Tapping Noise when Warm
Discussion
Hi BG - yes I've been following your thread with interest. The issue is that I raised it with a very reputable specialist (who I and many others trust) that it's OK. They said that if a follower had gone it would be much louder. The tapping doesn't seem to get worse (as yours did), and as I mentioned the clearances have recently been done. At cold, tickover, and higher revs when warm it's a very solid sounding motor. Yours a tad puzzled. J
I completely understand what your saying, if you have had a specialist look at it then great but please bear it in mind as i was luckly, it could have got very expensive.
Its worth noting, my clearances were fine on the worn follower, a little tight if anything at 0.004", it was not till the cam was out that it was found, as it was the valve closest to the bulkhead it's near impossible to see behind the cam with it in place.
It was not that loud either, it could not be heard when on the power and was not that bad at idle, mainly when cruising around 2200-2600 rpm you could hear it over the engine note which was enough to make me concerned.
Its worth noting, my clearances were fine on the worn follower, a little tight if anything at 0.004", it was not till the cam was out that it was found, as it was the valve closest to the bulkhead it's near impossible to see behind the cam with it in place.
It was not that loud either, it could not be heard when on the power and was not that bad at idle, mainly when cruising around 2200-2600 rpm you could hear it over the engine note which was enough to make me concerned.
Edited by BGB autosport on Tuesday 17th March 09:39
It does sound similar to yours, except mine isn't there at idle. I'll monitor it and if it gets worse then I know what to look for. My guess is that it is more toward the rear cylinders too, again like yours. You did the work yourself, correct? If so could you remind me where you got the new followers from and the approx hrs & price for the work all in?
ta, J
ta, J
Yeah i have done it all, i got the follower from RG, they were very helpfull too. I got the DLC one which is abit more money but reports say it is very good so thought it was worth it.
Hrs and cost wise m not sure, i did it in the evenings, and took my time with it. Second time i stripped it due to the lost follower it took about 3 hrs to strip all the front off, inspect every thing, remove timing chains, remove bearings from tensioners, half time gear etc
Hrs and cost wise m not sure, i did it in the evenings, and took my time with it. Second time i stripped it due to the lost follower it took about 3 hrs to strip all the front off, inspect every thing, remove timing chains, remove bearings from tensioners, half time gear etc
I think it depends on the circumstances but yes i only replaced the one follower.
I saw the statement on the web site so rang and spoke to them about it, they said it should be fine but didnt want to commit that it would deffinately be ok for obvious reasons.
I decided to take the chance as my cam looked perfect really, and in my case, the worst that would happen is that it wears the same follower again and would result in me having to change the lot and the cam, all i have lost is £28 on the follower and my time.
I saw the statement on the web site so rang and spoke to them about it, they said it should be fine but didnt want to commit that it would deffinately be ok for obvious reasons.
I decided to take the chance as my cam looked perfect really, and in my case, the worst that would happen is that it wears the same follower again and would result in me having to change the lot and the cam, all i have lost is £28 on the follower and my time.
Edited by BGB autosport on Tuesday 17th March 15:46
Can you take the cam cover off and check that the tappets look OK?
It's a really simple job, without wanting to sound flippant, anyone who can't do this and isn't very very rich, shouldn't own a TVR.
These engines will tick top end when the valves are set perfectly, the head is a terrible design. If the vales need setting but everything is OK, there will be a very rattleing type sound. If you have dropped a shim, the rattling will be there but there will be a destinctive less frequeant tick.
If you are not sure, and are not able to check yourself, do not run the car again and get it to a good specialist.
Good luck, fingers crossed it's nothing serious!
Richard.
It's a really simple job, without wanting to sound flippant, anyone who can't do this and isn't very very rich, shouldn't own a TVR.
These engines will tick top end when the valves are set perfectly, the head is a terrible design. If the vales need setting but everything is OK, there will be a very rattleing type sound. If you have dropped a shim, the rattling will be there but there will be a destinctive less frequeant tick.
If you are not sure, and are not able to check yourself, do not run the car again and get it to a good specialist.
Good luck, fingers crossed it's nothing serious!
Richard.
richard90 said:
Can you take the cam cover off and check that the tappets look OK?
It's a really simple job, without wanting to sound flippant, anyone who can't do this and isn't very very rich, shouldn't own a TVR.
These engines will tick top end when the valves are set perfectly, the head is a terrible design. If the vales need setting but everything is OK, there will be a very rattleing type sound. If you have dropped a shim, the rattling will be there but there will be a destinctive less frequeant tick.
If you are not sure, and are not able to check yourself, do not run the car again and get it to a good specialist.
Good luck, fingers crossed it's nothing serious!
Richard.
Richard, It's a really simple job, without wanting to sound flippant, anyone who can't do this and isn't very very rich, shouldn't own a TVR.
These engines will tick top end when the valves are set perfectly, the head is a terrible design. If the vales need setting but everything is OK, there will be a very rattleing type sound. If you have dropped a shim, the rattling will be there but there will be a destinctive less frequeant tick.
If you are not sure, and are not able to check yourself, do not run the car again and get it to a good specialist.
Good luck, fingers crossed it's nothing serious!
Richard.
What a very strange post - had you been at the sauce??
Your suggestion that if you cant do the servicing of the valve clearances you need to be very very rich or get rid of your car? Not sure that is a valid statement. For an indy or a "dealer" to do the settings correctly is not expensive and it's a once every 24 months job for most owners. You cant run the current crop of cars on a shoe string, you have to either invest your own time if skill sets are in place and a little money on parts or use someone elses time and probably wider skill and experince set - but that has a cost. Do you need to be rich to be able spend 600GBP per year on servicing a TVR. I dont think so - I guess it depends where your priorities lie and what your other outgoings are.
You also suggest that if the valves need setting but everything is OK, there will be a very rattleing type sound? Maybe you should have expanded and suggested that if all the clearances are too small, the top end of the engine will sound very quiet and mot tappety at all??
The head is a terrible design...you obviously aren't qualified to make that statement or you wouldn't have done so. The head design pretty is impressive by anyone's standards and takes some improving - substandard parts leading to premature failure is nothing to do with cylinder head design.
I dont see why you would make such a posting unless drink was involved...

