enfield lombardini tappet oiling

[Mahesh]

my engine makes a hell lot of tappet and rocker noise and online i read that oil lubricating will help...can some one throw some light on this topic ..??? has anybody already tried this..???

[Diesel Dave]

They will only be noisy if the rocker bar is worn along with the rocker journals themselves.

Sounds like its been run on cheepo oil in the past as it relies on oil mist alone to lube the top end.

[Mahesh]

well i have always used Agip oil its a standard oil brand here..we also get shell and Mobil but the agip is of higher grade..so i use it...i will look in to the rocker shaft and rocker arms..

[Diesel Dave]

Make sure you check the end float too, there are specs in the manual but this is the only measurement that's easy to check with just a set of feeler gauge set.

The shaft diameter will require a micrometer and the rockers a bore gauge.

To be honest I would just give the whole lot a waggle on the shafts and if they seem loose then replace them, I'm sure the parts from Greaves won't be too expensive.

[pietenpol2002]

I don't know that we've had the ZZDP discussion here, and even if we have, it bears repeating. For our stone-age flat tappet engines, the presence of zinc in the oil is crucial to the life of the valve train. However, ZZDP (the zinc) has been removed from modern-day oils as catalytic converters and zinc don't mix. Bottom line- don't use standard automotive oils formulated for modern car engines. Stick to something like Shell Rotella T.
The link below provides a short tutorial on the matter of ZZDP. I'm not promoting the product in any way since an oil such as Rotella possesses all you'd need in the way of additives.

http://www.hotrodhotline.com/pr/2009/09zzdpapril/

And then everything else you'd ever want to know about lubricants is found here. And well worth your time.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

And then this should perhaps be moved to the "Oil - Engine and Gearbox" section, but the discussion could be related to the noisy valve train as flat tappet engines can be reduced to rubble in short order in the absence of zinc.