Big clatter + smoke!!!!!!

[pjac67]

Not good - at the end of my journey slowing @ c.10 mph and an increasingly loud clattery sound (total time c.5-7 seconds before switching off engine)accompanied by a big puff of smoke (from the exhausts?) - I immediately switched off and will be 'phoning AA and Dulfords later.
Any thoughts appreciated? Car is Jan99 4.5 with 24,475 miles.
Wish I hadn't just posted on the 'rebuild' thread with my lovely low mileage...

[julian64]

Could be anything, but how about I add to your woe and put a fiver on timing chain?

[darreni]

My old 4.2 did this, result was a snapped crankshaft. I won't bore you with the rebuild details, but parts alone wrere in excess of £9k.
4.5's don't suffer with crankshaft probs though, do they?

[Mr Freefall]

pjac67 said:

Not good - at the end of my journey slowing @ c.10 mph and an increasingly loud clattery sound (total time c.5-7 seconds before switching off engine)accompanied by a big puff of smoke (from the exhausts?) - I immediately switched off and will be 'phoning AA and Dulfords later.
Any thoughts appreciated? Car is Jan99 4.5 with 24,475 miles.
Wish I hadn't just posted on the 'rebuild' thread with my lovely low mileage...

was there any oil dripping from the engine afterwards?

Mr F

[Duke Thrust]

I might have either a 4.5 or a 4.2 engine for sale - depends on me resolving a running issue.

[optimax sniffer]

Mr Freefall said:

was there any oil dripping from the engine afterwards?

Mr F

Paul rang me last night, and he checked while he was on the phone that there was no oil or water under the car or sprayed around the engine bay.

[pjac67]

Thanks for the replies - just waved the car goodbye on low loader to Dulfords.
AA breakdown repair at the ready (£475 should cover at least 5% of the cost
)

As OS said there was no leakage/deposits at all - temp was c. 85 (didn't check oil pressure - Doh!). Oil level this morning was full (although dipstick was oily in part higher up from this level?)

[Chris Smith]

So go on then (I have to ask, seeing as how I was quite interested in your car), what was it? Hope there is a happy ending.

[optimax sniffer]

No news yet....

[pjac67]

Just spoke to Richard - thinks it's top end. Needs to take engine out and strip top,take heads/cam covers off and buckets out (??) before full diagnosis ie next week sometime?

If this makes sense please translate - as you may have guessed my knowledge of AJP's is limited...

[rev-erend]

As you say it seemed to happen suddenly - so it sounds like a breakage rather than wear.

It did not seize / stop solidly .. so a breakage of a valve spring or a broken piston / liner

Just my very poor guess.

[Chris Smith]

pjac67 said:

Just spoke to Richard - thinks it's top end. Needs to take engine out and strip top,take heads/cam covers off and buckets out (??) before full diagnosis ie next week sometime?

If this makes sense please translate - as you may have guessed my knowledge of AJP's is limited...

Oops! Hope it's not too bad . At least you know Richard will look after you

BTW, if it looks too expensive and you want to revert back to a Chim (Can you do that if you have owned a Cerbera?!), Richard currently has mine for sale. Hopefully, though, that won't be necessary for you. Good luck.

[Cerbdog]

Chris Smith said:

pjac67 said:

Just spoke to Richard - thinks it's top end. Needs to take engine out and strip top,take heads/cam covers off and buckets out (??) before full diagnosis ie next week sometime?

If this makes sense please translate - as you may have guessed my knowledge of AJP's is limited...

Oops! Hope it's not too bad . At least you know Richard will look after you

BTW, if it looks too expensive and you want to revert back to a Chim (Can you do that if you have owned a Cerbera?!), Richard currently has mine for sale. Hopefully, though, that won't be necessary for you. Good luck.

What a chancer!!

[rev-erend]

Cerbdog said:

Chris Smith said:

pjac67 said:

Just spoke to Richard - thinks it's top end. Needs to take engine out and strip top,take heads/cam covers off and buckets out (??) before full diagnosis ie next week sometime?

If this makes sense please translate - as you may have guessed my knowledge of AJP's is limited...

Oops! Hope it's not too bad . At least you know Richard will look after you

BTW, if it looks too expensive and you want to revert back to a Chim (Can you do that if you have owned a Cerbera?!), Richard currently has mine for sale. Hopefully, though, that won't be necessary for you. Good luck.

What a chancer!!

Broken Cerb swap for a chim

[rev-erend]

Any news ?

[pjac67]

No further news expected this week. As some of you will know I was selling to upgrade to a newer Cerb - may now have to just sell depending on the size of the bill??

As for the Chim I still miss open tops and the sound of an RV8 but with 4 kids had to get a Cerb to stay in the TVR fold...

[blujay10]

pjac67 said:

with 4 kids had to get a Cerb to stay in the TVR fold...

Leave the little s behind or get the Missus to follow in the people carrier, old boy!
Sorry, couldnt resist,
Good luck with the repair and I hope that its not too long before you are back on the road

[Chris Smith]

pjac67 said:

with 4 kids had to get a Cerb to stay in the TVR fold...

One kid is why I was looking at a Cerb, but having a Cerb doesn't help you with 4!!!

[pjac67]

No 5 piston knackered - several £K if no other damage detected - although will everything will be sorted with full service/tappets etc etc

Should be ready in a couple of weeks - do I carry on selling or stick with a VERY sorted car? (If I can afford to...)

[bobbins]

Sorry to hear the news Paul. Yep, the curse of your post on the rebuild thread seems to have struck.

See what the bill will be and make the decision then whether to keep or sell.