Noisy tappets, and oil pressure light on????

I had a HGF so got it all done.
New belts, gaskets, valve seals, oil, oil filter, and all new tappets.
Before the HGF the engine sounded fine.
Now I have put new tappets in it wont stop ticking, and the oil pressure light comes on and off whenever it likes.
It tends to come on when the revs are below 2000 but after it has been on the motorway it quitens down and the light stays off for a while then drops back to loud ticking and the light being on.
Anybody have any ideas? I dont want to go down the road of taking the oil pump off just yet.

was the oil pump ok also what oil and is there enough in and when you put the new tappets in did you put oil around them before you started up.

id get pressure checked asap could be just a faulty sender or wire or more serious ,low pressure would make tappets tick,and it is possible to get faulty new parts

I'd whack a bit more oil in at the very least

Check the dipstick if that is ok then it is the sensor its a rover engine tappets made a noise from the showroom didn't they lol

The oil pump is working, you can hear the oil as its pumped round if you take the filler cap off.
Ive got enough oil 10w40 and some engine restore in there.
I will put some oil around the tappets tommorow and see if it helps.
I was thinking that maybe the oil rail or strainer may need a good clean. The oil that came out was pretty lumpy.
Also would a slightly thicker oil do any good. Maybe a 20w40?

if the oil was lumpy i would have the sump off and clean the pick up filter and clean out the sump as you could well have a blockage and no engine flush is going to remove that
Ron

bugsb said:

if the oil was lumpy i would have the sump off and clean the pick up filter and clean out the sump as you could well have a blockage and no engine flush is going to remove that
Ron

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Thats my job tommorow then. Is there any particular degreaser that I could soak the parts in to make it a bit easier?

benjy8 said:

Thats my job tommorow then. Is there any particular degreaser that I could soak the parts in to make it a bit easier?

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any good cleaner will do i used a jet wash on my sump in and out
once its all done and clean if the car is running ok then use an engine flush for upto 100 miles i had mine in with new oil and flush for 200 miles
have you had the rocker cover off to check that oil is getting to the cams
also a known fault is a bad connection on the oil pressure switch and sender unit
but dont drive it untill you know you have cured the problem
Ron

benjy8 said:

The oil pump is working, you can hear the oil as its pumped round if you take the filler cap off.
Ive got enough oil 10w40 and some engine restore in there.
I will put some oil around the tappets tommorow and see if it helps.
I was thinking that maybe the oil rail or strainer may need a good clean. The oil that came out was pretty lumpy.
Also would a slightly thicker oil do any good. Maybe a 20w40?

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i doubt you can hear oil been pumped around over the top of valve train noise ,putting oil around tappets is pointless,check strainer by all means but get pressure checked

bugsb said:

any good cleaner will do i used a jet wash on my sump in and out
once its all done and clean if the car is running ok then use an engine flush for upto 100 miles i had mine in with new oil and flush for 200 miles
have you had the rocker cover off to check that oil is getting to the cams
also a known fault is a bad connection on the oil pressure switch and sender unit
but dont drive it untill you know you have cured the problem
Ron

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I have done before when the tappets were noisey but no oil light on and all was fine. I will do another check while im leaving the sump to soak. I am assuming that if there is a lack of flow to the cams that the oil ways are clogged. Could i put a blast of air through to clear it or are there any valves that would block this.

benjy8 said:

I have done before when the tappets were noisey but no oil light on and all was fine. I will do another check while im leaving the sump to soak. I am assuming that if there is a lack of flow to the cams that the oil ways are clogged. Could i put a blast of air through to clear it or are there any valves that would block this.

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its not something i would like to try in case it causes a blockage it would be at your own risk evan though you have changed the oil filter if there was so much gunk in the engine its worth fitting another as it may well be clogged up again
Ron

The light goes out after the engine has warmed up and goes over 2000 revs, the tappets instantly quieten. From this I can only gather that there is a blockage somewhere. I will get a pressure check once I have cleaned everything as it is pointless, I know there is low pressure until the tappets quieten.

has this engine never been serviced

It was serviced every year, but I didn't last year as she spent most of the time broken down. It was serviced by a Landrover approved garage, although when I drained the oil it looked as though it hadnt been changed in a few years and the spark plugs where nigh on knackered.

benjy8 said:

I have done before when the tappets were noisey but no oil light on and all was fine. I will do another check while im leaving the sump to soak. I am assuming that if there is a lack of flow to the cams that the oil ways are clogged. Could i put a blast of air through to clear it or are there any valves that would block this.

Click to expand...

Do an oil pressure check. If the oil ways to the head were blocked, the oil pressure would be higher not lower. I would get the sump off to check the strainer before any more damage is done.

The sump will be off first thing tommorow, give it a good clean and have a little look for anything suspicious.
I hope not too much damage is done as it sounds fine when the pressure is fine.