ticking after start up...injectors??

[snelson]

Hi guys, I've noticed I seem to get a bit of engine ticking just after I start the engine, and especially if it's been sitting a few hours and I drive away shortly after starting.
The ticking goes away pretty fast, maybe 2 minutes of driving, so I'm wondering if perhaps this is the injectors before they warm up? Any possible idea what else it could be?
Thanks
Steve

[jessef]

What kind of ticking ?

mechanical or electrical sounding ?

Do you know what sticking valves sound like ? Some cars/trucks you can hear when they are idling... tick tick tick tick ... usually it's the valves.

[Schwa]

My vote goes for valves - they do eventually need adjusting and those are classic symptoms, my van does that too but it's hard to make out over the noise of the diesel combustion.

[docsavage]

May also be the start of a exhaust leak around the exhaust manifold gasket. Mine started as a tick, the became louder and louder. The new owner of the engine changed the gasket and the old one was shot on the rear cylinder. As the engine warms up the seal gets better as the metal expands, when it cools after sitting the little gaps show up again.

James

[snelson]

Ok thanks guys, some interesting ideas. I suppose it could be either/or (valves or exhaust gasket). Thanks very much for the suggestions. I hate these types of things that are intermittent. So hard to nail down. But would valve tap tend to come and go? I would think it would just be there as the tolerances fall out of spec?

Regardless, I guess it's just somthing I'll have to keep and eye on/ear on.
Thanks

[Jaz]

Just an outside view, and I'm not sure if it impacts on the Deli engines at all, but with early subaru engines, if you use the wrong sort of oil the lifters on the cylinder heads get really noisy - tap tap tap. If you use an oil that is too thick on cold start up then they'll tap like buggery until the car is warm, and vice versa for too thick when warm.

This is due to a couple of things, where the oil galleries in the early heads were too small, so thick oil couldn't pass through as easily, and they were also prone to clogging up, not allowing enough oil to get through... this may help?

So, have you done an oil change recently? if so, did you change the type of oil you used? Or has it been a while since the oil was changed? The dirty oil might have caused some clogging in the galleries.

Again, just my view coming from a different sort of engine type, and probably needs to be backed up by a deli-specialist.

[rdub]

I have had this ticking for a while but from some good sources ive been told from 3 different people that its the glow plug relay i dont have any other issuses from the fact that it just makes a ticking then goes away. does the ticking go away if you give it a bit of throtle,quicker than if you dont?

[marsgal42]

Any possibility of hearing what this sounds like? There are many possibilities.

Is it engine RPM-dependent? Is it load-dependent? Or is it random ticking?

...laura

[MardyDelica]

Hi, Steve, maybe it the valve toppet, have you done tha valve toppet adjustment on your delica. if not need this one to adjust, also check if your valve toppet has lots of sludge as many japan owner dont change oil all the time. the result is sticking valve toppet as this delica as a roller bearing on the valve toppet iether exhaust or intake valve.
ones the bearing is worn out occasionaly you need to replace this.
but again try to check this & make sure you put a nice heavy trucK oil like they used in truck, 15W40., usually this delica need to adust Valve at least about 50 to 80 kms as diesel produced more torque than gasoline.
hope this help,
Cheers;
Mardy

[snelson]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

Jaz - I did in fact recently do an oil change at home. Used 15W40 Deisel oil and new filter. That was about 2500-3000 kms ago - before a long trip up to northern BC. I didn't notice this ticking until after I got home, maybe 500 kms ago.

rdub - I can 99.9% rule out the relay, as mine is set up with a manual glow plug toggle switch. Plus the ticking is definitely coming from outside the cab, not from inside.

marsgal - I would say it is RPM depndant, and almost an 'exhausty' sound to it which makes me wonder if it's the exhaust manifold gasket suggested earlier? Not really load dependant, as I first noticed it when stopped after first starting the engine. And yes, since it's intermittent, it's going to be tough to track down. Will definitely try to record it though next time it comes up.

mardy - So I would pop the valve cover off to check the toppets? Would I then need to replace the valve cover gasket? How tough is it to adjust valves on these? Anyone have a spec sheet? (** Hey Mardy, by the way, let me know when you have a pair of those front shocks in stock - I'm ready to buy from you!)

Thanks again all.
Like I mentioned, this is intermittent, so tough to fix/diagnose, but good to arm myself with possibilities for when/if it becomes permanent.

Steve

[Jaz]

Hmmm, with Subaru's its usually quicker than that... I think what I mentioned is similar to one or two of the things that Mardy mentioned.

I'm starting to agree with the exhaust leak guys, as the long drive you've recently done may have accelerated the deterioration of the gasket or whatever it may be, due to the extra heat build up for a longer period of time - your day to day driving may not warm it up as much as the lengthy drive?

Can you hear it at idle? Not sure if you can do it with these vans, but can you drive along with the engine bay open/rev it? Might give you more of an idea as to where the noise is coming from...

Good luck!