Edited by TVR_owner on Wednesday 18th March 09:19

I was trying to make the point that if you aren't technically skilled enough to have a look and see if all looks well under the cam cover, you will spend a lot of time and money at the dealers on the many jobs that need frequenlty doing to keep a TVR runing.
I think to state the head can't be improved is a rather bold statement! The oil circulation is poor, the shims fall out and ruin the engine, it rattles like mad, it need adjusting very frequently which is quite hard to do. I think if any other car had these problem, the factory would close as well.
The passion TVR owners have is admirable, however these car's are not for me. I'd rather spend the money on buying something that won't fall apart rather than paying to keep a cheaper car going.
Fun car's, I get the appeal which is why I bought one. I just don't love it enough to put up with it.
Cheers,
Richard.
Richard.
[/quote]
Richard,
What a very strange post - had you been at the sauce??
Your suggestion that if you cant do the servicing of the valve clearances you need to be very very rich or get rid of your car? Not sure that is a valid statement. For an indy or a "dealer" to do the settings correctly is not expensive and it's a once every 24 months job for most owners. You cant run the current crop of cars on a shoe string, you have to either invest your own time if skill sets are in place and a little money on parts or use someone elses time and probably wider skill and experince set - but that has a cost. Do you need to be rich to be able spend 600GBP per year on servicing a TVR. I dont think so - I guess it depends where your priorities lie and what your other outgoings are.
You also suggest that if the valves need setting but everything is OK, there will be a very rattleing type sound? Maybe you should have expanded and suggested that if all the clearances are too small, the top end of the engine will sound very quiet and mot tappety at all??
The head is a terrible design...you obviously aren't qualified to make that statement or you wouldn't have done so. The head design pretty is impressive by anyone's standards and takes some improving - substandard parts leading to premature failure is nothing to do with cylinder head design.
I dont see why you would make such a posting unless drink was involved...

Edited by TVR_owner on Wednesday 18th March 09:19
[/quote]
Why no one use a stethascope now is beyond me! £1.50 great fun too. You can hear oil flowing, each finger follower, and the explosions in the manifold. See if your chain is wearing the cam cover, like most engines (sewing machine sound).
Edited by justinbaker on Thursday 19th March 08:19
justinbaker said:
See if your chain is wearing the cam cover, like most engines (sewing machine sound).
I wonder if it's this that I'm hearing... what's the fix?I realised that perhaps the reason I don't hear this when cold is that I'm babying it at lower revs. I get the noise (like a sewing machine-ish) from 1900-2200 revs once warm. Comments welcome.
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