The thinner the oil the quieter my car seems... 15w40 and it sounds like it's coming apart. This was my post the other day...

Mine are also very loud. I have tried all the suggestions on the board but nothing had worked longer than a day for me. I do know that anything above 10w30 weight oil tends to agrevate the situation. These have been suggested to me:

1)Flush Engine & Change Oil
(made mine louder & more consistant but I was changing over to synthetic and didn't know 15w40 would also make it louder... another flush and 10w30 quieted it down a little)

2)Run Car @ 4,500rpm For About 10 Minutes To Get Valves To Rotate and Clean Off.
(quiet about a day - don't work anymore)

3)Drop The Oil Pan and Change The O-rings on The Pick up Tube as Well as The few others By The Oil Filter.
(quiet again for only a day - made ticking intermittant instead of constant)

4)Pull The Oil Pump and Replace all it's gaskets and seals.
(this is my last shot... I haven't done it yet and plan on it when I do my timing belt. I've been told that there is a seal that can let some air in and to look for some sludge around the bottom of the pump... which I have.)

--
'94 855 5spd 'Drew' My E-Bay Ride 203,000 Miles

I've noticed a bit of lifter noise when it comes time to change the oil
(after, say 4 or 5K miles). The noise is short, just a few seconds after
starting. But, after I change the oil, no lifter noise at all when the
car starts. (This is a 98 with 47K miles.) Eventually, after another
4 or 5K miles, it comes back.

So, in my experience, just changing the oil has had an effect on the
minimal amount of lifter noise I have.

The heavy oil solution runs contrary to all the other information I've been able to find, and my experience.

The following is clipped from a previous post of mine:

Injectors will make a very light snapping or ticking sound. If what you're hearing is more of a hard metallic clacking, it's lifter noise which is pretty common. That's not to say it's acceptable.

Breifly, I had one lifter that was noisy also and as the ambient temperatures weren't above 68F as per the manual, I changed to 5W30. I had just recently bought the car with 77,000 miles and wanted to change the oil anyway. I used a can of engine flush I found at the local auto parts place, drained the old oil, the cooler (turbos have an oil cooler) and added the new Mobil 1. The noise went away. Recently, ambient temps here in Memphis climbed above 68F so I changed to the recommended 10W30, again Mobil 1, and haven't heard the lifter yet. I'm hoping for the best.

If it does return, the next step is to replace the 0-rings on the oil pickup tube and filter galleries in the oil pan. They can deteriorate and allow just enough air to drawn up by the pump to prevent the lifters from pumping up correctly.

If that fails then it's time to replace a lifter.

Go to Volvospeed.com and search the maintenance bulletin board for more information. A VERY good source.
--
Erwin in Memphis, '95 855t - fast & comfy, '86 Guzzi LeMans - fast & loud, '76 Montesa 348 Cota - slow.

It masks the problem. I would do a flush with 4 qts of ATF, Let it idle for 15 - 20 mins. (not replacing the filter) Then change the filter, and replacing the oil with 5W30 and running it for 500 mi. Let it drain good. I'm assuming that it is a Turbo. If not 10W30... The object is to clean that puppy. Then the prob should make itself known. Then fix the prob... Not that many miles on it really..... What's the ambient temps where you are?