04-03-2023, 05:36 PM
Many thanks for all your interesting comments, trust me they are all very much appreciated.
I did try rotating the flywheel in both directions and the noise was there in both directions.
I was fairly happy it was not a valve/cam follower/ spring issue as I had spent a lot of time cleaning these and resetting the tappets and oiling them once complete.
So following Ruairidh’s comments I went out to have a closer look at the gears whilst turning the flywheel and marking each of the teeth where the noise occurred. It happened at the same teeth I’d marked on the cam gear every time, although there was no pattern at the spacing between marked teeth. Looking very closely, I could actually see the cam gear “snap” shut and hear the noise simultaneously at every point I’d marked on the cam gear.
At the point where the gears snapped shut I could feel backlash on the cam gear but at all points in between I could not feel any movement. Using a thin piece of 0.005” shim steel I could get this in between some of the teeth but not all but nowhere was this a loose fit, not exactly a perfect check but a reasonable indicator of the backlash. These are the gears that came with the car and have been in all the time I have had Ruby, would this backlash be an issue??
Again following Ruairidh’s comments I applied a liberal coating of engine oil to the crank gear and just like magic, after a couple of rotations of the flywheel, the noise disappeared and was followed by a deep sigh of relief! Quite embarrassing really ……………
So once again many thanks for your contributions and any advice regarding the backlash would be appreciated
Cheers Denis S
I did try rotating the flywheel in both directions and the noise was there in both directions.
I was fairly happy it was not a valve/cam follower/ spring issue as I had spent a lot of time cleaning these and resetting the tappets and oiling them once complete.
So following Ruairidh’s comments I went out to have a closer look at the gears whilst turning the flywheel and marking each of the teeth where the noise occurred. It happened at the same teeth I’d marked on the cam gear every time, although there was no pattern at the spacing between marked teeth. Looking very closely, I could actually see the cam gear “snap” shut and hear the noise simultaneously at every point I’d marked on the cam gear.
At the point where the gears snapped shut I could feel backlash on the cam gear but at all points in between I could not feel any movement. Using a thin piece of 0.005” shim steel I could get this in between some of the teeth but not all but nowhere was this a loose fit, not exactly a perfect check but a reasonable indicator of the backlash. These are the gears that came with the car and have been in all the time I have had Ruby, would this backlash be an issue??
Again following Ruairidh’s comments I applied a liberal coating of engine oil to the crank gear and just like magic, after a couple of rotations of the flywheel, the noise disappeared and was followed by a deep sigh of relief! Quite embarrassing really ……………
So once again many thanks for your contributions and any advice regarding the backlash would be appreciated
Cheers Denis S