Hydraulic Lifter Noise/Tappet Noise on 4G63T

[stutzedward]

My original engine was fine and I did not have this problem until my timing belt snapped at 7500 rpm in Oct 2014. Then I had the entire head replaced from a tuned Evo 6. The head was pre-done with port polished.

After 6 months, I got the notorious tappet noise. It was initially during cold start only and until a point that even the engine is hot, the noise is there. So I had all the hydraulic lifters replaced from a used Evo 9 engine in Aug 2015. Right after replacing, the sound is still there but goes off after it's warm up.

The last counple of weeks, it's getting louder during idling or low RPM driving like accelerating after a bump going uphill.

As usual, the first person I consult is Ah Wah and he actually said, 'leave it la... all Evo engine is like that. Even the 1.8 GSR (4G93) the same too....'. I am fine and I trust his judgement but my wife is worry when she drives my car. She's worry that it will break down cos the noise made the engine sound like a diesel. To people who don't know cars, it seems serious problem.

I read from Evo.net forums, some still get the noise even after replacing the lifters with new ones....

So guys.. .what's your take? Should I replace the lifters with a new set?

 

[Shinjite]

Hi bro, mine too have the lifter noises and I just drive it as normal.

What viscosity oil are you running right now?

 

[Rahman77R]

True. It's the same with 1.8 GSR as well. The only time the noise went missing was after I did a top overhaul on it. The tappet noise came back after a year I did the top overhaul. There were times when the tappet makes noise during cold start and then it goes off once it's warmed up. When my mechanic that time asked me whether I wanted to change it, my answer was "leave it maybe it's Mitsubishi's trademark".

 

[stutzedward]

Hi bro, mine too have the lifter noises and I just drive it as normal.

What viscosity oil are you running right now?

I am using Mobil 1 or Shell Helix Full Sync. It's 5W/40. Ah Wah said I should use thicker ones like 10W/50 cos the engine is old...

---------- Post added at 01:01 PM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 01:00 PM ----------

True. It's the same with 1.8 GSR as well. The only time the noise went missing was after I did a top overhaul on it. The tappet noise came back after a year I did the top overhaul. There were times when the tappet makes noise during cold start and then it goes off once it's warmed up. When my mechanic that time asked me whether I wanted to change it, my answer was "leave it maybe it's Mitsubishi's trademark".

Yes I have to admit this is the trademark but wifey worried la... moreover it's getting louder recently.

 

[6UE5t]

Well it'll have sound but not supposed to be too loud like diesel too. I used to have 3 Mitsu cars with 4G63, 4G67, and 4G93 engines and none of them had severe noise like diesel until can hear into the cabin. Only if open hood and put my head closer to the engine then I could hear the tappet noise or else was pretty silent for years of my ownership until I sold them off.

I changed oil quite frequently though, never exceed 7.5k km interval. I used either 10w40, 10w50, or 5w40 oils full synth mostly Total Quartz. However when I did oil change, I also did rather extensive oil flush at least every 15k km using Wynn's engine flush and up to 6 ltrs of cheap mineral oils.

 

[stutzedward]

Mine can be heard from the cabin if no one is talking with the audio completely muted. It's not loud but it can be heard.

Front outside, the knocking sound is pretty obvious even when the hood is closed and radiator fan is spinning. It does not really tick all the time. It's like tic tic tic.....hmmm.. tic tic..... hmmm.. tic tic tic.... so it's one of those lifters. Dunno which one only.

rev above 3000 rpm, the sound is gone. It's only idle and rev below 3K.

I've read that engine flush may help to clean the lashes on the lifters but it will come back after ahwile. I just made a call to Ah Wah, he said even if I had it replaced new, he cannot 100% guarantee it'll goes off. It's pain to know if I spent 1K+ and still not fixing the problem, it will be ironic.

 

[6UE5t]

Mine can be heard from the cabin if no one is talking with the audio completely muted. It's not loud but it can be heard.

