Bora 4motion - Should I get the lifters replaced

My Bora has a reasonably loud ticking when started cold.

Normally it is loud enough to hear from inside the car with the aircon on, if the demister or the radio are on you can't hear it so it's not deafening but it's loud enough to make me not want to drive it when it's too cold.

In cold weather the noise continues at idle until the engine is fully up to temperature.

I was looking forward to spending my tax return money on a nice set of 18x8 BBS CH replicas but I'm starting to think I should get the noisy lifters attended to.

How much should I expect to pay for replacing the lifters on a Bora V6? I know on some less complex engines the replacement is within the scope of the home 'mechanic', is the Bora engine too complex to consider doing yourself?

Mine used to pretty noisey on start up to, especially when cold, and they do take a bit of warming up.

I wouldn't replace the lifters until you actually need too, thats if it is the lifters...

I'm pretty sure its the lifters, it makes that classic 'tappet' sound and if you listen really closely you can hear the tone change as the engine warms up.

Where is the line between noisy lifters and lifters that need replacing? Can they remain noisy for years without doing any damage or needing replacement?

There's 24 of them, do the maths on the cost and then decide if they need changing or will new wheels look better!!

I'd be trying to flush them out first followed by a couple of quick oil changes. That would be a cheap thing to try out.

Gavin

Yeah, I will definitely try the flush/oil change to see if that makes a difference before I go any further.

I also want to hold out for a couple of months to see how warm weather effects it before throwing money at something that may not be necessary. It certainly has only got noticeable since the weather has been extra cold, and Sydney only has 4 or 5 weeks of really cold weather every winter.

I really want those wheels but I'm trying to let my head rule my heart and not blow all my cash on fun stuff then have to explain to the wife why I need to raid the savings to fix a broken engine :)

mmmmm lifters not so sure, i suggest you have someone with experience look at it before making any decision. Possible cause would be
timing chain noise, i've seen and heard them before the guides,chains and tensioners will need replacement. Keep it in mind...

Agreed, internet diagnosis not the key here
Cheers
Jmac

Naturally I wouldn't spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on the basis of the opinion from a bunch of people on an internet forum, I would get a mechanic to assess it first, but I like to turn up at the mechanics properly informed and with a clear understanding of the potential problems and their rough cost. If you front up to some mechanics and say "it's noisy, make it stop" they are going to assume you have no idea and charge accordingly. Being new to the VW world I do not have a trusted mechanic yet.

Interesting idea about the timing chain, guides and tensioners. I was planning to have them looked at as a precautionary measure, though I am really hoping not to have to replace the timing chain yet as I believe it's a very expensive gearbox-out job. On that topic, I have heard conflicting reports that the timing chain is scheduled for replacement at 200,000kms, or 250,000kms or that it is a life of engine part and should not be replaced unless there is a problem.

I have had noisy Timing Chain/guides for a while now and its getting to the annoying stage, so I am considering the full timing chain replacement kit. And yes it does involve GB removal, so logical to do clutch/fw/water pump at same time....

What is kind of annoying is that the previous owner of my Bora had the clutch/flywheel replaced in May this year. Had it been me I would have spent the little bit extra to do the timing chain while the gearbox was out.

...and considering the Timing kit is only a few hundred more... grrrr!