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1500 Spitfire engine tap/rattle


Conor L

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1 thing that might be worth mentioning is that on a cold start there is a definite knock for a couple of seconds then goes away. From what I've read that because the oil filters don't have a anti drain flap it takes longer to build the oil pressure because the engine has to refill the filter so I assume this is 'normal' unless a filter with the anti drain flap is fitted. Not sure if this could be related but like Pete says it's a different sound to that. Could be some fuel for thought.

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Just been out to have another look, wanted to check the flywheel and clutch pressure plate making sure they hadn't come loose with the starter removed, all seems normal I even turned the engine over by hand checking to see if any of the clutch bolts had come loose again all seemed fine. I've pulled off a HT lead 1 at a time to see if the noise goes away but noise still persists. I've even whipped the fan belt off to rule out the water pump and alternator again noise is still there. My trusty long screwdriver has come out to have another listen on the sump, around the distributor, bellhousing/engine back plate along the centre of the block all sounds normal. Noise is definitely louder on the drivers side than the passenger.

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I had a local spitty with a horrible clatter at idle , more like a worn out chain saw 

expected a timing chain tensioner /failure of some sort but all was fine , what we found was some previous work had centre popped two dimples on the back of the cam sprocket 

right on the location face of the cam the two bolts were tight but you w=could see the fretting from the pop marks  , dressed them off and silence reigns 

just an out the box thought  

Pete

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@Pete Lewis I did check the starter when I took it off last night all seemed ok which I thought because I had it rebuilt last year. I need to take the front off anyway as the water pump is leaking so I could easily take the timing cover off whilst I'm there, good suggestion! @Iain T noise is the same with the clutch up or down.

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you have to take the cam sprocket off to see if its seated ok,  may even be a tad loose bolts 

we all clutching at straws now   

im sure is not a mechanical knock from the rotating lumps although rotating bearing shells can be a swine to locate 

it will be something obscure to keep a note in the diary 

Pete

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Following Pete's advice I've removed the timing cover to have a look and see whats going on before this I did spin the engine over by hand and I'm happy to say that it turns over very smoothly with good compression which I am happy with. 1 thing i did notice was there's a bit of free movement around 5 degrees or so when rocking the crank back and forth (this was before I removed the cover) anyway I removed the cover and measured the slack in the new chain using a straight edge and tape measure result is 9mm of slack so just under that tolerance according to the book. Removed the cam sprocket and the chain does feel a bit loose when fully wrapped around. I was expecting to see a bolt loose on the sprocket as Pete also suggested which in turn would also answer the 5 degrees free movement but all the bolts were nice and tight which I guess is a good thing. I'll leave some pictures of my findings.20210123_163552.thumb.jpg.c8c5ec82100915ff3aa25c4241460c5f.jpg

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Back of the sprocket is smooth and seated nicely on the cam (new camshaft) there was a bit of condensation inside the cover which I'm not worried about. Chain & tensioner were new as part of the rimmer bros rebuilt kit I ordered over 2 years ago. If the chain is at fault would it be worth upgrading to the Duplex set up or leave it as stock? I do feel like we've eliminated quite a few possible causes now fingers crossed we can find the cause of this soon.

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I have exactly the same "tappets!!!! noise"

gets quieter as the engine warms up, engine specialist reckons it down to incorrectly seated/yet to be properly "worn in" CAM Follower tappets, engine was rebuilt 1000miles ago

makes no difference to performance, rolling road tests outperform spec

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I have exactly the same "tappets!!!! noise"

gets quieter as the engine warms up, engine specialist reckons it down to incorrectly seated/yet to be properly "worn in" CAM Follower tappets, engine was rebuilt 1000miles ago

makes no difference to performance, rolling road tests outperform spec

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Pleased that I'm not the only 1 experiencing a funny noise. Just as a bit of an update I decided bite the bullet and upgrade to the duplex timing chain set up as I wasn't happy with the amount of slack in the previous chain (which was new!) I reset the cam timing using the workshop bible which confirmed that the timing was out (the engine was running a little rough just before I inspected the old chain) reassembled everything including a new water pump as my nos item was leaking, fired it up, reset the ignition timing and it runs wayy smoother than before. Unfortunately the noise still persists 😕 Another thought I've had is the head has had some work done including hardened valve seats and new guides so I'm thinking about doing a compression test to see if everything is in check there. Engine seems healthy running and pull quite well so if the compression doesn't highlight anything and I can't see anything then I might just run it and see what happens. Car has been booked back in to have the remaining panels sprayed at the end of March so that gives some plenty of time to ponder.

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Today the noise that has been driving me mad has been identified! Stethoscope arrived this morning and it appears that number 6, 7 cam followers are tapping like mad. Fine on initial start but after about a minute of running they are not sounding happy. Bit frustrating as they were new along with the cam when I built the engine but relieved its nothing too serious. Also funny how I didn't hear this with my trusty screwdriver so the Stethoscope was a good investment. Thanks for all your patience and advice. Thinking I might pull the head off and sort them out properly instead of just leaving it. Car isn't due to go away until the end of next month anyway so it'll give me something to do haha.

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1 hour ago, Conor L said:

Today the noise that has been driving me mad has been identified! Stethoscope arrived this morning and it appears that number 6, 7 cam followers are tapping like mad. Fine on initial start but after about a minute of running they are not sounding happy. Bit frustrating as they were new along with the cam when I built the engine but relieved its nothing too serious. Also funny how I didn't hear this with my trusty screwdriver so the Stethoscope was a good investment. Thanks for all your patience and advice. Thinking I might pull the head off and sort them out properly instead of just leaving it. Car isn't due to go away until the end of next month anyway so it'll give me something to do haha.

Hi Conor,

Worth a quick check - I had a tapping noise coming from this area and it was the pushrod hitting the cam follower as the push rod socket was not separating from the ball on the valve clearance adjuster.

Gully

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