tappets

[Johnc]

I set about adjusting my tappets yesterday as they were quite noisy. when i removed the rocker cover i found the front three valves/ rockers looked like they were covered in corrosion( these all cleaned up easily) These valves were also the only ones that needed any adjustment. is this a case of blocked oilways or something more terminal.

thanks in advance for any help.

John

[Iain T]

24 minutes ago, Johnc said:

is this a case of blocked oilways or something more terminal.

Try running the engine with the rocker cover off, can you see oil dripping from all rocker arms? 

Iain 

[Wagger]

Run it ith the cover off and observe where the oil is flowing. Iain just beat me with that one.

You could have a slight water leak from one of the front studs, but that would exhibit mayo in the rocker box.

[johny]

How often does it get driven? Come on be honest here😁 And also wheres it stored?

[Johnc]

i didn’t have time to run it with the cover off after i had adjusted the tappets, but might have tomorrow.

I try to use it regularly, much to the chagrin of the rest of the household (wife and daughter hate it and youngest son thinks it’s really embarrassing). it’s usually out 2-3 times a week, and lives on the drive with a good quality cover over it.

John

[Iain T]

A nice even drip is perfick. The only other way to calm the worry is to take the rocker assembly off and pull the arms along the shaft to see any wear or strip it down completely. 

Iain 

[Pete Lewis]

yes the oil feed is up the rear pedestal it is supplied thro a hole drilled thro the head and takes oil from the rear camshaft journal   

this is where  it gets its interupted oil supply  the cam has a flat/slot in its journal so the rocker feed only gets a squirt on each revolution of the cam its not a full flow oil feed to the rockers 

so as said when idling you should see oil start to drop off the rockers and it tends to run down hil to the back of the head  so a rag here will catch any you spill while observing 

was this corrosion hard stuff or mayonaise /hair cream  stuff    thats normal  and its condensation thats formed by the cooling of the tin cover 

good longer  runs will sort that out 

Pete

[daverclasper]

49 minutes ago, Iain T said:

off and pull the arms along the shaft to see any wear or strip it down completely. 

I had wear on my shaft, I think it showed in the lower area, where the shaft is under the pressure of the springs?. I think this is also the area of the shaft, that has the grooves/scrolls that feeds the oil to this area and were non existent. The worn areas were not feeding oil , as showed visually when idling with cover off. Replaced shaft (rocker bores don't tend to wear as much, I understand?) and was ok.  

[Iain T]

By coincidence I checked the rocker lubrication today. I fitted a new rocker cover seal and though I'd check as my rockers are bushed and reamed and have external oil feed controlled by a needle valve. A nice dribble from all of them 😊

All ready for Braxted Car Show tomorrow ☔🌞

Iain 

[Johnc]

So finally got a chance to look at the oil flow to the rockers and all seems well. The reason that I got that chance is because the car has developed a misfire after a spirited run to see some friends yesterday. Both there and back on the M25 keeping up with the traffic. At the end of each leg the temp gauge was bang in the middle (ie not showing any signs of over heating ) but the oil pressure light would flicker on and off at tickover. There seemed to be more fumes coming from the oil filler cap so I removed the rocker cover and started the engine, to be greeted with this video attached.

Are these fumes normal - I'm sure that I didn't see them when I had the cover off before.

Thanks 

 

John

[Pete Lewis]

well its not overly abnormal for this on a "getting worn"   engine   it could be down to oil temperatures and even oil quality 

after that   then youre into piston rings  and deeper wallet causes 

dobt it has anything to do withyoure missfire 

Pete

 

[Badwolf]

As a non mechanic I was intrigued that some of the valves/rockers/thingies appear to stop moving, even though others are still working. Is this a normal thing. If I had seen this on mine I would have been a bit worried.

[johny]

I think it must be a video effect - when the frames per second coincide with the oscillation of the rockers?

[JohnD]

1 hour ago, Johnc said:

Herald Engine.MOV

John,

I get a message that you recorded this in a format (codec?) that I can't read, ".MOV", maybe that's a Apple format?

Jhn

[Badwolf]

It just looks weird.

[Johnc]

1 hour ago, JohnD said:

John,

I get a message that you recorded this in a format (codec?) that I can't read, ".MOV", maybe that's a Apple format?

Jhn

Evining John

it is indeed an apple product - I have converted it to MP4 - I hope that you can view it now

[DanMi]

The rockers not moving is a video effect, as you can still see the pushrod rotating, which it wouldn't do if it was not going up and down

[Colin Lindsay]

1 hour ago, DanMi said:

The rockers not moving is a video effect, as you can still see the pushrod rotating, which it wouldn't do if it was not going up and down

It's like the old Western movies where the wagon wheels appeared to be going backwards.

On 18/06/2022 at 17:53, Johnc said:

I try to use it regularly, much to the chagrin of the rest of the household (wife and daughter hate it and youngest son thinks it’s really embarrassing). 

John

You're not alone there, John... daughter won't get  into it, wife hangs on grimly like it's a roller coaster. I've to go on a club run tomorrow in a Freelander as a compromise.

[johny]

49 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

It's like the old Western movies where the wagon wheels appeared to be going backwards.

Yes, it makes you wonder whether you need a strobe to set your ignition timing or could just use your mobile phone camera🤔

[JohnD]

3 hours ago, johny said:

Yes, it makes you wonder whether you need a strobe to set your ignition timing or could just use your mobile phone camera🤔

Thank you, JohnC!

Yes, Johnny, If you could adjust the frame rate, or the digital equivalent.   The video was weird in that alternate rockers froze, while the others chattered away, but all must have been going at the same rate!   So they all should have frozen, or not!

[NonMember]

5 hours ago, johny said:

Yes, it makes you wonder whether you need a strobe to set your ignition timing or could just use your mobile phone camera🤔

2 hours ago, JohnD said:

Yes, Johnny, If you could adjust the frame rate, or the digital equivalent.

No. The frame rate is irrelevant. You may be able to freeze the view of the timing marks that way but not in a predictable position, so they're of no use. The strobe light isn't just "at the right rate", it's carefully and explicitly synchronized to the ignition.

[johny]

yes just kidding, Im not that tight so do have a strobe🤑

[JohnD]

NM,

I'd hate to contradict you (actually I love to!) but while of course a timing light is triggered by the ignition, the video is not.   And, unless you can adjust the frame rate, or digital equivalent on the video, you can't use it to time the engine!

John

[NonMember]

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

NM,

I'd hate to contradict you

That's OK, because you didn't contradict me, you confirmed my point contradicting your own earlier glib comment, even if you then repeated the glib comment at the end. It's not enough to adjust the frame rate, you need to synchronize it. If you're still using the timing light then you can be lax on the image capture timing, of course, as long as the "shutter speed" is slow enough. Without a timing strobe light, the video would only be any good if the "shutter" were both very fast and synchronized to the ignition.

[Pete Lewis]

dont care how you film it ,   it doesnt help the oil fumes problem