Just adjusted my valves. Is this a clattery engine?

[LRzed]

I've had a misfire ever since purchasing my land rover. As I heard no suspicious valve noise I thought it was some sort of carburetion or ignition problem. Well, I've sorted those things out, and it wasnt. So i adjusted my valves.

They were adjusted very close. Like perhaps the PO adjusted it cold or using the wrong specifications.

I adjusted them to spec and now the engine is rather "valvey" Clatters away like a sewing machine. The miss at idle and at speed is gone completely .. smooth as glass, but a bit noisy-Clakety clackety clackety. My new cars clatter not. I am running 20w-50.

I'm not in the UK or australia so Land rovers aren't everywhere. I have no idea if they're supposed to be as clattery as an old toyota or new GM LS2 engine.

Did I adjust too loose? I think its right on, but I may need to give it another go. Are they relatively loud idling engines? It looks like solid lifters in there.. I don't think i've ever owned a car with solid lifters.. maybe thats it?

Thanks for any input to put me at ease or help me diagnose..

[bill van snorkle]

I've had a misfire ever since purchasing my land rover. As I heard no suspicious valve noise I thought it was some sort of carburetion or ignition problem. Well, I've sorted those things out, and it wasnt. So i adjusted my valves.

They were adjusted very close. Like perhaps the PO adjusted it cold or using the wrong specifications.

I adjusted them to spec and now the engine is rather "valvey" Clatters away like a sewing machine. The miss at idle and at speed is gone completely .. smooth as glass, but a bit noisy-Clakety clackety clackety. My new cars clatter not. I am running 20w-50.

I'm not in the UK or australia so Land rovers aren't everywhere. I have no idea if they're supposed to be as clattery as an old toyota or new GM LS2 engine.

Did I adjust too loose? I think its right on, but I may need to give it another go. Are they relatively loud idling engines? It looks like solid lifters in there.. I don't think i've ever owned a car with solid lifters.. maybe thats it?

Thanks for any input to put me at ease or help me diagnose..

Is your engine the full overhead valve 2 1/4 litre 4cyl, or the overhead inlet side exhaust valve 2 litre 4cyl or 2.6 litre 6 cyl ? The 2 1/4' 4cyl have solid lifters, actually roller cam followers and are usually very quiet and smooth if everything is in reasonable order.Possbly worn valve guides or rocker shaft bushes. The 2 litre engines are horrible oil burning valve burning nasties that rattle from the camshafts, non roller followers, rocker shafts bushes etc etc.The valve clearances on these must be set loose to help them last longer than two tanks of petrol. The 2.6 litre engines are not much better but they do have roller followers.

Bill.

[LRzed]

Is your engine the full overhead valve 2 1/4 litre 4cyl, or the overhead inlet side exhaust valve 2 litre 4cyl or 2.6 litre 6 cyl ? The 2 1/4' 4cyl have solid lifters, actually roller cam followers and are usually very quiet and smooth if everything is in reasonable order.Possbly worn valve guides or rocker shaft bushes. The 2 litre engines are horrible oil burning valve burning nasties that rattle from the camshafts, non roller followers, rocker shafts bushes etc etc.The valve clearances on these must be set loose to help them last longer than two tanks of petrol. The 2.6 litre engines are not much better but they do have roller followers.

Bill.

Yea.. sorry its the 2.25 petrol series III.. not very common to find anything else out here..

I found some posts elsewhere that said "if it doesn't make noise, the tappets are too close"

It does have "solid" non hydraulic lifters.. roller or not, there's a tenth of an inch at the top.. I guess that'll clatter. Seems to be what some others say. I hope mine weren't too tight for too long. I normally drive newer cars of course. Its been a while since I've had anything old that wasn't a mercedes or something relatively refined.

On that note, I will double check my clearances though.

Maybe put my borescope in a cylinder to see if I can see a valve.

Like I said though.. its running smooth now.

[80INCH]

My 2ltr ticks over silently (it is a car engine after all from the posh p3)

I'm thinking you may either have adjusted them using the wrong procedure; or the pads on the rockers themselves where they touch the valve are worn away; so when you insert your feeler blade it's touching the unworn part leaving that little bit of clearance. see pic of wear on my my old rocker -

[Bowie69]

It does have "solid" non hydraulic lifters.. roller or not, there's a tenth of an inch at the top..

Just to make sure.... the valve clearances are 10 thousands of an inch, hot or cold, not a tenth of an inch -apologies if I am teaching a grandmother, but this may be a quick solution!

My series III runs very quietly, in fact I am pretty sure you can hear the fuel pump over the rockers -which are very quiet.

[Gazzar]

MY '81 2286 petrol, with 48k miles, at tickover, is very quiet. So quiet you have to listen for it. Of course at 30 mph in the field things are different.

If it sounds like a tin can of bolts being shaken then something is NOT right.

Just checking, given you mention Mercedes (which is metric), that you are using an imperial feeler gauge. Its the sort of thing I'd get wrong.

G.

[LRzed]

MY '81 2286 petrol, with 48k miles, at tickover, is very quiet. So quiet you have to listen for it. Of course at 30 mph in the field things are different.

If it sounds like a tin can of bolts being shaken then something is NOT right.

Just checking, given you mention Mercedes (which is metric), that you are using an imperial feeler gauge. Its the sort of thing I'd get wrong.

G.

I am using .010 and .012 inches. rather than .025 and .030 mm as per the manual. Regardless.. all feeler gauges are marked in sae and mm. I didn't check if the mm=the inches. Do you use different inches in cars than in america? I'll check my measurements again today. also do my best to check the condition of the rockers.

I am not talking about sitting in the drivers seat with the hood closed noise. I would imagine that with the hood closed it would be the car equivalent of silent.

I've heard as many engines as I can find on Youtube and the like. None of them ticked over silently. But the sound was so horrible.. Couldn't tell what they sounded like.. they were just very loud.

[Bowie69]

That sounds fine then LRzed, 0.010 inches is the specification, and yes, the inches are the same, the Yanks didn't screw that up when they took our measurement system

Only other thing I can think of is a blowing exhaust manifold gasket sounding like the tappets.... can you hear the tappets making a noise when listening with a rod against the rocker cover?

[Les Henson]

If the rocker arm bushes are worn/shaft worn, then the engine will clatter even with the correct gap setting.

Les.

[LRzed]

That sounds fine then LRzed, 0.010 inches is the specification, and yes, the inches are the same, the Yanks didn't screw that up when they took our measurement system

Only other thing I can think of is a blowing exhaust manifold gasket sounding like the tappets.... can you hear the tappets making a noise when listening with a rod against the rocker cover?

I can hear the tappets with my yard stick against the rocker. No noise from the bottom or sides of the engine. It was not as loud prior to the valve adjustment.

I did just put on an exhaust manifold and all that that entails. BUT.. it doesn't seem to be leaking