Cleaning hydraulic tappets

[Doug_RS2]

My hydraulic tappets are out of my head - how do I clean these?

I was going to put them on a metal tray and heat it up from underneath - is this good enough or should i soak them in a hot thin oil. Never done it before so only guessing.

Cheers

[madmk4]

What exactly are yo trying to clean off them ?

Most people just wipe them off with a rag

[Doug_RS2]

I just thought it would be worthwhile cleaning them while they are out. My head had some rubbish from the broken HT lead in it so I wanted to be sure that everything was clean and free from bits.

[Audi Parts Guru]

Re: Cleaning hydraulic tappets

Originally posted by Doug_RS2
My hydraulic tappets are out of my head - how do I clean these?

I was going to put them on a metal tray and heat it up from underneath - is this good enough or should i soak them in a hot thin oil. Never done it before so only guessing.

Cheers

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :eek2:

I'd personally soak them in something like brake cleaner (in a well ventilated area and away from sources of ignition of course )

[Paulm]

Doug

Had to clean the tappets on my evo, very noisy when cold. I used Paraffin to clean mine this worked very well indead. Not sure what type in the Audi but on the evo you can pump the Paraffin in and out of the tappet to ensure they are clean

HTH

Paul

[porkkis]

Soak them in diesel oil overnight.

[Doug_RS2]

cheers guys - i'll soak them in something(whatever I can find) overnight.

[audiman]

There is a way of cleaning tappets by taking them apart. This is the procedure that is suposed to be done when ANY tappets are removed as if it is not done you stand the chance of the tappets 'jacking up' and holding a valve open, and then when the piston comes up, it bends it nicely!!!
This technique will normally cure noisy tappets too!

1) Remove tappets and keep then in order
2) Tip the tappet upside down and grip the bit that sits on the top of the valve with some round jawed pliers or similar.
3) Pull the centre out of the shell, this is not normally easy, but sometimes all twenty come apart with ease.
4) With the centre piece in your hand, get a pen or something similar and push the ball bearing part in to release to oil inside.
5) Keep doing this until the tappet is all 'squashy' and then clen the main shell and place the centre part back in.
6) Repeat 20 times!


You will find that when the car starts up it will sound very rattley. This is normal and is NOT causing any damage. Once the oil has got hot and after about 15 mins max, all the noise will go!


HTH