Zetec Rattle

[tractor]

i take it you did fit an input shaft bearing when you built it

[tractor]

1

Edited May 27, 2018 by tractor

[tractor]

check all your bell housing bolts and starter motor bolts could be starter motor not disengaging properly

[MarkBzero]

Broken finger on clutch, maybe but I would start to think about clutch plate springs use to happen in land rovers and springs become lose in the housing make a rattle but less so under more load and higher speeds.

Edited May 28, 2018 by MarkBzero

[Longboarder]

Do you have any mechanism which tensions the clutch-release bearing against the diaphragm springs? Properly set sierra clutch pedal and sprung quadrant would be such a device.

[tractor]

No quadrants on a zero just the GBS pedal box with the clutch cable tensioned by man power

[nelmo]

i take it you did fit an input shaft bearing when you built it

 

Yes - I assume it would have caused a problem before now if I hadn't?

[nelmo]

After an hour of listening to YouTube videos, this sounds like engine knock and nothing mechanical.

 

Oil change to look for metal bits and maybe just new oil... fingers crossed.

[nelmo]

So, after 3 weeks of various cures and fixes (new oil, coolant, water pump, fuel additives to clean engine), still a rattle.

 

Some help from a local guy from the SKCC forum (he's a mechanic) suggested the rattle came from the front bottom end of the engine (using the long-pole-and-your-ear technique), hence my 2 weeks of swearing to get the sump off (see my other post).

 

So, sump finally off but, annoyingly, there is nothing obviously loose;

 

Windage tray and oil pickup pipe all solid.

Bottom ends have a tiny amount of sideways play but its the same on all cylinders so seems normal.

No sign of wear that might suggest something rubbing unnaturally.

 

I did find the 1 inch of dipstick that broke off into the sump shortly after IVA about a year ago (well before the rattle started) - is that possibly a cause of the rattle? Doesn't seem heavy enough to make such a loud rattle and why now?

 

Any other ideas to look for while sump is off?

[MarkBzero]

Check for play in big ends on conrods

[nelmo]

Big ends seem OK (although awaiting a second opinion).

 

Next step is to check the oil pump and YouTube has, amazingly, let me down - no (useful) videos of how to get it off. Anyone suggest a good video/source of explanation?

 

 

I'm most concerned about my ability to get that front flywheel (?) off as I don't have an air gun - is that going to be as hard as I imagine? Do I need to take everything off the front of the engine (water pump as well?) or is the oil pump just the black bit behind that flywheel (red arrow in attached pic)?

 

Any help/suggestions appreciated...

Edited July 10, 2018 by nelmo

[tractor]

That front flywheel is the crank pulley and if the engine is still attached to gearbox then put it in first gear and and make sure hand brake is well on then you should be able to undo it with a breaker bar

[nelmo]

OK, thanks - do you know the torque setting for when I have to re-tighten it?

[tractor]

I normally just go with FT and a bit of thread lock

[brumster]

That front flywheel is the crank pulley and if the engine is still attached to gearbox then put it in first gear and and make sure hand brake is well on then you should be able to undo it with a breaker bar

That would make for a f**king strong handbrake

 

Might want someone to stand on the brake pedal while you're at it, nelmo! Or else lock off the flywheel ring gear into the block with a suitable large flat blade screwdriver or proper locking tool - but just be very, very careful that if you go this route you are putting it into a part of the block with some strength, not a little tab sticking out that will snap off under the torque