**Engine problem - URGENT HELP REQUIRED!!!**

[Daz155HGT]

I think my car may be knackered

Just drove my brother about 15 miles to pick his car up from the garage...

Had i very slight ticking noise yesterday, but when i stopped today there is a loud knocking sort of noise, checked the oil, and it was low, but not excessively low...(just off the dipstick)...topped it up, but it sounds the same...

I have left the car there, and got a lift home...

The knocking noise sounds like its in time with the tickover (i didnt want to rev it too much), but it gets faster when you rev it...

Any ideas on what it could be? (no warning lights lit up on the dash)

Daz

 

[Tom]

Oh dear.. sounds bad.

First things first drain the oil and see if there is excessive metal in it. (obviously put oil back in after) Don't change the filter though.

You sure its engine and not alternator/PAS/AC?

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Re: **Engine problem - URGENT HELP REQUIRED!!!**

And if there is metal in it?...i guess thats bad?

Why not change the filter?

Pretty sure its the engine ...but i'm no mechanic.

My mates car sounded the same as mine, after one of his belts jumped a notch...

Daz

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: **Engine problem - URGENT HELP REQUIRED!!!**

Changing the filter will result in air in the oil system which will make any problems worse.

If it was a slipped belt it would have happened instantly, not gotten worse.

Get a bit of wood, put it against the engine and the other end to your ear and try and work out which part of the engine the noise is coming from.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Re: Re: Re: **Engine problem - URGENT HELP REQUIRED!!!**

Thankfully TAFI has got RAC cover for himself and not for the car, so we are going to ring them and get them to bring the car home for me...

Hopefully the RAC guy will have some idea, if not, at least the car will be outside the house...

I will try your suggestions when i get the car home...

Thanks Tom

Daz

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: **Engine problem - URGENT HELP REQUIRED!!!**

If its more of a clunk clunk clunk then it could be bottom end. Top ends tend to rattle.

 

[deckchair]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: **Engine problem - URGENT HELP REQUIRED!!!**

Possible hydraulic tappet?

 

[Kev]

Hmm

Wish my dad had finished designing his compression tester - cuz its gunna be on the market for an affordable price.

If its top or bottom end the car may have warning lights on due to lack of compression. Check the plugs and see if any of them are wet - this should give tell tale signs of any excessive engine damage.

The problem can not easilly be identified through explanation of sound. But the bravo does have a problem with the oil feeds to the tappets and cam shafts as far as im aware.

Mine had a slight tappet noise until i put a good cleaner through it. how is the car performing?

Kev

 

[Tom]

Re: Hmm

Kev, ONLY the 1.4 has a known issue with the cam oil feed becoming blocked on old cars.

Compression test will only tell you if your rings are totally shot, you really need to do a leakdown test to tell anything worthwhile. Neither will tell if you have a dodgey bearing which I suspect Daz may have.

Plus £10 for a gunnson compression tester is a good price.

BTW, noise tells you a lot about whats going on.

 

[kev]

Thats where i know your chatting ****

My dad was r+d manager for gunsons for 35 years.

The only good compression tester that will not be a pain in the ass to use is the 1 he is designing.

Would love to go into detail but it all hush hush cuz its a totally revolutionarry design.

At 14 years old i was working for gunsons compilling printed circuit boards and reconfiguring thier entire stock of battery chargers - now my dad left the rest of em that now work for a company called actron are a bunch of cowboys - hence why my dad paid me to do a better job - every design in the old gunsons range was **** and incredibly inacurate. Actron are no better! Thats why they are so cheap! Hence the reason why they are sold at halfords and my dad now works independantly.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

Kev

 

[kev]

And expalnation of noise cant

Yeh maybe if your there listening to it.

If its being explained as a knock knock tick tick over the internet you gota just keep guessing till you get it right.

Kev

 

[Tom]

Re: Thats where i know your chatting ****

Uh huh kev. Sure thing.

Compression testers do not need to be accurate, just repeatable. And as I stated compression test tells you very little, a leakdown test is much more useful as any good mechanic will tell you - which you don't seem to be.

At age 10 I was stripping and rebuilding engines. I have just a small idea what goes on inside them.

 

[kev]

You may be a good mechanic

But a good mechanic can not make up 4 bad tools - and at 12 i was tunning motor bike engines to run at 18000 rpm and produce over double thier oringinal hp in a single gear. I do know how engines work tom but your theory of 'tell me what it sounds like and ill guess my way through it' is the most perposterous idea i have ever heard. How can you tell whats wrong without actually hearing the sound yourself? Or are all problems related to clicks knock and bangs the same thing. A compression test may not tell you whats wrong if the problem is not affecting compression, buts its a better place to start than asking some one to analyse a sound they have never heard.

My advice mate:

Take it to a good garage. Get some 1 to look and listen with you! Piont out the sound as 'As Tom Said' try to locate the sound will a piece of wooded dowel.

My car click bangs crunches knocks are you going to tell me thats a serious engine problem aswell?

And yes tom i was reconfiguring gunsons mistakes at the age of 14. I spent 12 weeks of my time getting paid £12 an hour to do piece work that at the speed they work at (Tested) they would have been getting paid £3.75.

So stop telling me i dont know what im taliking about and actually give paople some real advice - GET IT LOOKED AT!!!

Kev

 

[Tom]

I am a good mechanic

Kev, shut up. Only a bad mechanic blames his tools.

On another note, I know Daz's car. I have driven it and have worked (albeit looking for an electrical fault) on the engine.

He asked if it was safe to drive so I said check the oil. If the oil is full of metal then its not safe to even run it as something major has gone wrong and its time to start saving up. If the oil is clean then he can drive it carefully to a garage and get it checked over.

The 20v engine does have a minor weak point which is the big end oil feed. For some reason it happens mostly on the mareas though. No amount of compression testing will show that up

 

[Anonymous]

Re: And expalnation of noise cant

Thanks for all the suggestions guys...but there's no need to start an argument over it...lol

When i went back to pick the car up, about 2 hours later, the noise wasnt as bad, like i said earlier i topped up the oil just in case, it now sounds more tinny and top end(ish), the RAC guys seems to think its something around the cam...(told you i wasnt a mechanic)

If it is a cam, how much would i be looking at to get it replaced?

Thanks again...

Daz

 

[RR]

Re: Re: And expalnation of noise cant

Thye're quite expensive from Fiat - about £400 if memory serves me well.

text deleted

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: And expalnation of noise cant

OK, its probably not big end then! Phew!

As RR says, cams are not cheap.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Re: Re: Re: And expalnation of noise cant

The way the guy was talking i got the impression it wasnt the cams themselves...?

If not what could it be...followers/tappets/lifters?

If it was the cams would it be better to get some from somewhere else rather than Fiat? (i.e. could i get a performance cam for about the same cost?)

Daz

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: And expalnation of noise cant

Performance cam would set you back MORE plus you'd need a retune to make it do anything useful.

If its a tappet it could have worn the head (not sure if the 20v has seperate tappet guides like the 1.6) so could still be expensive. All will be known when the lid comes off.

I dislike hydraulic tappets as you can't use feeler guages to work out which one is worn.

And in future check your oil more often

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: And expalnation of noise cant

I check the oil/water etc..on a regular basis, i last checked it 2 weeks ago, the day before the meet, it was about 3mm of the max mark on the dipstick...

Thats why i was suprised to find the oil level was low...(Could this be related?)

Going out now to take the rocker cover off...to see if i can see anything, maybe somethings just come loose...lol (i wish)...

I will see if i can borrow my brothers camera to take some pics...probably wont help, but you never know...

Daz