base190380

okay i have just rebuilt my efi rs turbo cvh, from the moment i started it there was a heavy tappet like noise loud clicking. i bought a new cam and hyraulic tappets and fitted them today hoping that would cure it, but it has not. Loud clicking noise coming from left of rocker cover area, is it possible that the rocker arms can wear? The car drives perfectly fine but its most loud when under load, ie accelerating or going up hills. when underway and sitting at a steady pace all is quietish. Any ideas??????

haz87

Ive got exactly the same problem. Driving me nuts! Just ordered a new cam kit n all so thats clearly going to be a waste of money if you've tried it and it hasnt helped

Noisy Boy

look into solid rockers could slove problem or get new rocker arms

cossieboyIOW

i actually snapped a rocker arm on mine a few months ago lol nothing to do with the topic i know

S1Luke

Hi mate,

I recently rebuilt the head of my S1. On the initial start up it clattered and tapped real bad. Thought I'd done something wrong, however it was just the fact that all the new engine parts had not absorbed the oil yet. After leaving the car to idle for nearly 10 mins it improved dramatically and within another 10 it ran really nice. To over come this initial noise many people wipe a thin layer of camshaft grease on their cams and lifters, or cover the lifters in hypoid oil.

However if you have done all this and the car still sound bad it would sound as though the only thing left to replace is the rocker arms, which obviously can wear.

I am of course assuming that you replaced all the rocker arm nuts with new items from ford and did them up to the specified torque in the manual, whilst the relevant hydraulic lifter was in in its most down position?
If you've missed one of these stages then this will cause the car to run rattly. Make sure you follow the manual to the letter!

Other than the above. Have you definately had all valves replaced and bedded in and the timing belt put on correctly, because obviously a slighty bent valve will also tap.

Hope the above has been of help. Let us know how you get on.

Good Luck.

S1Luke

SafeChav

Blocked oil gallery maybe?

base190380

okay just spent the day looking at it again to no avail!!!! I had replaced all of the rocker arms, and also have changed the cam followers and cam as one, and still getting top end rattle on acceleration or load. Ive noticed that the car is popping and backfiring when you let go of the throttle whilst driving along and has a slightly ruff idle, although when up at speed and cruising along all is quiet and runs well! I tooki it to garage and explained all of the new parts ive changed and they reckon maybe timing slighlty off or a problem with a valve? wot u reckon guys?

SafeChav

Have you had the cam belt off at all

haz87

I imagine so as the engines just had a rebuild and he's replaced the cam and lifters since too

SafeChav

ahhhhhhhhhh yea true

base190380

okay yeh i have had the cam belt off the othernight as i replaced the cam so belt and sprocket were off. i had noticed today that the noise is associated with no.3 cylinder. when you pull that spark plug lead off the engine does run a bit rough but the noise is completeley gone on acceleartion. Definetley coming from rocker cover area im 90 percent sure of it. what effect would a knackered valve have on the engine. would this cause it to pop under way when slowing down?

project rs

sounds to me as though you might have a bent valve or one thats not closing properly and thats the cause of your rough running, instaed of a sealed cylinder some of your combustion is leaking out so you might as well be running on 3 and the popping noise is probably unburn't fuel going straight passed valve into exhaust system

base190380

yeh you could well be right there would this also cause the rattling noise i have under load?

haz87

I replaced all 8 of my valves and mine is making this noise... in fact its SINCE i replaced them

SafeChav

Do a compression test

S1Luke

Yeah good idea a comp test should show this. If you have a slightly bent or miss fitting valve this could cause these symptoms. Even if you used all new valves, if you have not set up the timing correctly you may very well have caused a collision between one of your valves and pistons so bending it. Also this could be an explanation for tapping under load. The valve could be colliding with a piston when open.

