Scary engine noise! help please!?!

[LightWarrior]

About 3 miles from my house, on the dual carriageway, my car started making a funny rattly noise. It sounded like it was from the drivers side, and i guessed maybe a rattly heatshield, or summat to do with the exhaust.

However, i pulled over, popped the bonnet, and it was coming from inside the plastic cover on the far left of the engine. Thats where the cambelt is isn't it? It was changed less than 10K ago, and i doubt i'd have got any further if it had snapped, but thats where the rattling is. Any idea what the noise is? and is it safe to drive back to the garage (who i just paid £147 to replace my front wiper motor) which is 3 miles away.

 

[Tom]

What engine?

 

[LightWarrior]

D'Oh.. its the 1.4 Its a real concern, as i've no money left to fix it, and i need it to go to work tomorrow at 9am ;(

i was laughing at you in the other thread asking what car, and what engine....

 

[Tom]

Well, if its a 1.4 it could be 1 of 2 things.

Cambelt tensioner
Cam oil feed

You got a haynes manual?

Take the cambelt cover off and check everything for free play.

If everything looks good take the cam cover off the top of the engine and check the cam lobes for score marks.

 

[Anonymous]

Or the whole camshaft like mine

 

[LightWarrior]

I've got a haynes manual. I'm at work all day tomorrow (got lifts there and back sorted, as its 22miles each way) so i'll take a look tomorrow night and see if anything wiggles. I'm defo not driving it though.. and i'll be going straight back to the garage who did the belt change too if thats what it is!!!!

 

[LightWarrior]

Oh dear... It, w WAS the tensionerhich means i'm gonna have a match with the garage that supposedly changed it in May! worst is that its changed hands since then! I feel so ****ing ripped off! The belts been loose, so it'll need a new belt too now i'd imagine.

 

[Tom]

Be happy its not the cam, a new tensioner is a few beer tokens, a new cam is a LOT of beer tokens.

Don't reuse the old belt, for the sake of £20 throw it in the bin.

 

[LightWarrior]

Just back from the garage, again. It turns out the big ole cambelt change i askled for in May(turns out it was April actually), was literally only a belt change. I've no comeback either, as thats all i got charged for, plus the £50 labour!!!. The rest of the bill was for the MOT, fan belt, and a couple of other little things i got done at the time. I've instructed him to do a complete change, including a new belt. Thats costing me £147. Funnily enough, thats what it cost to change the wiper motor last week too! £300 in 2 weeks!. And i'm buying another bravo too now I think i'm mad.

@Tom, i told him to change the belt too, as there were score marks on the smooth side of it. I'm sure it'd have been fine, but i doubt very much i could claim a warranty repair, if it went again any time soon!

 

[Tom]

What did you ask them to do originally? ITs a bit **** if they just changed the belt.

Well, consider yourself lucky, it could have just gone BANG... then £300 in 2 weeks would look like spare change.

 

[LightWarrior]

I told him i had just done its major service (and changed abolutely everything i could) except the cambelt. He showed me these little cog-things from another car he was doing, and said i should do all of it, eve though it was dearer. I said yeah, i wanted it done, because its an unsafe engine etc. Then all he fecking did was the belt!

 

[Martin]

Take it to be looked at. The cambelt went on my HLX and blew all 16 valves!

 

[LightWarrior]

Martin, had the belt and tensioner replaced this afternoon. £140. Better than a rebuild i guess