Richard,

I also have a recently rebuilt engine (only 400 miles on it since I installed it in May) that I have had problems with (head gasket at 300mi, Oil leak at oil drain plug, noisy lifters). After having a local VW shop check lifter adjustment(they said #4 feels soft) I recently changed my oil from 10-30wt to 20-50wt and it significantly reduced the noise. They did not seem to be too concerned about driving it with the noise and recommended the switch to the 20-50wt oil. They also would have recommended using Rislone oil treatment to quite the lifter if it had more miles on it. Perhaps your engine with 5K miles may benefit from the Rislone as well as the 20-50wt oil. They also said changing the lifter did not require a major effort if you extract it through the push rod tube. If the lifter does not quite down over the next 1000 miles, I will change the lifter since I really hate extraneous noises coming from the engine -- they tend to mask other potentially serious problems.

Vince. '85 Westy _______________________________________________________ Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 17:57:44 -0700 From: Richard Ferguson <rfergus23@YAHOO.COM> Subject: noisy lifters

another chapter in my new rebuilt engine story...two of the lifters were stuck, this after about 5k miles. have also experienced a headgasket leak on the same engine and a shop that seized it up by not making sure the oil was in the engine before they ran it...of course they deny any culpability...anyhow the manufacturer has been good about the problems, replacing parts, etc. now a different shop has put in two lifter tubes that leaked oil...the manufacturer sent heavier aluminum tubes that do not leak but are way loud.The shop that put them in may not have adjusted them correctly...it was much quieter with the tubes they first put in but, of course, they leaked. is there anything I can do to get them quieter? This is all very frustrating due to the amount of time and money I have put into this. I have also learned that there is no shop in Richmond, Va. that I can trust to do a good job or admit their mistakes when they make them or be anything less that assholes when faced with their own incompetence. sorry for railing like this but it has to be said. any advice about the lifters will be most appreciated. and God help anyone out there that has to deal with an aftermarket VW shop in Richmond, Va.

Rick 85 Westie