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[cwill144]

I hope someone can help with this problem, I have a 1998 Omega MV6 that I have had for 2 year and has ran like a dream (120,000 miles). About 3 months ago it started to make a chattering noise from the top end, this would happen once in a while and after it cooled down would be fine again for several days. This got more frequent and now is constant, I assumed it was a tappet, there is also some cream in the rocker filler. I have changed the timing belt as I was unsure about the tensioners, and removed the cams to check the tappets, as there are 24 I only changed 6 that seamed to have weak springs.
The engine still has the lound noise from the top end but slighty different now that seams to be the rear of the r/h head, I now suspect it could be a head gasket/ valve gone. I have tried to get a second hand engine off ebay but as they seam to go for about £400+ and I can't hear any running I would rather fix mine if possible. I was going to remove the rh head next and change all the tappets.
Any ideas or advice would be great.
Craig

[Andyb]

could it be exhaust manifold gasket leaking ?

[albitz]

Firstly I wouldnt worry about the cream under the filler.This is normal for cars which do a lot of short journeys.
The noisy top end could be the hydraulic tappets.Im not an expert but I think that this can sometimes be cured or lessened by doing a few oil changes at short intervals (say evry couple of hundred miles) using decent oil.GM semi synthetic 10-40 is your best bet for this.If you have a trade card you can buy enough oil and filters from a VX dealer to do at least 3 oil changes for less than £40.
There may be some more knowledgable members along later who can give more specific advice.

[Welung666]

Firstly I wouldnt worry about the cream under the filler.This is normal for cars which do a lot of short journeys.
The noisy top end could be the hydraulic tappets.Im not an expert but I think that this can sometimes be cured or lessened by doing a few oil changes at short intervals (say evry couple of hundred miles) using decent oil.GM semi synthetic 10-40 is your best bet for this.If you have a trade card you can buy enough oil and filters from a VX dealer to do at least 3 oil changes for less than £40.
There may be some more knowledgable members along later who can give more specific advice.

I concur. My 3.0 elite had this problem, I changed the oil and filter every weekend for a month and it cured it completely

[cwill144]

Thanks for the advice, I had flushed the engine before I fitted the tappets I thought were suspect, and then changed the oil, The engine is very loud so I assumed it was somethine worse than a sticking tappet. so can I assume it should be ok to drive it and keep changing the oil and filter to see if it cures the problem? and can they be quite loud?
I drained the oil through a fine filter to check there wasn't any swarf or metal in it and it seamed to be clean as was sure it was a top end issue.

[Pete Elite]

Thanks for the advice, I had flushed the engine before I fitted the tappets I thought were suspect, and then changed the oil, The engine is very loud so I assumed it was somethine worse than a sticking tappet. so can I assume it should be ok to drive it and keep changing the oil and filter to see if it cures the problem? and can they be quite loud?
I drained the oil through a fine filter to check there wasn't any swarf or metal in it and it seamed to be clean as was sure it was a top end issue.

  From what I've read on here its not a good idea to use engine flush unless its been done from new as it can dislodge crap into the oil ways and make things worse .
 Have you tried some Wynn's lifter cleaner as i had a/some noisy lifters after doing a cambelt and it worked for me .

[cwill144]

Have changed oil and filter twice and have got a complete set of 24 tappets and fitted them but still making the top end noise. I am now having to look at another engine as I am just throwing too much money at this engine.
Has anyone got any recommendation as to getting a replacement MV6 engine?
Thanks

[Matchless]

Take a step back and work through the symptoms systematically before throwing money at it.

Is it running OK otherwise, no loss of power?
Noise is definately from the rear / not from the cambelt cover area?

A blown manifold gasket or cracked manifold or down-pipe gasket can cause a rattling noise, it will vary with speed and engine temperature but more importantly it varies with engine load.
A noisy follower/valve problem will vary with speed and (to some extent temperature) but will not change when the engine is loaded.

[cwill144]

It coming from rear/top of engine and varies with revs of engine. I will check the manifolds tonight and see if I can see anything obvious.

[Darth Loo-knee]

Where do you live mate, if you update your profile there maybe someone near you that could give you a pointer

[cwill144]

Think I have updated it, I'm Oxford if anyone can help.