Quiet engine?

[meggles]

My van has been stood for nearly 2 weeks. I went to start it today, expecting the dreaded tappet rattle. Surprise, surprise. Very quiet and ran so smoothly. Strange how sometimes it rattles after a few days of being stood, and yet nearly a fortnight this time and it didn't rattle at all. I'm beginning to love my van. Well, I'm beginning to understand it more I think!

[Ant-t]

What oil have you got in it?

[meggles]

What oil have you got in it?

God knows!!! I took it to my sons garage and just told him to do an oil and filter change, using VW recommended oil. It won't have been a cheap supermarket oil.

[Ant-t]

^^^ result!

[shrig1969]

Was it parked on level ground??

Reason I ask, is I have been fortunate enough never to have experienced the tappet noise........until recently.
This followed the van being front end up on ramps ( 6 inches at most) while I scrubbed and waxed underneath, for around 4 hours in total.

Following day i went to work and experienced it for the first time. 15 minute run of continuous noise that was quite alarming.
Read up on here before driving home, and touch wood, haven't heard it since.

Question is..... could the slightest incline while parked cause it to drain?

[meggles]

I always park it at the side of the house behind the gate. There is barely enough spare space so it has to be a very precise park up. ie, it's always in 'just about' exactly the same place. It's as level as it can be.
Ant-t Result? What do you mean?

[Ant-t]

I ment no tappet noise/oil drain down after 2 weeks, that's good going.

[meggles]

I ment no tappet noise/oil drain down after 2 weeks, that's good going.

Ah, right. It's late. I'm enjoying a pint or two of our local brew and listening to Gene Pitney. Maybe it's my lucky day, or even lucky night! Note to wife: NO, I didn't mean that!!!

[California Dreamin]

Tappet drain down is effected by a few factors.
1) How old the oil is (more likely to occur towards the end of its life)
2) Correct oil viscosity VW are vague on this as long as it meets 505.00 standard there are several viscosities that could be used but let me assure you that tappet drain down is much more likely the lower the viscosity of oil that is used. 15W40 is what you MUST use to minimize tappet drain occurring, however, that is not to say any damage will take place using thinner types.
3) Much more likely to occur over time (a day or more from its last start)
4) Much more likely to occur if the oil was very hot when the engine was last turned off.

And to assure you that this isn't necessarily a feature of a very worn engine I can tell you we used to get tappet drain issues on PDI (Pre-Delivery inspection) on BRAND NEW T3's .. now I am showing my age but like I say, we would drive the vans from the New Car Compound into the workshop rattling like a bag of spanners, knowing that at the end of the inspection the van would need a good 20 minute thrashing (yes from new) to eliminate the noise.

Martin