1.9 JTD 110 noisy after cam belt change by garage

[Firepipey]

I've just had the 140K cam belt changed by my local garage on my 1.9JTD Multipla and it now sounds a lot noisier from the top end. I can only assume it's the tappets. I have two questions that I'd really value an opinion on.

Question 1: Is it normal for the tappets to get noisy after a cam belt change? The garage says that it's pretty usual and I'm being paranoid but I don't feel comfortable with the noise the engine now makes.

Question 2: If it isn't normal, what could they have done wrong and how can I check it? Engine runs OK but just sounds like a tractor.

Changed oil and filter but made no difference. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Dragon Man]

with cam belts what happends is they strech over time, because they strech the new belt could be half a tooth out from what your old one was.

the last cam belt change i did was on a 95 ford 1.8L diesel festa. i had the same problem with that, but it had a cool cam pully where you could advance or retard the belt a whole tooth by undoing a few bolts on the pully and ajusting it. i know a lot of cars dont have that type of pully but you can get them..

i dont know your engine well enough to give you a good answer, i am only going on what i have picked up from fixing other cars in the past.

i replaced the cam belt on my 1.5 diesel corsa, that never had one of them pullys but the engine sounded just the same after i changed it..

my guess is, it could be a tooth out.. but i cant be sure.

i hope this helps you out a little. even though it wasnt much help :/

 

[Firepipey]

Thanks Dragon Man. I put a similar post in the Multipla section and they think it's a poorly set belt too.

Guess it's off back to the garage for an argument as they've already tried to fob me off twice!!

Cheers mate

 

[s130]

Another cause, although the frequency of the rattle could be slower than typical tappet noise, is possibly the tensioner setting.

If your engine has a dynamic tensioner then if the set tension is too low or too high then the tensioner bounces against its limit of travel making a rattling noise.

 

[Firepipey]

Thanks S130.

I'll be back onto the garage tomorrow morning.

If they have set the timing 1 tooth out as suggested, would that do any damage to the engine?

 

[Dragon Man]

every engine is differnt so i cant be sure, some engines can get piston slap where the valves and the pistons meet and some engines dont get it. that only happends if the belt is way out, by atleast 3 or 4 teeth on the pully.
if there was any damage to be done to the engine it would of happend at the first turn of the key. whats likely happed is that the valve timing is slightly out, not really enough to cause that but enough to have the valves open at the wrong time causing the engine to be loud.
im just remembering back to my college days where we played around with an engine setting the valve timings out to see what would happen. i know each engine is differnt but this engine we was playing about with could survive 2 teeth out each way on the pully.

like most things, you know its not set right so theres always the possablity that it may cause harm, given the engine has been running and you have driven the car back home any damage would of happend by now.
have a look on youtube for "engine piston slap" you'll find some videos of what it sounds like.
i think that once its ajusted it will be the same old engine youve always known.

hope this helps

 

[s130]

Minor correction of terminology.

Piston Slap IS NOT the meeting/interference of the piston and vavle.

Piston Slap is where the skirt of the piston touches the cylinder bore walls. All pistons do this a minute as the piston head rocks/wobbles around the gudgeon pin. The oil film on the skirt and bore protects both components.

If as the piston rocks more (due to general bore and ring wear) then the film of oil still protects the components but on a cold engine a 'slapping' / 'tapping' noise can be heard. This usuallly goes away as the engine warms up.

Piston slap in a warm engine will eventually become terminal but I suspect most people will be fed up with the noise before this stage is reached.

 

[Firepipey]

Thanks all.

Went back to the garage again this morning and spoke to the owner. He initially tried to fob me off with the same "everything tightens up when you change a belt" until I took him for a drive where he finally admitted that he could hear something not quite right. He was very keen to get it back in when I mentioned I was posting on this forum!!. The noise only started post belt change and is there from the engine start and doesn't alter when the engines' warm.

Be interesting to hear what they say next. Really hope it doesn't get messy. The garage, just in case anyone's interested in T J Horrocks in Selby, N Yorks. As it stands, I doubt I'd recommend them. May change my mind tomorrow (maybe) ...

 

[Firepipey]

A result ..... eventually.

Timing was a tooth out. Thanks to all who replied and kept me from thinking "Is it me??"

Now to sort out all the other knock and rattles.....

 

[s130]

Well that kind of staggers me!

One tooth out on the camshaft or one tooth on the crank?

If crank then I can possibly understand. One on the camshaft then IMHO no way would this account for you problem.

Anyway, looks like you have it sorted at no expense to you except for the inconvenience.