Thought I'd get some consensus on the noisy valve train (I think). What do you think?

 

Have you removed the SC belt to eliminate that as a cause?

 

My 2002 XKR has always had some piston slap noise that goes away once the engine is fully warmed up. I just keep my foot out of the accelerator until the car is ready to give its all.

does your noise go away or diminish when the engine is hot ?


Z

 

Not yet! I will add that to the to-do list.

 

If anything it gets a little more pronounced.

 

unlikely to be piston slap then.


Z

 

In the grand scheme of things that suck, that would be one of them, so I'll take that as probable good news. The frequency and behavior is very reminiscent of a 5.7L V8 I had in an old Jeep Grand Cherokee... and that noise was inconsequential for 50K miles (the vehicle ultimately succumbed to transmissionitis). I'm hoping to find someone in this area that knows this drive train better than I do though. If I can get 25K miles out of this beastie, that's like 10 years with as little as I drive, spread across my other wheels.

 

Mechanics stethoscope and try to pin point it . I assume yu have checked the chain? You can do that with a borescope thro the oil fitter hole to check it it has the latest type.
Mine had a very similar tick (4L NA) which in the end I put down to piston slap ... But for gods sake dont use 5w30 ..I upped mine to 10w40 and it went away.