Tappet replacement

[Quicksilver]

How easy is it to replace the hydraulic tappets? does the head need to come off?
I've got a noisy one that doesn't go away till the engines up to temp.

[Dangerous Dave]

Good news is the head doesn't need to come off.

Basically you need to remove the timing belt and unbolt the top cover of the head, this will also release the cams. Just lift them out and the hydraulic tappets are right underneath (I used a magnetic tool to fish them out).

You have to get some kind of brushable oil seal to put onto the cover, then you need to make sure the cams go back in right, you hold them down and tighten the cover bolts evenly. Helps to follow the haynes manual for this.

Quick pic of the head without the top cover, cams and tappets in (I'm just about to undo the head bolts there)
http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s101/bomb192uk/07122009238.jpg

[Quicksilver]

I've done a search but can't find it now but I'm sure I read on here a while back that you can strip and clean the tappits? true?

Are replacements dealer part only?!!!£££££

[tim15888]

If your going to go to the effort of taking the cams out to sort the tapping out, change the buckets! You can clean them by squeezing them out in a vice but not worth it to do the job twice. If you do take them out and don't change them make sure you do squeeze them out though so they can reset themselves with new oil. Will sound really really tappy for a bit but then will settle down. Can take a good few miles to do it though.