I noticed a clacking sound from my engine today, so I lifted the bonnet and shot this video clip. Anyone want to take a guess at what it is?? Timing Chain maybe?

 

Um time to pull the valve cover to show us. Broken valve spring?

Jeremy

 

Doesn't sound healthy. Any codes?

 

Hydraulic rockers - take off the cover and check if any of the retaining rings on the arm have fell off (could be yellow / orange / black), if they are all on or you are unsure take the rocker arms off (5 bolts) and check that way. If the are all on then squeeze them in a vice to free them up - I did this and my similar noise had gone

 

x 3 pull the valve cover.

 

Sorry, I didn’t see or listen to your clip. Without being there it would be difficult to determine if it is a clack, click, tick, or where it was coming from. To repeat good points mentioned already. If it is from the valve cover area and you put an ear to the exhaust tips and hear no abnormal notes or cadence, then perhaps it is a frozen hydraulic tappet. Usually this is temporary and goes away once underway, and sometimes not. There are a few solutions one involves cleaning the system with a run of ATF in the engine oil, another method is disassembly & cleaning the hydraulic plunger with solvent (don’t know the disassembly procedure on ours), and of course replacing the offending rocker. If a loud clacking from the valve cover area, could be a cracked or missing valve lash bucket retainer.


A failed tensioner strut and/or loose belt tensioner bracket, failed idler pulleys, or failed crankshaft vibration damper, are some other causes with simple fixes, and then there are the really bad possibilities.

 

I don't understand..you just click the link to the Youtube video. Watch it in HD (it's the next best thing to actually being there) and you'll hear the sound and the approximate location thanks to the stereo mic. That's why I move the camera around from end to end.

It is definitely coming from within the engine. Thanks

Richard

 

He could be at work and youtube is blocked.

 

One way or another that valve cover needs to come off. To me it almost sounds like the noise is to rapid to be a rocker or something of that nature. My bet is on a really badly failed timing chain tensioner, which is sometimes problematic on this generation.

 

Thanks..I'm at the airport getting on a plane to Asia in 2 hours for a 1:50AM flight. I'll be back after the 23rd and will report what the problem was.

Richard

 

You can use a long screwdriver, ratchet extension, etc and stick one end on various parts of the engine, hold the other end and stick your ear on your thumb, to try to narrow down the location.

Either way, I think you need to take off the valve cover to explore in greater detail.

 

I had one of these fall off after a cam change. It wasn't THAT loud though. I could not find that you could buy them separately so I had to buy a whole new set of rocker arms which I bought used from Peter. This pic looks like you found them. Where can you buy just the valve lash cap retainers? They sure look like a weak point.

 

I think Keith grabbed them off a delivery MCS head(like 10 miles on odo) that got a JCW kit installed. Se near new!

Jeremy

 

Thanks everyone for your input. Turns out we were all wrong. My Super Charger took a dump, fortunately I have a spare. Thanks Danny (MINICorsa).
I've got 106,000 miles on the S/C which had a 16% and 17% pulley for most of it's life.

 

Glad to hear everything worked out and you can be back on the road again!