which is
prone to oil clogs on some of the oulying rocker bushes. It is a normal
part of driving a healey and more often than not these noisy tappet noises
clear themselves with time. I wouldn't worry about it until the next
rebuild. Marvel Mystrey Oil is a good idea... that should help a pit... but
i wouldn't stress about it.
Alan
'52 A90
'53 BN1
'64 BJ8
On 10/16/06, fmags@cox.net <fmags@cox.net> wrote:
>
> Got the noise to go away this afternoon. It has been a loud mechanical
> tapping noise at idle.
>
> Last weekend, I poured about a pint of Marvel Msytery Oil on the rocker
> shaft
> with the engine at idle and down all of the pushrod holes and let it run
> for a
> few minutes with no change in the noise.
>
> This afternoon, while doing some checks, I remembered that someone asked
> if
> the noise changed with RPM. I had not run it above idle so far as I
> didn't
> want to do any damage. But, I decided to run it at higher RPM anyway to
> see
> what happened. The frequency of the noise did increase with increased
> rpm. I
> gave it several hard raps of the throttle and the noise went away. Gave
> it
> several more raps and it came back to various degrees with more or less
> noise
> and a little rough running of the engine, and I got the noise to stop
> again.
> I stopped the engine, added the rest of the pint can of Marvel and added
> about
> 1/2 quart of oil and ran it with no noise for about 10 minutes at
> idle. Ran
> it a little higher in rpm (2,000) a few times and no noise.
>
> When I checked it with a stethescope last weekend, the noise appeared to
> coming from the #2 cylinder cam/lifter area.
>
> I suspect I had a sticking lifter (tappet), and since the noise went away
> it
> wouldn't be something more serious like a wristpin or connecting rod
> bearing.
>
> I think I will change all 6 tappets. If I don't change the tappets and it
> sticks again I sure wouldn't want to do any damage at highway rpms.
>
> Does it sound like I am on the right track?
>
> Thanks,
> Frank
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