TL;DR - Liqui Moly Motor Flush, then 5w-40 Liqui Moly + CeraTec
Hi everyone, this is my first post here and I wanted to give a little back after reading through so many threads for help. Sorry if this sounds like a paid endorsement for Liqui Moly, it certainly is not and have no financial ties whatsoever with them. My 2004 Anniversary Edition had been developing a tapping noise that was getting progressively worse over time. It sounded exactly like the one in the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOCZsBIIXNA
I first tried switching to 5w-50 Mobil 1, which didn't help, but it also didn't get any worse for the 5,000 miles or so it was in the car. I then went with 0w-40 Mobil 1 a bit before leaving for a road trip. I was hopeful that the numerous references on this and other forums to the car just needing to be driven would hold true in my case, but sadly they did not. After a 1,500 mile highway trip and with about 2,000 total miles on the 0w-40, the ticking was much worse. It was louder and there were new slightly quieter ticks in between the loud ones. :ah:
Needless to say, I was pretty concerned at this point because I still had to drive home. I read through thread after thread, reading about people who have replaced entire banks of lifters to no avail. I resolved to switch to 5w-40 and began a search for the best oil in that weight. I almost went with Royal Purple, but I could only find it in (x)w-30 in the shops around me. I then came across Liqui Moly in my local Napa. It had the following certifications: ACEA A3 ; ACEA B4 ; API CF ; API SM and the following Manufacturer approvals: BMW Longlife-98 ; MB 229.3 ; Porsche A40 ; VW 502 00 ; VW 505 00.
At that point I was happy to give it a shot. I specifically went with their Synthoil High Tech blend. It was $36.99 per 5 quarts, so it even cost less than Mobil 1 and it's made in Germany. I bought the oil and a filter and went home (at a friend's where I was staying) feeling satisfied but curious. When I got there I looked up the Liqui Moly to see what other people had to say about it and found that people were not only raving about the oil, but also their Motor Flush and CeraTec. I ended up going back and buying them as well.
I followed the instructions on the bottles. The Motor Flush is good for 5 quarts, so I used about 1 and 3/4 cans. You put it into the oil with the motor already warmed up and then let it run at idle for 10 minutes. You then proceed with the oil change normally. I did drain a bit of oil first so that I wasn't overfilling by almost a quart. I don't know if that was necessary, it just seemed like the right thing to do.
This is what Liqui Moly has to say about CeraTec: "Cera Tec is a high-tech ceramic wear protection and can be mixed with all commercially available oils. Cera Tec reduces friction and wear by using chemically and thermally extremely high-resilient ceramic compounds. Prevents direct metal/metal contact, increasing the service life of the aggregate." As far as I understand, the ceramic fills grooves and coats the internals to reduce friction. You add it in with the oil at an oil change and change your oil normally thereafter, but it's supposed to last for 30,000 miles.
Anyway, I added two bottles of CeraTec and filled the rest of the way with 5w-40 Synthoil High Tech Liqui Moly. The noise is gone. It's an incredible difference. I encourage anyone who has been concerned about this issue (there seems to be quite a few) to try this and post their results here.
Thanks for the awesome forum!
Solved tapping on 2004 Boxster S with 125,000 mi
Linear Mode
