Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 16:31:31 -0700
Reply-To: vanagonvw@GMAIL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Brush <vanagonvw@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Noisy Lifter Solution, nothing great, just FYI
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
This is just a followup on an observation that might help someone searching
the archives one day.... Nothing spectacular or controversial, even is if it
is friday :-)
My aircooled 81 has been suffering the noisy lifter syndrome for a number of
years, getting worse over time. I don't drive it much, but for trips once a
month or so, and for years, it was in the garage, and if I went more than a
few days without starting it, oh my, the racket was unbearable. Sometimes it
would go away in a few minutes, and sometimes it would take half an hour to
shut the heck up.
Reinforced by the good folks on the list, and understanding that its not
really a catastrophic problem, I lived with it. When the garage space was
needed for another car, the van went outside, alongside the garage where it
sits with a slight list to port, and a bit nose up, rather than totally
level. Not a lot, but noticeable. I found that the noise incidents were less
frequent, and but for a few times since last summer, it has started up and
gone quiet very quickly, if noisy at all. Today was "get it out and drive it
day" for the first time since December, and I dreaded starting it. When it
sits that long, I disconnect the fuel pump relay and crank it a bit, and
when I fired it up, it was like it was a new engine. No clatter at all.
So, two things: I am quite certain my failing lifters are on the driver's
side, :-) and it would seem that parking it on that angle seems to pretty
much 'eliminate/mask' the problem. Folks parking in a level garage or
driveway
who have the noisy lifters, may want to consider using some 1X6's or
something to create the appropriate angles and see if it 'solves' the
problem during startup.
Its not overly scientific, as I don't see why it would help over a long
amount of time, but it sure does. That said, who knows what tomorrow will
bring <g> but I prefer this over replacing the lifters, and thought I would
pass it on.
John
| 
