Took the front rocker cover off my doner today for a look at the camshafts and was pleased to see it all looks very clean.
I've got an ever worsening tappet rattle at about 1000 RPM (less at 700 and undetectable above 1500 RPM, but its bugging me and I know I'll never stop fretting about it till I've got it fixed. A troll of the web confirms that its probably gunge in the little piston and non return valve cup in the valve lifter. I've got som STP treatment in the engine at present but it doesn't look as though its going to cure it, so I'm contemplating taking the valve lifters out of the doner, overhauling them, then swapping the best over to the Flying Machine if needs be if I dont like the look of the ones in the running engine.
Obviously the success or failure of this malarkey depends on maintaining the valve timing when the shafts come out, which means access to the timing belt which doesn't look very accessible to me! but on the other hand, I'm not aware of the need to remove the engine to remove the cover or change the belt.
Its fairly obvious that the rear rocker is a bit trickier, but is this a practical job for me to attempt on a drive without specialist tooling and what do I need to be careful with?
Bob
Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
Oh Bob, this is like watching someone standing on the parapet of a bridge preparing to jump.
My advice ?
Don't.
My advice ?
Don't.
Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
If you're taking the cam belt off, you don't need any specialist tools. The cam belt cover is accessible with the engine in, but you'll need to remove
the top engine mounting. You'll need to support the engine, I usually use a trolley jack with a length of 4x4 wood along the sump to spread the weight. You'll need some deep sockets to get the engine mount nuts off (I think they're 17mm). You'll need a decent breaker bar to get the crankshaft pulley bolt loose. Also a 1/4 inch socket set is useful to get the bolts out of the cam cover.
The aux belts will have to come off, and the tensioner and brackets.
If you can put the car on ramps first, that makes things a whole lot easier, as you can get to the bottom bolts without any problem.
When replacing the timing belt, it's best practice to fit a new water pump too, while everything is dismantled. Also might be an idea to fit a new timing belt tensioner. If you're going to use the old one, you'll need a little vice to compress it, then a small split pin to hold it compressed until it's fitted to the engine.
Is the noisy tappet on the inlet side, or the exhaust side?
the top engine mounting. You'll need to support the engine, I usually use a trolley jack with a length of 4x4 wood along the sump to spread the weight. You'll need some deep sockets to get the engine mount nuts off (I think they're 17mm). You'll need a decent breaker bar to get the crankshaft pulley bolt loose. Also a 1/4 inch socket set is useful to get the bolts out of the cam cover.
The aux belts will have to come off, and the tensioner and brackets.
If you can put the car on ramps first, that makes things a whole lot easier, as you can get to the bottom bolts without any problem.
When replacing the timing belt, it's best practice to fit a new water pump too, while everything is dismantled. Also might be an idea to fit a new timing belt tensioner. If you're going to use the old one, you'll need a little vice to compress it, then a small split pin to hold it compressed until it's fitted to the engine.
Is the noisy tappet on the inlet side, or the exhaust side?
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mojo98
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Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
Hi Bob I`ve never done the HLA`s but see it on YouTube
I`ve done a few cam belts and its not that hard,
Pm me your email and will sent some info
I`ve done a few cam belts and its not that hard,
Pm me your email and will sent some info
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Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
The belt is new so I wont be changing that. Not sure why I would need to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt to remove the camshafts or is that just for engine turning purposes? Engine has a new cooling pump and tensioner, its just those pesky cam followers. Difficult to pin down the location but I'd say rear bank exhaust.mikenali wrote: ↑Sun Nov 18, 2018 11:05 amIf you're taking the cam belt off, you don't need any specialist tools. The cam belt cover is accessible with the engine in, but you'll need to remove
the top engine mounting. You'll need to support the engine, I usually use a trolley jack with a length of 4x4 wood along the sump to spread the weight. You'll need some deep sockets to get the engine mount nuts off (I think they're 17mm). You'll need a decent breaker bar to get the crankshaft pulley bolt loose. Also a 1/4 inch socket set is useful to get the bolts out of the cam cover.
The aux belts will have to come off, and the tensioner and brackets.
If you can put the car on ramps first, that makes things a whole lot easier, as you can get to the bottom bolts without any problem.
When replacing the timing belt, it's best practice to fit a new water pump too, while everything is dismantled. Also might be an idea to fit a new timing belt tensioner. If you're going to use the old one, you'll need a little vice to compress it, then a small split pin to hold it compressed until it's fitted to the engine.
Is the noisy tappet on the inlet side, or the exhaust side?
Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
Story of my life John! Its not the engineering that bothers me as much as the arthritis.
Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
Don't we know it +++.
My concern is, you would do all the work then find another one starts 'tapping' !
Perhaps a few oil changes using flushing oil before doing the job is worth a try ?
My concern is, you would do all the work then find another one starts 'tapping' !
Perhaps a few oil changes using flushing oil before doing the job is worth a try ?
Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
I wouldnt get caught like that John. If I did the job at all it would be all of them because my way of thinking is that if an 80k engine has had gunge in the oil that's caused my tappet rattle, some previous owner has not looked after the engine properly!
M939FDF 16v (God rest her soul) did 285k and had no tappet rattle to speak of. What she needed, she got, on time and the best quality. Oil and coolant (and lets not forget filters) are the lifeblood of any engine and if they are looked after, the rest will run forever. A few weeks ago a new owner was a bit frustrated with the problems he was having, and was asking (i'm paraphrasing) "what do I have to do to keep this piece of crap running". I felt his pain, but the problem was not the car or the engine, its the bozo who don't look after his car properly that was the problem.
Phew, glad I've got that off my chest... anyway, back to what you were saying John, its had three oil changes in 7k miles and is presently dosed with STP tappet treatment so I think more radical action is required!
To my way of thinking, not having done the job before, its engine to TDC. all alignments checked and marked, belt tension released, camshfts out, then tappets serviced or exchanged as reqd.
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humph
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Re: Tappet Rattle - a dummy run.
You need to take the timing belt off to remove the camshafts to get to the hla’s. You also need to take the crank pulley off to get the belt covers off and to set the timing back up. Also you need the cam covers off to get to the cam wheels.
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