Well I do wonder if these bloody trucks are alive (and extremely grumpy!!)....

A week or so on from treating him to a set of nice blue carpets and..... he's developed a clack! It's not there when he's started but as soon as he warms up there it is. Like a light metalic clacking. Put the revs up very slightly and it dissapears! I did an oil change as I hadn't done it since I had the engine out and put it back in with new seals etc.... so I thought maybe it needed that - no difference!

Just as I started to really enjoy driving him with the new seats and carpets he fights me again!

Anyone have anyt ideas? Woudl it help if I uploaded a sound byte of it?

Thanks

What oil did you put in?

10-40 as I always do - this time wasn't Magnatec, but then the clack was there before the oil change - hence doing it.....

Sorry I mis-read that it was doing it before the oil change. Yours is a 98 so could be in the range that suffers from the loose steel insert in the rockers but that makes more of a tappety noise than a clack. Mine also has a clack when warm and that's always been there. It was there before the engine went to V8 Dev for the whole block to be refurbed and was still there afterwards. The only moving parts that weren't new was the rocker gear so I've put it down to something there. Mine is also intermittent and most noticeable at idle but at the last summer camp we checked and a number of them were all making the same noise to a greater or lesser degree.

Here's the TSB relating to the rockers. Gives VIN range:

Thanks guys - I'll see if i can tell roughly where it's coming from and report back!

Well I went outside in between the rain and tried to get a capture of the noise. He's deifnitely quiet as a mouse when cold - then after about 10 minutes diling its sounds like this:

Clacking

You can hear it up top but better underneath. It seems worse if the engine is stuttering slightly when the revs are low (which they are at present when on LPG - need to do those filters still!) - raise the revs a bit and it goes away!

If there's too much wind noise in the recording I'll try and do another tomorrow after work.

Is that from around the plenum/air filter side of the engine? Could be the canister purge valve which clacks open and shut with a noise disturbingly like a slipped liner once the engine warms up...

Sounds decidedly tappetty to me. That sounds very similar to the one my mate in France has and his was down to two rockers with the loose inserts. His is slap in the middle of the affected VIN numbers too. Mine is a deeper sound, almost a clunk rather than a tapping noise. Never thought about the purge valve though, I thought that just opened for a while as it felt necessary rather than clacking open and closed.

gordonjcp wrote:

Is that from around the plenum/air filter side of the engine? Could be the canister purge valve which clacks open and shut with a noise disturbingly like a slipped liner once the engine warms up...

Funnily enough it is louder on that side...... from the top at least. Underneath you can't tell which side. Where is this purge valve? I'll have a check. (You'd think I'd know this after taking the engine out but alas no! LOL)

It's the little plastic-and-metal deelie on a bracket just in front of the EAS box with a curly plastic pipe going off to the throttle body.

You'll actually feel it clicking if you put your hand on it.

Ah ok I knwo that thing - I'll check tomorrow but pretty sure it's not that clicking....... it's a bit lower down than that I think.

OK did a bit more digging. He definitely makes NO noise when cold....

Then when warm THIS happens (better sound recording as no wind today!).

The sound is from low down so I whacked up the suspension and climbed underneath with my long screwdriver as a stethescope.... the noise was MUCH louder when I touched the screwdriver to the bellhousing - so I unscrewed the little plate on the bottom and saw this:

The marks around the edge of the torque converter look pretty new to me... I don't remember seeing them before (although I didn't specififcally look when I had the engine out)....

Does anyone have any ideas? Plus why it only happens when it's warm? It's really odd. I haven't had the front plate off the bellhousing yet so maybe I should have a check in there as I did fit a new drive plate - coudl it be a loose bolt that only shows when warm?

OK so typically it's been raining all day so far! I have a few questions before I check stuff...

There isn't a lot inside that bellhousing apart from the flex plate / flywheel etc, so I am guessing IF the noise is in there it can only be loose bolts / cracked flex plate (although I only replaced that when I had the engine out as it had cracks all over the original!).......

Also if I do need to replace the flexplate (again) can I do it by just somehow undoing the bellhousing from the engine and sliding the gearbox backwards? Or do people think as I want to change the filter etc on the gearbox, and it's sump bolts are a bit stuck, I'd be better getting the gearbox out? Assuming I can get it out without removing the engine?

Sorry I sound a total noob!

Rather than trying to move the gearbox as that would almost certainly involve removing the crossmember which is not a fun job, I'd be inclined to move the engine forwards. If the exhaust downpipes are disconnected from the manifolds, the viscous coupling and fan (and possibly the radiator) taken off, with the aid of an engine crane you should be able to move the engine forward far enough. That is always assuming you need to change it, give it a good check with the plate at the bottom off.

Thanks for the advice - was thinking maybe that would be easier - I am expert in engine removal now after all! LOL

These cars are dfintiely alive and rather grumpy - you give them something new and shiny and they throw a hissy fit and bite you in the ass!

If you do decide to move the engine forward, what is the size of your hands? As you know the 4 topbolts of the bellhousing can be a pain to reach, once bunging in the engine hoist I should remove the engine mounts, that gives you space to lower the engine almost to the draglink and reach the topbolts more easily.
Oh, and park it up in offroad height.
Tony.

Oh, and park it up in offroad height.

But remember to chock the suspension so it can't fall on you...

If it ever stops raining I'll get the access panel off and hopefully it will be a loose bolt.

OK I finally have the inspection plate off (typically one rounded bolt head that was behind the sump so no access! A lump hammer and chisel finally got it moving...)

I can see that at least one - amazingly right where the inspection plate is(!) - of the 'teeth' of the flywheel reluctor ring is a bit bent. I can also see the crankshalft sensor and it also looks a bit bent too so I think it's been hitting the bent tooth when it warms up. It looks VERY close to the non-bent teeth so I am going to pop the sensor out and check it as well.

I think with a bit of luck I can tap the reluctor back on to shape with a tiny toffee hammer, hopefully unbend the sensor, and fingers crossed that's the problem! Somehow I must have inadvertantly bent the tooth when fitting the engine back togther maybe?

I will get some pictures of before and after and report back my success (or failure) in a while.... wish me luck!