I recently put up a post about my 02 4.6 explorer having a tap. I have whittled it down to be a valve lash adjustor. The thing taps at idle and sounds like a jigsaw until around 1500RPM. I am assuming that the thing quiets down when some good oil pressure gets to the adjustor. I have listened to it with a stethescope and think that there is just one cylinder acting up. I have heard that around 100 thousand miles these guys can ge gunked up and cause all sorts of noise.
My question is, should I shell out the big bucks to have it fixed, should I attempt to replace/clean these myself, or maybe put some solvents in the oil. I am fairly handy with the wrenches but I don't want a headache and there is a pricey tool involved in compressing the springs.
I have heard mixed reviews about oil solvents. I would hate to shell out all my peanut shells to fix this or have it fixed when two or three bucks might be the fix. I guess the problem with these solvents is that they nock loose all sorts of giblets that plug up an otherwise healthy system. Anyone fixed these before? What about these solvents? Thanks again to those of you who have helped me out so far you have been a big help.