Yours may be too far gone, but marvel mystery oil stopped my lifers
from chattering in my '80 air cooled overnight.

Chris

On 3/3/06, John Brush <vanagonvw@gmail.com> wrote:
> This is just a followup on an observation that might help someone searching
> the archives one day.... Nothing spectacular or controversial, even is if it
> is friday :-)
>
> My aircooled 81 has been suffering the noisy lifter syndrome for a number of
> years, getting worse over time. I don't drive it much, but for trips once a
> month or so, and for years, it was in the garage, and if I went more than a
> few days without starting it, oh my, the racket was unbearable. Sometimes it
> would go away  in a few minutes, and sometimes it would take half an hour to
> shut the heck up.
>
> Reinforced by the good folks on the list, and understanding that its not
> really a catastrophic problem, I lived with it. When the garage space was
> needed for another car, the van went outside, alongside the garage where it
> sits with a slight list to port, and a bit nose up, rather than totally
> level. Not a lot, but noticeable. I found that the noise incidents were less
> frequent, and but for a few times since last summer, it has started up and
> gone quiet very quickly, if noisy at all. Today was "get it out and drive it
> day" for the first time since December, and I dreaded starting it. When it
> sits that long, I disconnect the fuel pump relay and crank it a bit, and
> when I fired it up, it was like it was a new engine. No clatter at  all.
>
> So, two things: I  am quite certain my failing lifters are on the driver's
> side, :-) and it would seem that parking it on that angle seems to pretty
> much 'eliminate/mask' the problem. Folks parking in a level garage or
> driveway
> who have the noisy lifters, may want to consider using some 1X6's or
> something  to create the appropriate angles and see if it 'solves' the
> problem during startup.
>
> Its not overly scientific, as I don't see why it would help over a long
> amount of time, but it sure does. That said, who knows what tomorrow will
> bring <g> but I prefer this over replacing the lifters, and thought I would
> pass it on.
>
> John
>