Citroen C5 (2001 - 2008) - 2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine

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Fri 25 Jan 2008 18:22
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Enoughalready
Hi

Citroen C5 03 reg 1.8 petrol 115k miles with full service history. Owned by me for about two months.

The engine has developed a quite loud tappety noise at the top. When I bought the car it was quite then after about a month it occurred once warm only but now it's there regardless of engine warmth.

I took it to a Citroen dealer and asked him (him being the service reception guy, not a technician) if they had hydraulic tappets and would this likely be the cause. He listened and replied that it probably is a loose spark plug as they have only once had this problem with this engine before and that was the cause.

I drove home and checked the spark plugs - all nice & tight. Any suggestions? It sounds like it's coming from under the rocker cover but it's certainly the top part of the engine.

I recorded the sound on my mobile and uploaded it for anyone who's interested - tinyurl.com/yu3n7j

Many thanks,
Steve
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Sat 26 Jan 2008 08:20
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - rustbucket
We had 2 of these c5 with this engine ,they both went noisy from the tappit area as you describe at about 40k miles.Citroen dealer said they could find nothing wrong.They went back to the lease company at 60kmiles sounding more like diesels.
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Mon 28 Jan 2008 11:29
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Enoughalready
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I own this model. Not impressed with the dealers diagnoses so I'll take it to the local backstreets and see what they say.

Steve
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Fri 27 Jun 2008 12:58
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Enoughalready
Well it's same. I did take it to a local specialist who quoted about £1000 to change all the hydraulic tappets as they would not know which one is the culprit. The cars not worth the repair.

However, does anyone know if this 16v engine is the same lump that's in another Citroen or Peugeot as there isn't a Haynes manual available for the C5.

Steve
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Fri 27 Jun 2008 15:35
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - happytorque
Xsara Piccasso 1.8....Haynes do a manual. Think it may be same / similar engine?
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Fri 27 Jun 2008 15:37
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Screwloose
Steve

That's a 6FZ engine [AKA an EW7J4.] Most of the Pug 1.8 units are the XU7 engine; but the 406 did use it from '00-'04. It's a shrunk 2.0ltr; the head off a very widely used RFN or RFR - might - fit?

I'd investigate the re-con head market. Also; make sure there's enough oil pressure in the head to work the tappets.
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Fri 27 Jun 2008 16:52
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Roly93
Well it's same. I did take it to a local specialist who quoted about £1000
to change all the hydraulic tappets as they would not know which one is the
culprit. The cars not worth the repair.

If it is possible to run the engine withy the cam cover removed it may be possible to isolate the faulty tappet with a feeler guage, although this might be very messy !
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Fri 27 Jun 2008 20:51
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Enoughalready
Thanks all for your help.
Screwloose. Great info and I'll look into the recon head market.

Roly. I did wonder if I could run it with the cover off to try & locate it. Wasn't too sure if it's a possibility or could cause damage. I am however not worried about it being messy- that's one thing my wife would agree with me for once :)

Perhaps someone could confirm that it's OK to run the engine without the cam cover? Obviously I don't mean to the shops and back but just for investigative purposes!

Thanks guys,
Steve
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Mon 30 Jun 2008 14:23
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Another John H
Perhaps someone could confirm that it's OK to run the engine without the cam cover?
Obviously I don't mean to the shops and back but just for investigative purposes!


I'm not familiar with your engine, but I recently ran a FIAT OHC engine with the cam cover off to be sure the oil feeder pipes were running freely after a head gasket change (yes, I got the gasket the on right way around)... the oil which was splashed and spun off the camshaft went everywhere!

It was an incredibly messy thing to do, and I'd have to be desperate to do it again.

If I had to do it, I'd try and cover up the area around the sides of the head under the bonnet with something which wont tangle in the belts, and have some large carboard sheets under the front of the car too.

Stand out of the way if you have somebody else start it up. Doesn't the smell of engine oil take a lot of washing out?
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Mon 30 Jun 2008 13:40
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - MW
Have you thought about a sticky tappet?
A cheap fix (that might work) is to do an engine flush and then an oil and filter change.
Might work, or improve it.
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Mon 30 Jun 2008 16:07
2003 (03) 1.8 petrol tappety engine - Enoughalready
Have tried the additives and flush route.

I guess it's time to start making a mess. Thanks :)

Edited by Enoughalready on 30/06/2008 at 16:08

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