right been out in the car all day and the car pulling really nice and smooth !!
but 2nite on the way home thought i take the back lane route home roof down nice roads at the last 10 miles did a nice sharp left and sharp right then the car lost power and start of a knocking sound pulled over and the car just stalled
check under hood nothing really stood out to be at fault started car again really loud knocking sound from cam area turned off left for 2 mins re started all fine drove car for 1/2 mile lost power again managed to limp it home
after parking the car back in the garage car seemed fine no knock but scared to rev to hard
just note have checked oil yesterday was at right level!!
well after chercking the car today the result as follows
checked all oil all ok
removed spark plugs chcked and refitted all ok
started car from cold all fine as normal then after 5 mins car had missfire stopped engine checked leads if fitted correct al good restart car all fine left to idel for 5 mins seems fine increased RPM then engine had loud knock from under cam cover
turned engine off left for 1 hour returned restart engine know is still there and very loud can feel some hit the cam cover but miss fire has gone but does come back now and then
What year is your car? Check the timing. If it looks off, if you’re lucky,. the cambelt has jumped a tooth (broken idler), or the crank pulley has slipped if you’re not.
You need to get the crank pulley checked asap, and don’t drive the car, or even start the engine with this sort of knocking, if it’s detonation you could knock the tops off the pistons. Any redress with the seller?—
Sorry, I thought it was. The only way you are going to know what is hitting the underside of the cam cover is to take it off and look. Anything else is guesswork. However if you do not want further advice I will refrain.
If you are adamant that the noise is emanating from the top of the engine and that something is striking the the underside of the cam cover then this would seem to be the most sensible thing to do and as such the advice is very helpful.
If you do not have the facilities or confidence to undertake this simple operation yourself then I would suggest that you entrust the diagnosis and rectification of the problem to an accredited mechanic.
I would be suprised if a 1991 car had a “short nose crank” engine, although it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that an earlier engine has been swapped in. Can you tell us how many slots are machined into the face of the crankshaft pulley? There will be either 4 or 8 slots.
Please resist the temptation to drive this car any further in the hope that the problem will go away.
Here’s a link to pics of 4 slot and 8 slot pulleys, the former is the short nose crank.
I agree with a previous comment, if you believe something is banging about in the cam cover, take it off and have a look, just a few bolts, be careful though, they are often stuck into the head by some sort of corrosion. Here’s a link about it—
sorry think i wrote this wrong yes you was help to advise me to remove the cover just wanted more info on common faults or if anyone had encountered this fault before
Noises are very subjective. “Knocking” usually means something fairly serious. If it’s a ticking or tapping sound from the cam cover area then it could simply be a gummed up HLA or sticking valve and if one of the valves is not opening or closing properly as a result then this could result in rough running.
Whatever it is, I hope that you get it fixed fairly quickly and without too much expense.
Although the revised engine was introduced in approx Sept/Oct to the engine production lines, LWSC cars were cropping up well into 1991. And there seems to have been various interim solutions along the way
And even the later engine can go the same way as the earlier version.
“Knocking” could well be a shattered idler rattling around in the cambelt box. There are also a few 10mm bolts here, securing a thin backing plate that can work themselves out and cause destruction. On a 91 I had, just such a bolt did this, but in my case, the bolt managed to propel itself into the plastic lower cover, becoming stuck, then ripping the cambelt apart.
If the crank has gone, driving the car wouldn’t make it worse, as the engine is already beyond economic repair.
after removing the cam cover and investigating the fault from the knocking noise i found no fault to the eye with valve springs cam shafts or even loose or broken pulleys everything seem tight and how it should be to the eye
the cambelt seem to be in good condition with no slack seemed to be enough oil at the top end
so all i can think of is the bottom crank pully has slipped putting the timing is out causing it to knock
i have added some pics of the top for you to look and comment what else could be at fault
