Tappet after oil overfill.

[John]

1997 Honda CRV
2.0L DOHC
200k Miles

Hey guys, i’m a little concerned right now for my engines well being. just recently I accedently put way to much oil into my engine, as soon as I started it I started to have a very loud tappet like noise. It makes the same noise when it starts after a very cold night, only now it does it when warm too. Also when I take out the dipstick, theres black spots of sludge in spots of it and sometimes nearly covering the dipstick.

Things I have done are, drain the oil completely and run some oil through the engine with the drain plug off. Then putting in 4 quarts of oil along with a valve restoring additive. Yet I also took an extension and put it up to my ear, and put the other end on the valve covet in many spots. It seems to sound normal, i couldent make out any tapping noises on the valve cover or the exhaust manifold.

Its not a very sharp tap, and clunk or any kind of hard contact noise. Just a very dull tapping noise. It seems to go along with the rpms of the engine.

What should I do?

Topic

[college man]

If your seeing sludge on the dipstick you may want to pull the valve cover and oil pan.
You may have broken up the sludge and are now clogging the oil ports.

http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car

[Josh G]

Well you’re driving a 97 with 200K. I also drive old cars and they all make tapping noises. In some cases noises are normal. In fact, some pistons are designed to not even fit right until they are warm.

Anyway, I personally don’t worry about it. Yeah I’m sure it would help if I did a valve adjustment and all that, but there’s a point where the age of the vehicle determines which battles you choose to fight.

College man is right about the sludge. There’s all kinds of brews on the internet for trying to clean stuff out. Try searching “adding sea foam to engine oil” use caution when doing it, but it may help (I’ve heard of using kerosene too). Also your engine might benefit from synthetic. Look at college man’s avatar that says it all!

[John]

Yeah its pretty old and its seen allot, I just did an oil change to 5w-20, little bit thinner. Figured it would help, it did, it quited it down a tad. I will do a valve adjustment soon to see what happens, but all in all your right. Old engines tend to make noises, sometimes theres nothing you can do but replace it. And college man is right, pulling out my oil filter which i just changed was completely clogged with unwanted crap. I put 5w-20 synthetic in as opposed to 5w-30 high mileage. I feel high mileage might be releasing too much crud off the engine due to the detergents in it.

Thanks guys

[Author]

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