Is this going to be expensive or am I safe!?

[sshenton1975]

Need your help guys ref my Speed 6. Has done 27K and was rebuilt (not by me) at 21K 4 years ago (TVR Power)

So I am out for a hoon with my brother showing him the delights of TVR ownership. Did about 150 miles around the fantastic A roads in Northern Italy. Took it up to 5-6K rpm a few times to show him what it is made of (made sure it was correctly warmed 1st)

On the way back home, I performed an overtake in 3rd and took it up to about 5Krpm. Immediately after the top end started to go rattly - almost like a click click sound. ALmost inaudible below 2krpm, but noise increased with revs about this range. Same whether in or out of gear

I was absolutely gutted and pulled over to have a better look. No drop in oil pressure (around 35psi), no red oil warning light, no drop in performance. Checked oil level, half full

Nursed it home for 5 miles and sound continued, keeping revs below 2K rpm. Then decided to blip the throttle and the ticking/clicking suddenly cleared!!!!

NOw, can I be relieved or is the engine needing a rebuild. It almost sounded as though a valve was stuck?? Could it be that the oil was not getting round top end momentarily and got something to stick? Whatever it was, it has now cleared but I am now very dubious and concerned. Does it sound like another rebuild or should I just make sure I keep oil level at full level at all times??

Would really appreciate your ideas/input on the causes and my next move!!

Cheers all

Simon

[warpig]

had exactly the same on mine about a year ago after taking it to 7+k.
thought the worse at the time but cleared pretty quickly.
came the conclusion tha a tappet shim had become unseated,but a year later alls still well

[so called]

I had a shim jump out only a few weeks after a rebuild.
I shut down as quickly as possible because if the shim migrates down into the engine, it can block the pump and then realy screw the engine.
Fortunately for me the shim was found sat right next to the valve it had come away from.
BUT
If its gone quiet again ??? If they can pop out maybe they can pop themselves back in !!!
Might be worth getting the cover off and checking your gaps and have a look for any marks.
Sounds like you guys have got magic shims.

Edited by so called on Monday 8th February 21:27

Edited by so called on Tuesday 9th February 00:14

[warpig]

had my cover off a while after to adjust tappets, were a mile out and some are quite thin.

[PetrolHeadPete]

Think someone posted here a month or two ago about intermittent tapping and concluded it was a slightly warn shim that had rotated on it's seat
Possibility I guess

[softtop]

PetrolHeadPete said:

Think someone posted here a month or two ago about intermittent tapping and concluded it was a slightly warn shim that had rotated on it's seat
Possibility I guess

if the shim has come out, the noise would not go away.

[BGB autosport]

softtop said:

PetrolHeadPete said:

Think someone posted here a month or two ago about intermittent tapping and concluded it was a slightly warn shim that had rotated on it's seat
Possibility I guess

if the shim has come out, the noise would not go away.

It was me!

It appeared the shim had stopped spinning freely in the valve retainer and a dip had worn across its face. When it freed off again and started spinning it casused the intermittant ticking noise as the clearance was more when the follower was in the dip as apossed to when it was across the top of the "groove". How ever it was not an alarming noise really just like a slack tappet.

I have a feeling that you may have a similar problem to what Rtoy had. His started making a bad tappin noise, he had the car recovered to his house, i looked it over and there was nothing obvious and the tapping had stopped. He put it back together, took it out and it started again. He shipped it off the TVR power who found a spun crank shell.

ETA: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by BGB autosport on Wednesday 10th February 16:23

Edited by BGB autosport on Wednesday 10th February 16:23

[kronik]

I'm replying to two posts that seem relevant to my problem, apologies if this is doubling up unnecessarily. My Tuscan started ticking 1/2 mile from home after 70 mile drive. I've got the Cam cover off but have no idea what to look for, can't see anything obvious, based on the previous posts I'd hoped to see something lying around in there that would be the root cause! Can anyone guide me on what I should be looking for - presumably a jumped shim, but where would the shim come from? I'm a complete novice when it comes to engines but I figured this shouldn't be too much trouble based on the posts I've read on the subject. HELP PLEASE!?

[Basil Brush]

http://www.varleyhyd.com/FJ062.asp

13th picture down the right hand side shows a valve with shim to give you an idea. Thanks to Graham for the great site.