5 litre piston rattle - what cost to fix?
Discussion
So my Chim 500 has the god awful rattle on overrun that seems to plague a lot of 5 litre engines. Only does it when warm but it drives me mad because it really does sound rubbish-especially when blipping the throttle which lets face it is what a TVR V8 is all about! I've noticed in the extensive service history I have that the engine has had pretty much a total top end rebuild within the last 10000 miles from a previous owner trying to chase down this fault and it is mentioned in the history going back at least 20k miles so I guess it's nothing that is going to destroy my engine any time soon. That said it really does bug me! So assuming it is piston to pin wear as suggested on other posts I've researched and assuming my engine doesn't need a top end rebuild, what sort of cost would I be looking at to have the pistons replaced in a 500 to sort this? Cheers, Matt
It definitely isn't piston slap. I know what that sounds like and that happens under load. I have no noise under load it is just when the pistons are 'floating' during overrun so I don't expect piston to bore clearance issues. It also doesn't use any oil. The odd thing is it only occurs when hot which would kind of discount it being as simple as just wear related as surely I should get noise when cold as well. It's very strange!
Funnily enough some of the advice I've read is opposite and suggests a thinner oil. Apparently there is no feed to the little ends and it relies on being splashed which is less likely with a thicker oil. Who knows, I've not tried any of this. I did read a thread where someone had their pistons replaced and his problem was fixed. I'm certain it was the same problem as mine because that chap posted a clip of the sound and it was exactly the same. Hence why I was curious about the cost as I wouldn't be doing the work myself
lancelin said:
Who knows? somebody does.
Urrr. Just need an engine builder that can guarantee it wont rattle. I'm not going smaller in capacity, the 5L torque and grunt is addictive. I suspect a 4.7 with turbo or supercharger is a superior option but at all that cost and complexity. Ummmm
Yeah that's where I am too so if you do find one I'd really appreciate an update. TVR Power in Coventry seem pretty well versed in this issue but I've not spoken with them yet. A bit of me is tempted to just leave it because it clearly doesn't seem to be something that causes any kind of catastrophic failure..it just bugs the hell out of me! Like you I still don't regret going for a 500. My father has a 450 and even he admits the difference in grunt is huge. I certainly don't need mine to go any faster!Urrr. Just need an engine builder that can guarantee it wont rattle. I'm not going smaller in capacity, the 5L torque and grunt is addictive. I suspect a 4.7 with turbo or supercharger is a superior option but at all that cost and complexity. Ummmm
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