GTI Rivage 1991 8V 1.8 engine taps a lot, misfires when cold and makes a metallic sound when warm

Hi!

I have got a problem with my engine. It does run fine, it gets its oil changes every six months, but when I start it from cold it misfires for about 5-10 seconds until it runs normal.

After that I can hear the tappets for about 2-3 miles of normal driving, it does not go away.

When the car sits in traffic and the engine gets hot, it does make a very metallic "tappety" sound when reving at around 2500 rpm, but just around that…

What could that be? The tappets, the piston rings?

The engine has got 147k on the clock!

What oil grade are you using?
10W40 semi synthetic?

mark1gls said

What oil grade are you using?
10W40 semi synthetic?

Yes that's correct…

I don't know if this is any help but we used to have a Mk2 1.8 GL that other than the misfire had precisely the same problem you describe, it was so loud at times that I thought the big ends were  going, it turned out to be two of the hydraulic tappets needed replacing. From memory I took the valve cover off and checked each one by pressing down on them when the cam was off, ie both lobes pointing up, they shouldn't move. I used a small hammer, handle side down and used the metal end to press on, not very technical but it worked.