Noisy top end....some advice needed

[MartinA]

Back in 1997 my S2 OTS had some work done to the head by VSE by a previous owner. I don't have all the details of what was done, but looking through the history would appear to have had a fast road spec head modification. The engine runs well, doesn't leak (much), has good oild pressure and good compression, but...it's rather noisy. The noise is a rattling sound which appears to get a bit worse when running for a while and is quite rhymical when driving at a constant speed. Anyone have any ideas on what it might be and what I should do to rectify it?
Martin

[Heuer]

I have a VSE02 (fast road) engine and I had exactly the same symptoms last year. It was due to the bucket guides wearing or becoming loose.



The head had to come off and was sent to VSE to be reworked (?700) so when you start to add carriage, studs, gaskets, VAT etc expect to pay about ?1,000 if you do the fitting work yourself or about 50 hours labour if you farm it all out.

[MartinA]

Thanks for the quick reply David. Looks like it's a trip to Wales for me (or at least the cylinder head!). Do you reckon it will be OK for the rest of the summer to run it as is and then wait to the winter to get it done?

[Heuer]

That's what I did. It should* not cause any major problems, just that annoying tappet sound. Try using a bit of hose pipe held to your ear and move it along the cam covers in turn to see if you can identify which guides are loose.

* I imply no warranty here, your problem could be different to mine!

[christopher storey]

If you are intending to continue to run it, I would at least pull the cam covers off and look for any signs of the cams hitting , in particular, the edges of the bucket guides . The guides, if they have been replaced, as sounds very likely, and have not had a holding down kit applied, have a nasty habit of working loose and rising up , then to be knocked down again by the cam hitting them . Your noise sounds too regular for it to be this, but I think a look would be advisable before further prolonged running

Edit : a further thought - the "rhythmical" quality suggests that it could be timing chain - a good listen with a tube at front of engine ( BEWARE THE BELTS) might also be a good idea

[MartinA]

Thanks both - I'll have a listen with the tubing.

[Tig]

Interesting, do you have any updates on this?

I have a S1 1966 2+2 and I have a top end knock that sounds very much like a single tappet problem. It's prominent when cold and less so when hot, but still there. I'm told it's been there for years. The whole head does seem a little noisy to me.

However:
All the tappet clearances are OK
Exhaust cam follower guides are all tight in the head and seem to have correct clearances (Inlet not checked yet - I'm told they rarely give trouble)
The timing chain seems a little worn and has a slight tight spot, but not excessive in my opinion and unlikely to cause this noise.
Running a listening tube around the place seemed to indicate the noise was coming from underneath the cam space, in the valve guide space, but I'm not going to swear as to which side of the engine it's coming from, let alone the area.

I'm a bit puzzled at present and any hints as to prevalent problems in this engine would be gratefully received before I rip it all off to find out the state of the guides etc.

Regards