Noisey hydraulic tappet.

> wrote in message
...
> My 2000 540 is starting to make a nasty noise starting. It is an M62
> engine and it has done 67K miles. The noise is coming from the left
> bank of cylinders looking from the drivers seat and it is a right hand
> drive car. The mech hasn't done one before but has done 6 cylinder
> models. Have I got to have all the tappets replaced on the left bank
> of cylinders? How many hydraulic tappets are there per this engine? Is
> this going to be very expensive?
> pete
> --
> http://www.brazierbridgewood.blogspot.com/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/ipswich/

As the car gets older the hydraulic tappets wear. This allows the oil to
run out of the tappet(s) when the car is standing.

When an older car is restarted after a long time standing it is normal to
hear quite a bit of tappet noise until they pump themselves up again
(usually a minute or two). In the mean time don't thrash it, although this
is good advice for any cold engine.

If the noise is constant then one or more of them may be stuck. Try thinner
or thicker oil (ask mechanic). It may be possible to just remove the
crankshaft cover(s) to inspect, manipulate or replace the tappets. I would
not consider undoing the head unless the problem was really bad AND your
mechanic knows what he is doing - you need new bolts, gaskets, run in etc.
if you do this and it will cost £££.

Consider the possibility of looseness of the cam chain.

How sure are you about the mileage?

wrote:
>
> As sure as possible but why would the crankcase of cylinder head need
> touching? Am I missing something?
> pete
>
> --

I'm sure he means cam cover. There is a TSB about tappets sticking on
ther V8s if they've been left for a while. Mine took a logn trip to
quieten down. Ona 6 cyl I had I found that the oil I used made a big
difference.