Forum

[Thack]

My B5 has 700 miles on it now, and I must say the engine does seem mechanically noisy. Most of the noise sounds like loose tappets (i.e. clicky rather than clanky or knocky), but I thought hydraulic tappets were supposed to be quiet.



How much noise do these engines produce? Are the hydraulic tappets silent, like they are on my car? Is there something I should be checking?

[Michael]

Quite noisy The tappets are not silent, but are hydraulic so don't need adjusting. Also, 700 miles is not run in yet, despite what the factory says don't worry so much about the noise... it is a change in noise that should concern you!

[Scalyback]

[center]


Well, at about 800 miles, mine sounded like this... But ignore the strange high pitch 'air' type noise, the front of the exhaust had come loose! Discovered that after making the vid!




















[/center]

[Thack]

That's a seriously uneven tickover! I thought mine was bad....

[Scalyback]

As for noise, anything between a can of nuts being rolled down the stairs, to a washing machine full of spoons!

[Mark M]

Near the end of the video I thought Scaly was going to do a Steve McQueen and jump the wire! Maybe next time?!
REgards, Mark

[Presto]

Allowing for a bit of cross-fertilization between postings, maybe you should use SAE50 oil – being the same viscosity as tomato juice (fact!) that may quieten things down a bit!

[Leon Novello]

Hydraulic tappets are designed to run quietly, this is why anything up to 8-cylinder, 4-valves per cylinder car engines can be very mechanically quiet. When they do start making a noise it`s usually lack of oil causing wear and they are replaced.

[Scalyback]

[center]
Somewhere during or after running in, the engine seems to settle down, and people don't always remember to mention this.



I looked after Thunderbolt well and now at about 2400 miles, he sounds like this...





Cold start










When warm.

















[/center]

[Presto]

It may not be specifically the tappets, the general valve gear on all Bullets - including EFIs - is noisy compared with many other makes. The use of rubber dampers points to the fact that the engine is prone to be noisy - these are not an item that is common on four strokes, but are often used for two-strokes because the fins tend to ring on a two stroke (being thinner and of greater area) in a way that four stroke barrels generally do not.