tapping noise

[dgannon69]

hi guys, over the past few days when i've been starting the car from cold in the morning and theres been a slight tapping, knocking noise coming from the engine. anybody got any ideas wat this may be? i guessed it could just be the hydralic tappits as the oil hadnt circulated to them. its not a loud noise but it doesn't sound normal. as its only started in the cold weather i'm just hoping its nothing serious.

i also had to top up the coolant today because it fell below the minimum and flashed the warning light on the dash. are there any particular areas i should be checking for coolant leaks? there haven't been any patches underneath the car from a leak so where could it be going?

thanks in advance for any help.

Regards
Dave

 

[DamoS3]

Could possibly your head gasket is gone. Check the underside of the oilcap for white mayo-type looking stuff. The same thing happened me a couple of weeks ago and it was that the gasket was gone but the water was leaking into a cyclinder, and that went on to a hot turbo causing it to crack badly resulting in a new one to be fitted. It would be tappy for the first minute or so then it would run fine. Get it looked at asap.

 

[dgannon69]

ok mate thanks for that. i hope to god its not as i can imagine it would cost lots and lots!! i checked under the oil cap and there was nothing there that showed signs of a leak like that. the one other thing i noticed is if u rev it up to about 3K wen cold and let the revs drop u get a rattling noise then?? any more info from people would be much appreciated...

Dave