Hi, not long ago I had a overheating problem with my mk1 1.2 punto. We replaced the head gasket and thermostat. Now that we have put it back together the engine makes a ticking noise which gets faster when the engine is rev'd, and when driving its ever so slighty down on power - only by 5 - 10 mph at most, but its noticable to me. I have checked ht leads and replaced them as one was damaged, the spark plugs are looking ok and the throttle body is all hooked up correctly, we just can't think what it could be. Could it be something with the exhaust or have we made a major cock up. We were only left with 4 bolts after for the cam belt cover I have yet to replace as it was damaged and need to get another one. Please help!!
Thanks for all replies, Lozzy

Sounds like the tappits need adjusting. It should state in the manual how big the gap should be.

Okay.. My manual kinda got ruined when a pot of brown sauce exploded on my back seat and wrecked it - anyone? hah.. Also, ive never done tappets before, breif explanation? Thanks again!!

I'm no expert mate but i replaced the heat gasket on my skoda years ago. The tappits are what make the valves open and close(not sure if that is the exact technical explination). There has to be a certain gap on the tappit as they move. The tapping sound you are hearing is more than likely because the gap is not correct. You really really need a haynes manual though. Just follow the manual and be thorough.

Ok so will it be the tappets that is causing the decrease in power too? thanks

Lozzy08 said:

Ok so will it be the tappets that is causing the decrease in power too? thanks

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It COULD be, the tappets gap is an important part of the valve timing, tappet gap determines how long a valve is open and how much it opens, thats the valve duration. If an inlet valve has such a big gap that it hardly opens that cylinder is a passenger and not contributing to power production.

It is possible that during the overheating a cam lobe went soft, that may be a problem so when you do the valve clearances check the cam lobes for wear / scoring / bluing.

so where are the tappets on a 1.2 8v engine ?

ilsonemo said:

so where are the tappets on a 1.2 8v engine ?

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Top of the engine inside the rocker cover... If you really dont know this I suggest you dont attempt to fix a fault related to it.

Tappets is a broad term, normally the rockers that operate the valves from a camshaft halfway down the engine via pushrods.

These days with Overhead camshafts these tappets dont exist but hydraulic cam followers using shims are used, these shims can be changed to provide the correct gap between cam lobe and followers.

What he meant was that he didnt think my engine had tappets, its got an overhead cam with shims. The shims that are on it are the same ones we took off so whats the deal? Thanks

Lozzy08 said:

What he meant was that he didnt think my engine had tappets, its got an overhead cam with shims. The shims that are on it are the same ones we took off so whats the deal? Thanks

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I got what he meant, the deal is that a shim or some shims may need replacing or they got mixed up during the rebuild after the HG was replaced....

Ah ha - we kinda didnt put the shims back on the way they came off - is that our problem/ a big problem?? :bang: Thanks

lol im guessing that didnt help but i dont see how that would make much difference

We discovered today that the water pump is pissing water everywhere - could this be the source of our ticking? Planning on replacing it on sunday

Replace it, if the ticking remains it's something else

Ticking could easily by the water pump if it's on its way out

how much does a mk1 punto water pump cost ?

Depends on the engine as to which pump you need, looking at shop4parts as (guide prices) =

1.2 16v = £30.68 + VAT [S4P671]
1.1 & 1.2 8v = £21.79 + VAT [S4P673]
1.4 GT & 1.6 8v = £44.10 + VAT [S4P674]