Front outside, the knocking sound is pretty obvious even when the hood is closed and radiator fan is spinning. It does not really tick all the time. It's like tic tic tic.....hmmm.. tic tic..... hmmm.. tic tic tic.... so it's one of those lifters. Dunno which one only.

rev above 3000 rpm, the sound is gone. It's only idle and rev below 3K.

I've read that engine flush may help to clean the lashes on the lifters but it will come back after ahwile. I just made a call to Ah Wah, he said even if I had it replaced new, he cannot 100% guarantee it'll goes off. It's pain to know if I spent 1K+ and still not fixing the problem, it will be ironic.

FYI, during almost 10yrs of owning those engines, I only replaced my the whole 16 lifters once with a new set in my 4G67 after a few months I bought the car used, that's all! But yeah, I really took care of the oil change with flushing like below:
1. Dump all old oil then put in new cheap mineral oil and the Wynn's engine flush.
2. Idle for 30 mins, then dump the oil again.
3. Put the new cheap oil again and idle for around 15 mins.
4. Dump the oil again and see if clear enough already. If still not clear, I'd repeat step 3 & 4 again until I got clear waste oil. Most of the time not necessary though to repeat.
5. Put the new oil filter and the real new engine oil that I want to use.

 

[stutzedward]

2 rounds of flush? I was just thinking 1 round..... must be darn clean after that.

 

[6UE5t]

2 rounds of flush? I was just thinking 1 round..... must be darn clean after that.

The most I did was 3 rounds but very rare. Mostly after 2 rounds it's clear enough already.

 

[vr2turbo]

The noise since Mitsu great great grand father dy. Because My VR the same. Once I tried 5w-30 even, on cold start very quiet but once warmed up, noisy like hell. Used for a week then change back to 5w-40. 5w-40 off and on the noise come. The best was when I use diesel engine oil 10w-40 to flush but the engine became so quiet I use the oil until next oil change......

 

[4gbanger]

try change to motul 15/50 oil.. if it still happen, i know there's aftermarket lifters with larger oil line and claimed ticking free..

 

[^pomen_GTR^]

yeap..saw aftermarket lifter with bigger hole...sure that thing works...


because most lifter sound issue came from jammed lifter when the oil hole (very very small) got clogged with oil deposits and having minimal oil pressure inside the lifter which lead to the sound...


clean oil...probably shorter oil change interval were preferred... use mid range oil with short interval would be better on town driving car since mileage is short but high stress sitting on idle at traffic jam

 

[Izso]

2 rounds of flush? I was just thinking 1 round..... must be darn clean after that.

It depends on how obsessive you wanna be.

1st round empty old oil and pour in cheap oil + flush. I recommend bluchem engine flush or penrite one. Idle 15 minutes enough.
2nd round empty 1st flush and pour in cheap oil and idle for 15 minutes (to supposedly clean the 1st round)
3rd round empty 2nd round and pour in final choice of oil. But if you're obsessive you can use your final choice of oil as flush to flush out the cheap oil
4th round only keep your final choice of oil.

This is actually quite normal for the OCD people. I'd do it too if I weren't on a shoestring budget. The Bluchem flush is quite quite and emulsifies and doesn't leave behind deposits. Have a look at my review in ZTH somewhere.

 

[stutzedward]

I will try 10w/50 in my next oil change and will use mineral oil. Maybe will drain it out at 3000 km and have a more frequent oil change. Currently, I am using fully sync and change at 7500km. My car stuck in jam daily, so I know there's a lot of carbon deposites.

 

[Rahman77R]

I've read that engine flush may help to clean the lashes on the lifters but it will come back after ahwile. I just made a call to Ah Wah, he said even if I had it replaced new, he cannot 100% guarantee it'll goes off. It's pain to know if I spent 1K+ and still not fixing the problem, it will be ironic.

Your mechanic is correct about the noise.