Bongo Fury

hi all.
having spent yesterday going over my newly acquired(very cheap)1998 v6 2.5 petrol bongo,i have now changed the oil and the filter,after flushing the engine.i then refilled the oil,with new filter and added some hydraulic valve improving additive,and it does sound a lot better,but it`s still a bit tappetty,and i want the engine to purr!
what else can i do,short of taking it to a garage and having the valve lifters done?
will a new air and fuel filter help,and will it do any good to add even more additives,like fuel system and injector cleaner to the petrol?i`ll try anything,but would like to know if it would be a waste of time,effort and money.
i`m very very happy with it,but i`ve just spent £5,000 on the purchase and a camper conversion,by far the most i`ve ever spent on a car,and i want it to be a happy experience.
thankyou
jamie

Having been stood for so long, I'd change all the filters. You could put some injector cleaner in the petrol, but it won't silence the tappets. If it's running well now, you might find the tappets get quieter with use - if not, it's probably still quieter than a diesel.

thanks.i will change the filters.if it`s still tappetty,but better than it was,will i be risking major engine damage if i don`t get it rectified?as you can tell,i`m worried about having an engine failure as it will be nearly impossible to get a replacement.
thanks
jamie

Noisy tappets will not do any harm provided the valve clearances are correct - too small a clearance will cause the valves/seats to burn out.
I've never had hydraulic tappets so don't know if the clearances are adjustable or not, but somebody will know.

no,i`ve heard that they aren`t adjustable.
thanks
jamie

Hydraulic lifters are designed to operate at zero clearance - they're little oil filled plungers. Therefore there should be no noise unless they're leaking internally of worn through which means the camshaft is also worn. The usual cause of this is negligence with oil changes and blocked oilways.
Once they wear through the casehardening then the softer steel grinds through them even faster, giving les valve opening, poor performance, blocking the filter and eventually causing terminal engine damage through contamination.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but I'd get the cam covers off sooner rather than later to look for cam wear.

Not wanting to add to your misery, but when a dealer gets rid of a problem vehicle for a lot less than it probably cost them then you can usually bet that it is because they think the problem is serious and expensive - I guenuinely hope I am wrong.
I know nothing about the V6 - have driven one that I converted the other week and very nice, but most dealers I know say they are expensive to fix and service.

Hi hogggman
I used to be a Mazda Technician and when it came to rattly tappets Mazda technical advised an oil change and when refilling the oil you should add 1 ltr of ATF and believe it or not it does work I have done it several times including on an old Audi 80 sport I had and yes it worked on that as well.
As for your oil leaks I would get it washed down and let it run at a steady 2500rpm whilst checking for the leak.

Good one BP - worth a try do the lifters stick because they're getting clogged with crud? Is it worth while carrying out an engine oil flush?

Yes dandywarhol it is worth while doing an oil flush and IMHO the best engine flush on the market is made by Forte.

Good advice - I've used a few of their products - difficult to buy retail though methinks..........