the tappets are hydraulicly operated,via a narrow oil feed supply, this gets dirty restricting the flow of oil to the lifters, regular oil changes are important. rover engines are very prone to this problem, and its a known remedy to put half a bottle of redex in the engine oil, then 10ml per 10 litres in the fuel tank thereafter, its not a noticable improvement straight away, but after useing a couple of tankfulls of fuel, it should improve. paul