Engine rattle when oil filler cap is removed

[Neville G]

Having just bought a 2012 S60 SE Lux with 90,300 miles on the clock, all seems well with the 2.0lt 5 cylinder engine, but I'm concerned about the amount of rattling at tickover that I can hear when I remove the oil filler cap. It isn't noticeable until the cap is taken off, but sounds horribly metallic in the camshaft area when I do. As the engine has hydraulic tappets, I would have expected little or no noise coming from them, but that's what it sounds like - very badly set clearances and lots of them.
I have just changed the oil and filter, to ensure the oil specification ( 0-30) is correct, but that made no difference.
Could anyone who has this same engine confirm if theirs is the same, or if they think I have a problem with the hydraulic tappets or something else.
Many thanks. Neville (Aged 85)

[Simmy]

there is a lot going on under the cam cover so it will sound noisy. most folk never remove the cap when running if they did I'm sure most would be concerned by the sound. I'm sure its ok . call into the dealers to discuss if you are worried about it...

[RDesign4Life]

The 5 cylinder diesel engine is quite agricultural compared to other diesel motors I've had and it sounds like a washing machine full of nuts and bolts at the best of times.

[Neville G]

The Problem is, I've got nothing to compare the noise my engine makes to another one.
As the car has done over 90,000 miles and, despite it having a full garage service record, I am thinking of giving it a good check over in the Spring. Having browsed "Youtube" for common issues with it, I'm planning on looking at three things.
1) The state of the Hydraulic Tappets, Cam followers and Camshafts, for wear and function.
2) The Swirl flaps.
3) The EGR valve, which I will clean regardless of the state it's in.

As I may have to disturb the Cam Belt, although it and the Water Pump are supposed to have been changed, I will be checking that and ensuring that the timing is correct.
It would be nice to have had these jobs done by somebody else, but I've yet to find an independent garage that I can trust and I certainly can't afford to use a main dealer. Even if I could, I was always told by my dear old dad that "If you want a job done properly, do it yourself" and, as an ex-RAF aircraft engineer, I always have.

[Wobbin]

Big caveat here... Not sure if this would apply to the 2 litre 5 pot engine, as mine is a 2.4 litre 5 pot (V60 D5 SE LUX MY 2012 engine), but I had an issue with my engine sounding like a bag of nails on tickover. Pumping the brake pedal a few times would quieten things down for 10 seconds or so then it would get noisy again.

With the help of this forum and lots of Googling I discovered that there is a small non-return valve on the engine vacuum pump (also used to provide brake servo vacuum) which was u/s.

Location wise on mine, you have to remove the battery / battery tray to get access to the vacuum pump which is on the nearside of the engine towards the top. The valve is secured with a single torx screw and is fiddly but not impossible to swap. Worst thing about it was that it cost me circa £100 for the part. Reassuringly pricey, but it did do the trick nicely.

This link refers: https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...-2012-a-92028/

[Neville G]

That's interesting, so thanks for pointing that out. I will certainly check it out and I assume a bit of pumping on the brake pedal will determine if it's the same issue on mine. Nice one !

[Toprivetguns]

It is similar to this noise? Anyone else experiencing?

I’ve posted a video of what mine sounds like.


https://youtube.com/shorts/BykLU97Ke...GWClg1MIRr7a95

[GMcL]

I've got a 2011 S60 R-design D3 with the five cylinder 2.0 D5204T2 with 100,000 miles on the clock. I've had the car 10 years, it gets serviced annually.

It's raining heavily here at the moment and I'm out early tomorrow. I'll make a video from cold start on Friday morning if that helps ?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Toprivetguns

It is similar to this noise? Anyone else experiencing?

I’ve posted a video of what mine sounds like.


https://youtube.com/shorts/BykLU97Ke...GWClg1MIRr7a95

Its normal. Nothing to be concerned about. On older models, the popping sound was usually due to vacuum leaks from the engine mounts or vacuum pump for example. Newer models don't have the same vacuum system.

[GMcL]

^^^ what he says...

A quick search on the internet there are several videos and recordings of both diesel and petrol engines having a metallic tap when the oil filler cap is removed.

I did a quick check on my engine, hot, when I got home this evening. Quiet with the filler cap in, a light metallic tapping with it off,. I won't be doing that again and don't plan to run my engine without the cap in place.

A case of "they all do that, Sir!"