Suzuki Club UK

im a bloody fool

my sj ran abit low on oil. ......ok ok.. a shed load.

topped up the oil as asap. (within 2 miles of driving)

but theres a lovely tappet'ty noise at 2500 revs...

its not down on power and its not smoking


so... guys n gals, what do you reckon its worth doing? as i have another engine with no clutch or head gasket?

head and valves n things like that for a swap????

anything else i have missed..... or anything else that has to be replaced from new regardless.

thoughts please.

Russ

Very likely to be excessive wear on one or more of the camshaft lobes plus similar wear on the rocker pads where the camshaft makes contact to open the valve. I recently had the engine on my sj410 rebored, crank ground, new oil pump, engine chemically cleaned, four new exhaust valves and valve guides, head and block refaced. I had a local engineering workshop do this for me but I refitted everything back - that is the assembled short engine and the assembled head from the workshop. The workshop did not alert me to the condition of the cam or the rockers and therefore I didn't specifically look at these areas when I got everything back - plus the cam lobes are fairly difficult to inspect when it's installed.

I couldn't understand why my tappets became progressively more noisy and I must have adjusted them about ten times to try to eliminate the noise. Of course it turned out to be the cam and rockers going down hill fast as the hardened surfaces wore through. I managed to find a good used set of everything at an engine overhaul place in Barnstaple - everything is now fitted and the noise has disappeared and the engine is now quite torquey for a 1 litre unit.

So it looks like bad news but I hope this helps in some way.

Ian

Pugsley wrote:Russ

Very likely to be excessive wear on one or more of the camshaft lobes plus similar wear on the rocker pads where the camshaft makes contact to open the valve. I recently had the engine on my sj410 rebored, crank ground, new oil pump, engine chemically cleaned, four new exhaust valves and valve guides, head and block refaced. I had a local engineering workshop do this for me but I refitted everything back - that is the assembled short engine and the assembled head from the workshop. The workshop did not alert me to the condition of the cam or the rockers and therefore I didn't specifically look at these areas when I got everything back - plus the cam lobes are fairly difficult to inspect when it's installed.

I couldn't understand why my tappets became progressively more noisy and I must have adjusted them about ten times to try to eliminate the noise. Of course it turned out to be the cam and rockers going down hill fast as the hardened surfaces wore through. I managed to find a good used set of everything at an engine overhaul place in Barnstaple - everything is now fitted and the noise has disappeared and the engine is now quite torquey for a 1 litre unit.

So it looks like bad news but I hope this helps in some way.

Ian

cam lobes... im guessing thats a full engine strip?

like i said i have another engine block,but it has a blown hd gasket and no clutch. To be honest.. im not doing the engine work myself as its beyond me, but im trying understand what it might take to do or cost.

thanks for the words.

worse come to worse, An 8v 1.6 vitty engine will have to survice.

Russ

If the fault is the cam it will not require a full engine strip down - just the cylinder head but as the head gasket is leaking the head will have to be removed to replace the gasket. It will also be necessary to have the cylinder head skimmed by a machine shop as it may be slightly warped. The machine shop will require the head to be completely stripped down so you can inspect the cam and the rockers at this point.

I was lucky in finding a supplier who was able to provide both the cam and the rocker arms - okay they were used parts but in good condition. I think you may be able to buy a new cam for about £90.00 (non-Suzuki one) but I don't know any supplier of rocker arms other than Suzuki themselves and they will probably be very expensive. But don't go buying anything until the head is stripped down - I might be wrong in my diagnoses. If you do strip the head down, be aware that the two shafts on the top of the head on which the rockers sit and "rock" have to be be refitted in a certain way - that is, they are both identical but on the end of each shaft are two "flats". These are a bit like a two sided nut - for the exhaust valve rockers the shaft "flat" has to face one way and for the inlet valves the opposite way. Get a Haynes manual and you will see what I mean.

Ian

Pugsley wrote:Russ

If the fault is the cam it will not require a full engine strip down - just the cylinder head but as the head gasket is leaking the head will have to be removed to replace the gasket. It will also be necessary to have the cylinder head skimmed by a machine shop as it may be slightly warped. The machine shop will require the head to be completely stripped down so you can inspect the cam and the rockers at this point.

I was lucky in finding a supplier who was able to provide both the cam and the rocker arms - okay they were used parts but in good condition. I think you may be able to buy a new cam for about £90.00 (non-Suzuki one) but I don't know any supplier of rocker arms other than Suzuki themselves and they will probably be very expensive. But don't go buying anything until the head is stripped down - I might be wrong in my diagnoses. If you do strip the head down, be aware that the two shafts on the top of the head on which the rockers sit and "rock" have to be be refitted in a certain way - that is, they are both identical but on the end of each shaft are two "flats". These are a bit like a two sided nut - for the exhaust valve rockers the shaft "flat" has to face one way and for the inlet valves the opposite way. Get a Haynes manual and you will see what I mean.

Ian

BIG END SHELL went.

another engine. job done

cheers for the reply anyways.