Club 80-90 Forums

Hello, first post, hope someone can advise. I've just bought a 1984 1.9 petrol Autosleeper.
Due to the owner's dementia it has been stood idle in a garage for 5 years.
The brakes were locked up so I have overhauled the rear & fitted new discs & pads to the front.
I removed the spark plugs & turned it over by hand without any problem then after fitting a new battery I gave the engine a good turn over on the starter to circulate the oil & petrol & heard no noise. After refitting the plugs it started first go, but unfortunately it has a knocking noise the same as this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTARNIuLbz0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which sounds like it may be serious but I am unsure what is normal with this model.I did not let it run for long so obviously it has not warmed up & the engine was only running on tickover
I've had 2.5 litre petrol & 1.9 litre diesel Caravelles in the past but am not familiar with this noise, does anyone recognise it please. Thanks

sounds like a tappet to me and bearing in mind it had been stood up for so long its no surprise

Thanks for the reply Matt, I hope that is all it is, but personally I thought this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nU0rbSr ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; sounded more like a tappets noise than the other one. In other cars I would be thinking crankshaft bearings as it sounds like big end knock.
I read in the fault diagnosis section in the Haynes manual that they suffer from something called "piston slap", which I have never heard of before & I wondered if that was a possibility. Unfortunately it did not go into any detail about cause & repair.

Change the oil for fresh 15 40 mineral and take it for a good run

Transporter Porter wrote:Change the oil for fresh 15 40 mineral and take it for a good run

Bit difficult as it is not on the road yet . Do you also think it is a sticking tappet.

Jeff,
have you ever used a broom handle to pin point where the noise is coming from?

Funniest thing I had seen in ages....but an old school mechanic had a wooden broom handle that he put to his ear, and then placed on different bits of the engine. Apparently you could determine where a noise was coming from

Sure he wasn't just winding me up....any one else done or heard of this?

Em
xx

ermie571 wrote:Jeff,
have you ever used a broom handle to pin point where the noise is coming from?

Funniest thing I had seen in ages....but an old school mechanic had a wooden broom handle that he put to his ear, and then placed on different bits of the engine. Apparently you could determine where a noise was coming from

Sure he wasn't just winding me up....any one else done or heard of this?

Em
xx

Yes, normally use a big screwdriver, but anything will work within reason.

I haven't tried to diagnose the problem yet because it was quite an alarming noise & I did not want to leave the engine running. I thought because that first video was exactly the same noise that someone may be able to reassure me before I started looking. As the consensus seems to think it may just be a sticking tappet I will leave it running & do some more checks. Thanks

Hi,

That's exactly the same sound as mine after 4months of use with the wrong oil in! Oil was not my fault only found out too late. I changed the oil for the correct ran tick it over for 30mins no change, whiped of rocker cover to check tappets none were stuck. A week of internet searches and questions led me to believe it was big end gone, and I had to have it back on road ASAP as booked a holiday away in it. Basically I bit the bullet raided piggy back and got it reconditioned by Elite. My buzzer was going of but that was due to faulty switch which i replaced.

Tappets I would say. Big end sounds far far worse. It's be ause it hasn't run for ages

Have you driven it round tbe block? Forgot to ad when I drove mine with that tappet noise you have, it was very down on power and made a louder knock ever 2 seconds or so. So again led me to believe it was big end gone

Update: I've replaced the oil & filter & on initial starting the noise was still apparent although it did lessen after running for a couple of minutes. I've driven it round the block ( about 800yds) but it did not get chance to warm up to running temp.
The noise appears to be coming from the left hand ( looking from the rear) pair of cylinders area so I now think it could well be the tappets. I presume that with the cylinders mounted side ways that the oil drains out of them causing either the tappets to knock against the camshaft or the push rods.
The bleeding procedure in the Haynes manual advises to store the tappets vertically prior to fitting so that the oil does not drain out, so do they refill themselves when the engine warms up?
Is this a problem that needs urgent attention to prevent damage to the engine or something you can leave. Having read some more about it it seems to be a common feature with this engine, but I cannot find a definitive answer.

common advice is to take it for a good run....10 miles minimum...but a run....not just sitting at idle and 800 yards won't do it.

Most report that after about 10-20 minutes the noise has gone.

regards

Em
xx

Thanks, I guess I'll have to wait until after the respray in a few weeks time & then get it mot'd & back on the road. I'll update again when I can.

I had a similar noise on my van after I changed the oil and as all the others have said, just gave it a good run and sure enough, the noise went. Basically, the oil drains from the tappet and it just takes time to refil and settle.

One other tip, if the van's been laid up all this time, then it would be a good idea to replace the brake fluid too as old fluid can take in water and corrode wheel cylider/caliper pistons, more expense