Did you do rebuild the head yourself or have a company do the rebuild?

base190380

hi i done the head myself. it was aparently rebuilt by a company 1500 miles before i had it and i stripped it and reseated valves anyway but they all looked good at the time! Unless one of them is so slightly bent i never noticed? But the thing is this wouldnt make it rattle would it, and it still drives well when accelerating. Wouldnt this still make the noise even though i disconnect the ht lead for cylinder no.3 or would it only show under load.
ARghhhh Im going mad now.

SafeChav

If you reseated the valves you should of known categorically whether they were bent or not merely from lapping them in.......

juffer

are you sure its your head i also have a lot of tapping noise and also thought it was the head, just spoke to an engine builder and he reckons its the big end bearings, tapping in my engine comes when revving its ok on a constant rev then comes back when the revs decrease is yours anything like this

SafeChav

Big ends sound nothing like a top end rattling!

Little ends maybe......

haz87

What kind of sound would a big end make mr safechav?

base190380

okay but if it was the little end of the piston starting to go it would not make the car pop from the exhaust as if it was a bent valve woud it?

SafeChav

Big ends are noisey as fuck when they go, YOU WILL KNOW IT when one goes

base190380 nope but then neither will a big end, was just replying to the person who posted that

slimwynn

the one gose's tap tap tap the uther knock knock knock

base190380

okay im gona rip the head back off again and see what i can see when im next off. just to check when i done the timing i set the crank to no1 cylindeer tdc so that the crankl pully notch marked up with large marking on the timing cover. i then set camshaft to make the pulley arrow point towards the dot in the cylinder head, and turned it all by hand and nothing caught. have i done it correct, because i thought the ecu would control all timing after this?

SafeChav

why dont you just compression test it and stop making (possibly very expensive) assumptions

base190380

okay i will pick up a compression test gauge soon. wot should i be looking for in the way of results, as i never have done this before. if compression is good then is it maybe bottom end and if notr then a valve?
i appreciate all of your help on this one guys!

SafeChav

The compression test should tell you a fair amount about the state of the engine....do the test and post the figures up then we can go from there!

base190380

okay ive booked my car into local garage for a compression test tommorw (tuesday) so i will post up some info at night. Is there anything special that needs to be done for compression test or will the garage know the score?

haz87

Garage will know what to do. Its a quick little job really

SafeChav

Well you would think they would know what they are doing!

Ideally a cold test, then do a hot test, and if the figures are low a wet test!

Throttle should be help wide open whilst testing aswell.

base190380

okay guys and girls, got my car back after a compression test today and all well. 1st and 2nd cylinder 130psi and 3rd and 4th 140 psi. I take it this is not too bad? The guy reckons that the noise if definetley top end and when i changed camshaft i noticed that the inlet hyraulic follower on the 3rd cylinder was very dry, eg no oil. going to strip it and see. are these oil feeds prone to blocking up and would this cause backfiring on overun

MarkN

Silly question - but you've not left out one of the metal shims that goes under the rocker arms?

Just a thought...

base190380

na they are al present, but thanks anyway

SafeChav

Hot or cold compression test? They aren't the best compressions i have to say.....

base190380

hot i believe i was not there when it was done but its new piston rings etc fitted? what should a normal engine be?

SafeChav

if its a fresh motor you should be seeing at least 10 bar (150+ psi) per cylinder, mines done about 3.5k and was about 180/190psi per cylinder, unless of course you have low compression pistons.....

base190380

mmm, it is fitted with new mahle low comp pistons as far as i know! wots the tell tale sign for low comp pistons?

SafeChav

If they are mahle's they are standard equipment........

I fitted new 0.5mm oversize mahles to mine, a picture of the pistons would probably help

steven botes

just a thought

had a problem with a home made vernier on my second lat build

the cam bolt washer was not butted up against the cam pulley itself(the insert i had made up was not as thick as the orginal) , but rather against the cam shaft , allowing the worn key to rattle in the keyway

sounds like a lifter had died , really bad at idle!!!!

had a step cut into the inside of the washer , problem sorted