ticking noice

C

chris varming

Member
Gentlemen, I did it!! Blew my head gasket on a dark road in Sweden on my way home, as I had a water leak. - Filled the thirsty V8 every 50 kilometer with water 3-4 litres at a time. Arrived home eventually to Denmark and as expected the left head gasket was blown. I encountered a ticking noice from left cylinder head which I diagnosed as a tired hydraulic tappet. - Got a new set of head gaskets from GB and started on the operation. Inspected all the tappets, all push rods and as the cylinder heads were off I extracted every valve and decarbonized them and inspected all valve springs for wear or dammage. 2 days of hard work and finally the first trial: the engine was running and spinning like a cat. Now to my dismay and frustration the ticking noice had not disappeared, but the pattern had changed. Before the operation:ticking all the time, after the operation: ticking loud and clear until the engine has warmed up, after that there is no sound at all. - Harvey? anybody? What have I overlooked? Any ideas are welcome. Regards Chris Varming
 
my old engine use to do that just use to ket it tick over for a little while and then it cleared up but to be honest my old engine was worn
 
Hello Chris,

I assume that you left all the lifters in place? Sounds like the oil drains out of the lifter when the engine is off and later once started you hear the ticking loud and clear until such time as the lifter is filled with oil again. You can't really replace just one or even all the lifters without replacing the camshaft too, especially on an engine that has seen quite a few miles (kms) and expect long term reliability. The only real option is to replace all the lifters, camshaft and timing set too while it is all out.

Ron.
 
G'day Ron - Thanks for your speedy reply, one of the good things about being down-under and up-over is that when everybody else is fast a sleep up here (it's past midnight) I can always rely on you aussies down-under! - The engine was overhauled one year ago, new hydraulic tappets, new camshaft, new timing set and new piston rings and there is practically no wear on the tappets. Last week the tappets were taken out, inspected and replaced one at a time and that should be OK I guess. Do you think it could be dammage to one of the valve seats after the over heating?- I did not check the valve seats as I do not have the tools for that, but there were no visable defects and I did not think of that at the time. With my stetoscope I think I can pin-point the ticking noice to cylinder-area 7 or 5 or perhaps both.Regards, Chris
 
Hello Chris,

In 1997 I removed both cylinder heads following one of the original tin gaskets having failed. I took the heads to a local business where they refurbished them. All the valve springs were within specification but two of the exhaust valves needed replacing as they had been burnt. On whether or not one or more of your valve seats may be responsible, in all honesty Chris I cannot say. Given that your engine is essentially new in the areas that you described, the possibility that it is a lifter may be less so, but not beyond the realms of possibility. Unfortunately many parts available today for the Rover V8, especially if they are non genuine can be of very dubious quality indeed. I am not saying that this is the case with your engine parts Chris, rather I am just making a general statement.

Chris, did you have the heads checked to ensure that they had not warped? My understanding is that Rover heads are near bomb proof and that warping is not likely but still....

I do know that the exhaust manifold should it not seal perfectly with the cylinder head can indeed allow the production of a rather annoying ticking sound, so this is certainly an area that you should investigate. Seeing the noise is especially prevalent when the engine is first started, pop the front end up on blocks, start the engine then clamber underneath and have a good listen. Feel about with extreme care and see if you can feel escaping exhaust gases, but be careful.

Ron.
 
How about the water leaking into the cylinder cleaning all the carbon off the piston so now it's a bit slack and you get piston slap till it warms up ?
 
Hello Ron, thanks for your ideas - I must admit that I did not check the cylinder heads for warping, however, I will check for escaping exhaust gases
"be careful" you wrote - is that because of the fumes? I have analyzed all the suggestions and maybe Dave Hearns is right. could it be that the leaking water has cleaned the piston so much that it's a bit slack? - Cylinder no.7 was indeed soaked with water. - Anyway, I'm off to Sweden again with the car next week, so 500 km x 2 will show if it has been cured. Regards, Chris Varming
 
chris varming wrote,..
"be careful" you wrote - is that because of the fumes? I have analyzed all the suggestions and maybe Dave Hearns is right. could it be that the leaking water has cleaned the piston so much that it's a bit slack? - Cylinder no.7 was indeed soaked with water
Click to expand...

Hello Chris,

Be careful as in..if there is an exhaust leak between the cylinder head and the exhaust manifold, the hot gases will certainly burn should you come into contact with them, and also what "The Rovering Member" said.

Just a thought,...as the piston in #7 cylinder had been steam cleaned as a result of the ingress of coolant, then if this would result in the piston now free of carbon to "be a bit slack" then would not all new engines also rattle or tick? They would certainly have nice clean pistons to start with, and I know my 4.6 when it was brand new didn't tick.

A knocking can occur in an engine where one of the cylinder liners has come loose,..the liner will move within the block usually when it is first started, although the sound that it makes is definitely not a tick.

Ron.
 
No , a new engine is nice and tight , an old one gets a bit loose and carbon fills the gaps
It's like in the old days when doing a decoke the advice was to leave the ring of carbon around the outside of the pistons as it formed a seal.

I'm not saying this is the cause , just putting forward a theory
 
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