Silence of the lifters

[6670charger]

A few of you may remember reading about the engine in my 95 520i wagon making abnoxious lifter noise and my quest to put said noise to an end. I was getting bad lifter chatter when the car was warmed up and at operating temp. It was basically quiet right after startup and during the first several miles while warming up. I tried LiquiMoly lifter cleaner in the event it was dirty lifters, and had little if any luck after several weeks of driving. I'm happy to report that one of our senior members, Bill, came up with the cure.

He suggested changing the small gasket that buffers the oil takeup tube to the oil pump inside the oil pan. Apparently, if this gasket goes bad, air gets into the oil causing the oil to aerate or foam, which can cause the lifters to start tapping. I spent about 8 hours at the shop today loosening the oil pan, power steering pump and motor mounts. The power steering pump needs to be removed to gain clearance to some of the pan bolts. The engine has to be raised a few inches to create clearance for the pan to come out. The oil dipstick tube should be removed altogether also. The oil takeup came out easily, and when I removed it from the car, I found it had a tear in it. Although the tear might have occured during removal, the rest of the gasket came out all in one piece with no damage. I suspect that the torn area was at least weak if not slightly cracked before removal.

After cleaning the gasket surfaces and replacing the gasket, the tube mounted easily and it was back to re-assembly. Found that the three front left-side pan bolts are best re-installed first. I also found out after about an hour of swearing and fighting that all I needed to do to get the third bolt back in was remove the left side motor mount altogether, which created loads of room to work on that last bolt.

After getting everything re-assembled, I drove the car around town for 45 min waiting to hear the annoying lifter chatter start up again, as that type of driving was where it always made itself known most in the past. I happy to report that during the entire trip, the engine sounded perfectly normal. The lifter chatter seems to have been silenced for good!!

Thank you Bill!!!

Eric

[shogun]

Eric

do you have the part number of the "small gasket that buffers the oil takeup tube to the oil pump inside the oil pan"?
Just type the number in here and we can see the drawing
RealOEM.com * Online BMW Parts Catalog

[6670charger]

Part number 11411703947. Indicated as part #7 in the diagram.

RealOEM.com * BMW E34 520i Lubrication system/Oil pump with drive

Eric