kmpdx Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Hey guys, So when I first got the car in August there was lifter noise which I believe to be the "Tick of Death" or TOD. I got it to go away by adding part of a bottle of Marvin's Mystery Oil at the last oil change. There is some oil leaking and when it got a 1/2 quart low I added some oil and transmission fluid I had on hand to help the keep the ticking down. I think it is related to increasing temperatures but now it seems to make noise on the driver side as well as the passenger side where the noise originally was. The noise comes and goes and is definitely not always. My question is, if I want to try to fix this what is the best way? I plan to change the timing belts and will change the oil pump seal at that time. I have read that this may help with the noise. If that does not help how do I fix the lifters? Can I just take the valve covers off and access them that way? Will it be obvious which lifter is the noisy one? If I can figure out which is the noisy one, how do I fix or change it? Thanks! kmpdx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XHighOctanex Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 If you pull the tops of the heads apart there is a site that sells rebuilt HLAs or will rebuild yours. Search around you'll find a topic or two that mentions the website, that's how I learned about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 It's pretty difficult to stop them ticking once they get started. What we used to do is replace all the lifters with reman or new, replace the cam tower oil supply o-rings, the pressure relief spring in the camshaft spray bar and replace the oil pump..... and this didn't always stop it! There's issues with the lifter bores in these heads being sloppy and moving around causing problems with the oil supply to the lifters. Sometimes they are supper hard to remove from the heads due to lifter bore wear. You can't buy oil pumps anymore now. You may very well have to live with it. One of the joys of owning EA82's (yuck). GD 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 On the handful of ea82s I have had, resealing the oil pump fixed it. Possibly also the cam tower orings, as a couple were included in reaeal due to leaking oil everywhere, and or headgasket damage from running low on coolant. Use 10w-40 oil. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 The secret fix that is not mentioned above is as follows: You will need to take the cam towers off in order to get at the hydraulic lifters. First you check all the lifters to see whether they are rock hard. You replace the ones that are not, which are most likely going to be the ones that make the noise. Then when you reinstall the cam tower onto the cylinder head with Three Bond 1211 gasket maker, besides adding the special Subaru O-rings, there are two contact surfaces that have oil holes that allows oil to pass between the cylinder head and the cam tower. You will want to lightly dab a little Three Bond on those surfaces but not so much that installing the cam tower will press the Three Bond into the oil passage holes in the middle of those contact surfaces. You will also be retorquing the cylinder head bolts, while you have the cam towers off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downwash77 Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Earplugs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Dawg Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Motorhead Rock'n Roll vol. 25+ \m/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Your radio has a volume knob for a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmpdx Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Well, good thing I fixed the radio! Thanks for all the great answers. Since I plan to change the timing belts this summer, I will do the oil pump seal at that time. I will wait until I need to take off the valve covers. When i do I will check the valves and reseal the cam towers. Thanks for the head retorque tip. Until that happens I will keep that radio up! Not worth fixing unless I am already in there for some reason. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmpdx Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 So while I plan to change the oil pump and cam seals eventually I plan to wait until I have it apart for some other reason at the same time. I did find in another thread that another user had fixed his tick by using Sea Foam combined with more frequent oil changes. I decided to try this so I bought a can of Sea Foam and added 1/4 of the bottle to the crankcase. Instantly quiet! Why is that? Is it because it thins out the oil? I do plan to change the oil soon even though it has less than 2k miles on it currently. Is it possible to fix this through additives and oil changes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 If you are running non synthetic, it gets thicker (viscosity increases) the longer you run it. Eventually it would turn to a solid (slugde) if you ran it long enough. Synthetics do not do this (as much). GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmpdx Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 Ok. So maybe I will try synthetic on this next change. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 (edited) Rislone oil additive is better, in my experience, than SeaFoam. You can leave it in too. If you want to drop by my shop, we sell Amsoil synthetic and I can set you up with some oil that should work and protect the engine much better (more ZDDP). Older engines don't really like the modern API certified oils you get at the parts stores these days - too many good additives pulled out due to emissions. GD Edited April 18, 2017 by GeneralDisorder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmpdx Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 I just might do that. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 (edited) Replacing the oil pump has fixed 100% of the EA82 and ER27 TOD vehicles i've worked on as well as for many other folks. Clearly this is problematic if new aren't available...but.. 1. reseal the oil pump 2. replace the oil pump There are other failure modes but i've never had to go further than that personally. If the vehicle is 300,000 miles or had a rough life then it seems obvious internal issues with the hla's are more likely. most of the stuff i've worked on was 150k range stuff, not 200k+. Sometimes resealing it works but usually I just wanted to avoid doing the job twice so I'd replace the pump. Again that's problematic if new pumps aren't available. Which makes me wonder - why have new (or replacement/used) pumps fixed so many TOD issues? What happens to the old ones? If that question could be answered - old ones may be able to be reconditioned? I haven't seen any abnormal wear or issues with the pumps I've replaced that simply had TOD (I'm ignoring catastrophic failures). http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/136547-ea82-er27-ticking-tod-hydraulic-valve-lash-hla-noise-diagnose-and-repair/ Edited April 19, 2017 by grossgary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Dawg Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 (edited) Trying not hijack this thread but after all it is a discussion.. I've owned my 93 ea82 loyale 5spd 4x4 wagon for the past 10yrs haven't really done oil changes as recommended probably done about 7 changes and 3 of those just the filter- TOD is normal as always - trying different brands,visocity,addatives,high mileage,oil filter brands fram,wix,etc... I have done the oil pump reseal as well complete re-seal EXCEPT THE SEPARATOR PLATE a couple times..i rebuilt the oil pump all is normal no dummy light, but for some reason on this last oil change and filter, a couple years after sealing and experincing normal TOD.. I am experiencing the TOD more than usual, I've added a little bit of motor honey additive.. still having to top off about a quart a week.. not dripping not burning but using.. 267,000 miles Slightly tripped out on this last oil filter thou I've used wix for the past 3 changes same old TOD but this time I read from the catalog and it States ea81 and nowhere for any year nothing for ea82 for the wix brand filter... interesting? Supposing I'll have to wait for the oil to break down with some splooge and fill the worn out lifters? New cheap oriely's oil is not super great up here in the Pacific Northwest? Edited April 19, 2017 by Len Dawg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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