1.2 engine rattle?

[commievid]

Hi all,

Got as far as removing the timing chain cover today, but I'm a little confused about the next steps. According to the Haynes manual, the first two steps for removing the sprockets involve locking the cams and then setting the cylinder 1 45 degrees before TDC.

Does this mean I need to remove the lock for the crankshaft? Does this mean the camshafts remain at TDC? Or does the whole thing now need unlocking and you turn the crankshaft 45 degrees anti clockwise?

 

[commievid]

Have a feeling the crankshaft locking tool isn't doing it's job, or I've not used it properly, but loosened the camshaft sprockets and rotated back and forth on the crankshaft and no feeling of it locking, have turned it back 45 degrees using the balancer gear markings and the key on the crankshaft as reference.

Got the head cover off, looks like the camshafts and cover are ok, no scoring or any damage. One of the tappets was pretty stiff, almost like a solid lifter, with 2 or 3 pretty loose and able to be compressed quite a way, whereas the others would only compress about half as much.

I'm really hoping the tappets, and/or the timing chain tensioner have been the cause of this noise, I can't really diagnose anything regarding the valves unless the whole head comes off, and I can't be bothered with that.

 

[commievid]

Got new tappets and rocker arms earlier today, figured might as well change everything while I'm there.

Need to get new an M6 bolt for the cylinder head cover as one of them had to show signs of rust and thus round off. Got destroyed in the removal process.

Hopefully just a case of cleaning up, reinstalling the tappets, arms and then the cover after some sealant.

Just pondering, the timing chain cover had quite a few bolts, 22 of them I think. The larger ones are obvious, but a few of the M6 bolts are different lengths, 6 of them longer than the rest. Are they obvious which one's they should be? I forget to make a note and I can't find anywhere online that has a useful diagram.

Hopefully I get replacement bolts tomorrow and can get started on reassembly. Hopefully I can also get the crankshaft locking tool working correctly, as I'm worried about the potential of slipping when tightening up that bottom pulley bolt.

 

[Rob]

This sounds like a job I wouldn't want to try


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[commievid]

Ok, almost there.

Got the crankshaft locking tool to locate correctly and locks the crankshaft, so that's now not an issue.

Have installed new tappets and rocker arms, got the cover on, and got the new timing chain installed. Timed up fine by the looks of it, turned it on the crankshaft with the locking tools removed and tools still go back in when TDC.

Got the timing cover installed.

Just have the sump, the crankshaft pulley, and then the auxilliary gubbins like coolant pump, tensioner/idler, and alternator to bolt back on. Then the down pipe, which I've dropped to make dealing with the sump a lot easier, should have done this in the first place.

Then finger's crossed, with a new oil filter and fresh oil, fire her up. Finger's also crossed, that the sealant applied was adequate, and I haven't cocked it all up. I have this horrible feeling I'll be met with oil leaks everywhere.

Should hopefully get this all done either tomorrow or Tuesday. The fate of the car will be determined then.

 

[Rob]

This is making for great reading lol hope it comes good for you though!


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[commievid]

As an experiment, and because I knew I was going to take ages doing this, and also because I can paste hyperlinks now, I did a time lapse of the two days I took to strip down the engine to as far as the camshaft carriers:

Day 1

Day 2

A lot of it was some faffing around, including an attempt to take off the exhaust manifold (not necessary, and the downpipe was the better idea), and also a lot of action was happening under the engine, so not as amazing viewing as I would have thought. Still.

Didn't do any recording of the reassembly, because actually most of the time has been cleaning up the mating surfaces ready for sealant, so not really exciting.

 

[commievid]

Got everything back in place, tightened up ok, oil filled up and filter changed.

Same noise.

Unfortunately, this odyssey is at an end. I can only conclude the engine has suffered rod knock, and a replacement engine is going to be at least £400, with £750 for a remanufactured one.

I simply cannot be bothered to throw away good money after bad, especially as this whole exercise was about £250 as is. Let alone the previous expenses before all this happened.

No choice but to dump the car. I should remove the suspension, given its only done about 100 miles, and sell that on, but don't really want to look at the car right now.

Thanks for reading, and I'm sure I'll look back on this as an interesting learning experience.

 

[Arkaig]

This is really interesting reading and the timelapses are cool. Thanks for posting the progress.

Respect due for taking it this far, sorry it didn't work out.

 

[Arkaig]

Did you try pulling the plug on each cylinder at a time to narrow it down to rod knock?

 

[commievid]

I did this before I started, pulling out each coil pack to see if there's any noise change, and there isn't any.

Just tried it now and its the same. Obviously once a coil pack is removed it starts to struggle but the knocking noise is still there, certainly signifies the coil packs are ok, as the engine then stops struggling once back in, but still that noise.

 

[inbetweener]

Sorry started reading but never quite read if you had replaced the chain and tensioner, sometimes when changing the oil the oil fed tensioner doesn't like that it's been drained of all oil and causes this noise. It usually goes away with the new oil but not always. I'd have put a new tensioner on it before doing anything


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[commievid]

I didn't take off the entire cylinder head, only as far as the camshaft carrier, so replaced rocker arms, tappets, and indeed the timing chain and tensioner, as well as sprockets.

There was extra noise for about 2 seconds then the top quietened down tremendously. It's like new.

Just the knocking is still there.

It's the bottom end without doubt.

Will be spending tomorrow taking out the suspension to sell on, then the car will be scrapped, the wife will be collecting a replacement sometime this week.