I’ve got a 1995 1.8 and I’ve just rebuilt it with the following new parts : cambelt & tensioners, waterpump, acc. belts, inlet manifold gasket, throttle body gasket, radiator, injector seals (and replaced an injector with a slightly melted end cap) , CAS o-ring, waterpump outlet bottom pipe O-ring, spark plugs , thermostat and rad cap.
It starts and runs fine, but it sounds a bit “dieselly” at idle. I pulled the #1 HT lead off (which is the replaced injector) and it run much rougher, so I think the replacement injector is at least doing something.
I marked the CAS position before removal and it’s back there now, but I wonder if the old cambelt was a tooth out and now the timing is off - could that cause it to sound like a diesel? If so then I’ll run it up to hot and time it, but perhaps there is a more obvious solution and I don’t want to damage it by running it with an issue.
I also swapped to a silicone hose set left over from my old 1.6, which mostly fitted with a bit of cutting - I wonder perhaps if there could be an inlet leak somewhere hidden, although I can’t see anything even with a small mirror. I replaced the small rubber cap on the rear of the inlet manifold, are there any other seemingly insignificant things I could have missed that would give these symptoms?
thanks
James
Where are you James, there might be some one close who could pop over.
My guess would be extreme hla clatter. I had it on my first MX sounding like a diesel, scared me to death.
Drove to the garage, which quietened it slightly, then multiple engine flush cured it. No problem after that.
Hi Mal, I’m in the middle of Fife 
so probably not many OC members around here.
I don’t think it’s the HLAs - i’ve had stuck lifters before and it was a very obvious clattering noise that always cleared after a hot/cold cycle, but this time it’s just the whole engine sounds like a diesel. It seems to run fine but sounds a bit sort of grumbly, if that makes sense. It sounds agricultural rather than smooth.
I really hope it’s not the new waterpump or cambelt pulleys, it’s hard to tell if the grumbling noise is from the front or just in general.
I’m going to remove the 2 acc. belts and see how it sounds then, so at least I can rule out the new waterpump and the alternator / power steering. Beyond that I can’t think what else to do, unless the replacement injector is not firing correctly, but again I’ve no idea what that would make it sound like. At least now that its running again I can depressurize the fuel system so I could swap the old injector back in.
James
Tried it with the 2 acc. belts off, still sounds the same so not the new waterpump, alternator or p/s pump.
I tried moving the CAS around a bit and I think it sounds a bit better, but I’ve not got my timing light at the moment so I can’t set it accurately. I moved the CAS so the scratched-on mark that I made before removal is about 3mm to the left, then I tried 3mm to the right. To the left sounds better, to the right sounds more hesitant, but without my strobe light I really am guessing, so I think it’ll have to go to the local garage so they can time it properly and then see if they can find any other issue.
We had one in the garage like this, put it on the paper clip and light and it indicated CAS, how ever it was in for a cam belt and water pump. The water pump was shot and that was the grumbling noise, but what was making it run rough was the timing was well out and the cam belt was very slack, Once this was done she ran like a dream.
+1 for cam belt, I had one jump a tooth once and it really did sound like a diesel… reving it up it sounded better and I guess advancing the timing would also make it sound better 
best of luck m8
OK thanks guys, I thought I had the cambelt spot on , with 19 teeth between the top marks and it was all still lined up after some manual revolutions, but perhaps the tensioner has become slack. I’ll pull the front covers off and check it, otherwise the garage will have to check the timing for me and then see how it sounds.
YAHOO!
Big thanks to you guys - it was indeed the cambelt. I took the cam cover off and some of the writing on the new belt has been a bit rubbed off, so I removed the mid cover and found a huge amount of slack on the exhaust side of the belt, right where my workshop manual says there “MUST BE NO SLACK” . Oops ![Embarassed]( "Embarassed")
So I’ve redone the belt, put it back together and now it’s purring like a happy kitten on a velvet lawn!
So once again, thanks very much for pointing me in the right direction, virtual pint to you both ![Smile]( "Smile")
Now it just has to pass the MOT on Tuesday…so I might be back then asking about yet another issue…
James