As some of you might know our 95 Kia has a lifter clatter. It is really bad when you first start it up but a lot of it will go away after a few seconds.

I tried a quick fix the guys at the Subaru shop do when there lifters stick, but it didn't help.

I haven't checked with my local dealer, but I figure they will charge a arm and leg to fix it and if it's something I can do I would rather do it.

I would like to get it fixed so I can try selling the Kia. If I can sell it then we will look for a newer one with less miles on it.
So far I'm impressed with the little suv......

My lifters clatter too sometimes. It seems random, but it only does it when idling and always goes away real quick when I give it some gas. What's the quick fix you mention the Subaru guys do?

Can someone explain what the problem is and what would be required to fix it?

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Nukeiridium:
<strong> What's the quick fix you mention the Subaru guys do?
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">I guess on a Subaru there is air that gets caught up under the lifter so they drive a Subaru 3 miles at 4,000 rpm's. I guess it works on 3 out of 5 cars they do it on. Somehow it gets the air out from under the lifter. Don't ask me I figured it was free and what would it hurt to try. No it didn't help...........

<small>[ September 03, 2002, 10:11 AM: Message edited by: Explorerguy ]</small>

mine used to do it on cold starts and when it was really hot outside and i was stuck at a red light. it would go away when i gassed it to pull away from the stop. i haven't had any chatter since i started using synthetic oil and mid-octane fuel. it happened one other time: when i was offraoding on a really hot day, my fan clutch was burnt out and i needed an oil change. other than that i haven't had the problem any other time.

dave <img border="0" alt="[Shiner]" title="" src="graemlins/shiner.gif" />

You know, Dave, it's funny, I just changed my oil and I'm not getting chatter any more either. I was getting chatter more and more often when my oil was like 4000 miles old, even though it was synthetic. If I get any more chatter I'll try mid-grade fuel, I've been using the cheap stuff.

So how does synthetic oil help on the lifters chattering?????

I could see something like 50 weight oil would help because more oil would get to the top, but I thought synthetic oil was thinner....

What is a good oil to try? I will also try the bettter gas next tank.
I did get the plugs changed and we are getting 22mpg with it so that part is good.

people think synthetic oil is thinner i think because it is slightly lighter in color, but it's really not any thinner. it has smaller particles in it that get into places that conventional oils don't but as a whole, it should still be as viscous as conventionals. i'm not exactly sure how the synthetic oil helped with the lifters, but my guess is that there was less carbon and soot building up around the valves and such, maybe making it that much smoother of an operation. same with the higher grade fuel, but i don't know for sure as i'm not that good with engine internals. but it seems to happen mostly with lower grade oil and fuel and when the engine is either hot or was driven a long distance at highway speeds and then shut off and left until morning, because mine did it this morning and i just got back from a 100 mile trip to go 4 wheeling and building some trails. but after i drove it around a bit, parked it and went to start it again later, it didn't do it anymore, but then again, it may not have done it at all if i had changed my oil a couple weeks ago like i was supposed to.

dave <img border="0" alt="[Shiner]" title="" src="graemlins/shiner.gif" />

I was looking in the manual and on the Autozone web site for oil types. In the book it indicates either 10w-30 or 10w-40. On the autozone site the ratings are broken down by temp range. the -15 to 85 deg F type is 10W-30. However, the range for above -15F is 10w-40 or 10w-50. Would it be better to just use 10W-40 since it seems to show up in both lists. What are the pros and cons between 10W-30 and 10W-40 or 50. What weight would keep the lifters from clicking?

C-ya <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Chicken]" title="" src="graemlins/chicken.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Alien]" title="" src="graemlins/alien.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[Alien]" title="" src="graemlins/alien.gif" />

i have used 10w-30, 10w-40, 10w-50, 5w-30 and 5w-40 as well as the synthetic that i use now, which is the wal-mart generic version of Mobil One. all of the conventionals gave me chatter when running but not moving on hot days. the 5w-30 probably did it least, then the 10w-40, but when i switched to the mid-octane fuel, only the 10w-30 would give the chatter. this post suck grammatically, i know, i'm half awake and it's monday, well, sorta, and i'm at work and don't want to be. anyway, just get some generic full synthetic oil, run it for 2 or 3 changes, run mid-octane fuel, 88 or 89, whatever it is in your state, then try to get it to chatter. just sit in traffic at about 4 in the afternoon, move slowly forward, etc.

dave <img border="0" alt="[Shiner]" title="" src="graemlins/shiner.gif" />

What oil is supposed to be best for hot weather?

I switched from Mobil 1 10-30 to Castrol Syntech 10-40 and my engine feels like it runs quieter. In fact I can definitely tell a difference, and i get no clatter now since putting this oil in.

I'm not saying anything bad about Mobil 1 oil, it just seems like my engine likes to 10-40 a lot better. I'll try some Mobil 10-40 next time but I was in a hurry and the Syntech was the only 10-40 oil they had at Autozone at the time. A mechanic friend had suggested to me that I try that viscousity.