engine top end knock!! HELP!! :(

Technical Area Engine, Transmission, Exhaust etc
21

You need to get all three pulleys lined up. There are some pictures in this thread that will help, but I think that you may need to remove the lower belt cover to get a proper look.

22

 ok so if i check if all pulleys are lined and if they are not i can get some to remove the belt and replace the right way then all should be fine?

23

Here’s a pic to show the general alignment details

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24

If they did not line up I would be concerned that the belt has apparently jumped on one or more sprockets and that even if I refitted the existing belt in the correct position there is every chance that it could happen again.

Having reached this stage of disassembly it would perhaps be prudent to consider replacing the cam belt and tensioners if there is evidence that the belt may have slipped.

25

 well AA have been they are telling me its a sticky tappet but i feel it’s more worse then that

 

waiting for for the flat bed truck to take to Andy @ auto link and we shall see whats going on

 

regards

chris

26

 well just got back from southampton after dropping the car off the Andy @autoloink

now what couldthe fault be sit and wait for the bad news [::(]

27

 dont despair yet. i bought a mx5 the other day from ebay, unseen being told it had a duff engine , he described it the same as you have here. got it into my workshop and it sounded terrible and i could not pin point the noise. anyway long story short, i removed the alternator belt and restarted the engine  - no noise runs fine-.

had to be either the water pump alternator or the belt. easiest first put a new alternator belt on and job sorted all fine now and runs great. cheap car because of a badly slipping/adjusted alternator belt.

not saying this is your prob , but lets hope it is

28

 hi m8

thanks for the words of hope !!

so the knocking sound from the the cam cover was just a alternator belt ??   i can only hope !!!

 

 

29

 yes, i know it sounds far fetched but its true. engine sounded terrible, i could have sworn it was about to die. i own a bodyshop, though im not a mechanic i do know my round a engine well enough and this had me scratching my head. done 150 miles now and no probs at all

30

 

just a quick update for you guys

well my car has been down at Autolink since wednesday and today i get a call !!

well this is the out come for now the top end seems fine and the crank pulley is not loose and solid

so now they have to dig deeper they saying it could be bottom end now which this case this will be a sock in anycase as Andy has said the bottom ends are bullet proof and rock solid so this could be a 1st on a con rod bearing to give way

i will have more info in a few day

bye for now

cheers
chris
31

 get him to fire up the engine with no alternator belt. will only take a few mins and if your lucky (and it sounds an identical problem to the noise i had ) then problem solved.

32

 

 as quoted from my last post all normal checks have been done and done normal test to common faults

the prob is deeper then the normal you would find with a engine knock

33

 right guys!!

the final result on this engine knocking saga!!

well its ends up after removing the head guess what was found in cylider 3 a nice nut that was sucked in from the induction system not sure how it got there but has managed to chew up the pistion pretty well and the head has nice new dents in it

so in the end new engine due to some silly nut got sucked in !!

in one word GUTTED!!

34

Sounds almost like sabotage! Could it really get past the valves, there’s not much clearance unless its a pretty small nut?

35

 

 well i will go and look at the car next week and decide what route i want to go!!

36

Curious as to what kind of nut?  More curious as to how it got there?  Have you upset any local squirels lately or a nut as in steel nut from the head?

Rik

37

 

 Hi Rik

yues still nut was prob someone drop years agaon and decided to come out to play when i bought the car !!