Piston Slap a Big Deal?

[matth825]

Got my 85 CV out of winter storage today. After starting it up I was greeted with piston slap. I remembered that it began towards the end of last season. How big a deal is it on these motors? It went away once the engine warmed up after which it didn’t make a sound. I’ve got 39,500 original miles.

[friskyfrankie]

Are you sure it just needed time for the oil to properly circulate?"

[Tiggie]

Piston Slap is not a big deal. A little concerning that it developed quickly. You sure that's what it was? Also me: if engine noise goes away once it's warmed up, I usually don't worry about it.

[matth825]

I don’t think it was an oil circulation issue because there was no lifter tick. I’m fairly certain it was piston slap. I was outside closing up my storage unit with the car idling nearby for several minutes listening to it. Next time I take the car out I’ll try to get a video clip to post. The noise reminded me of an old IDI international school bus engine but nowhere near as loud.

Definitely concerning it seems to have developed out of nowhere but good to know it’s not a big deal (as long as nothing gets worse).

[DerekTheGreat]

I've got about 130k on my Lincoln, original engine and trans. My engine sounds like diesel when first started as well, not your typical lifter tick. Goes away when warm. I had it operated on once, they replaced a few lifters, IIRC. Came back about a year later.

[matth825]

That’s good news. I have at least another 90k miles left in the engine lol.

[sly]

The 88 MGM I had sounded like a rod knocker for the first 2 seconds after start and I sold it with 168K miles on it after finally getting all the leaks stopped. Lopos will last an excessively long time as long as there's oil flow in all the right places. 6-10psi at idle when at operating temp is enough (more is better of course).