97beautifulaudi

2.8 v6.......so i just installed a oil pressure gauge that goes from 10-100 and at idle its at 60 and i'm guessing thats good....now what should be my next step in repairing my tapping noise now that i know i have good oil pressure....my egr code just went on again incase its related....i'm still sure its a blocked oil passage rather then internal damage. thanks in advance

turbo510

First, the EGR code is common on 96/97 2.8 cars. You'll have to clean the carbon that's plugged-up the passage in the intake manifold, behind the EGR valve. Somewhat time consuming but not that bad, and there have been write-ups showing how to do it.

A tapping noise could just be a valve lifter with a problem. If you can figure out which one (or more), the cam(s) has to come out. About $15 per lifter.

97beautifulaudi

thanks turbo but why must the cam come out? this is my daily driver and i don't want to make it a project....can i just remove the valve covers and work from there? also how do you tell which lifter is bad and how long can i go driving like this before it gets to serious..its not loud loud but noticeable

turbo510

First, if the noise IS just a lifter, you could first try the ATF and motor oil method I read about the other day (4Driver4, Audimick?). He changed the oil and used automatic trans fluid and some regular oil, idled for a long time, noise cleared up. Then do normal filter/oil change.

You can I.D. a noisy lifter by running the engine at idle with the valve cover off, and possibly using a rubber hose to the ear, or slipping a feeler gauge between the cam and lifter face- in a way that tends to push the feeler out-not pull it in, to see if the noise goes away. You'll see that to get a lifter out, the cam is in the way. So the cam has to come out, meaning the timing belt has to come off too.

97beautifulaudi

in a way that tends to push the feeler out-not pull it in, to see if the noise goes away.....

how will this make the noise go away excatly? this is my last question lol

jschick

using a feeler gauge will fill up some extra spacing from a stuck lifter. (if the lifter is sticking their will be a gap between the cam lobe and the lifter) a feeler gauge will fill some of this space and make less noise. but be warned this will be messy!! oil will make a mess when running so don't do this on your new driveway!

you can also try adding seafoam to the oil, then drive for about 100 miles if it goes away then do your oil change, this is the method i generally start with since its simple and costs about $8