Thread: Help me sort this out

Hi Michael, I had very similar symptoms in one of my other cars, the fault was intermittent , and was not noticeable at low load.

I removed the vent line from the top of the radiator, RHS. ( blank off where it returns to the header tank, with a bolt etc)

Connect a clear plastic tube to the vent on the radiator and bring it along the front mudgard on the outside of the car and in through the window to the center console. (duct tape it in place outside)
Submerge the end of the tube in a half full of water 2 liter fruit juice container, and go for a drive.

I my case nothing happens for a while until I went over 60-70 kms/hr , then bubbles started coming out of the tube.
The faster I drove the more bubbles came out. The head gasket was leaking between the cylinder and the cooling water space, so the oil was not contaminated, and I did not loose coolant. at low load and when the engine was stopped the leak was sealed off again.
The dealership even did a compression test on all the cylinders and pressure tested the cooling system could find no fault, they were trying to convince me there was no problem. The workshop manager was bit dismayed when i took him for a drive and showed him, the car was a V6, so they had to do both head gaskets under warranty . It will also show if there's a crack or porosity in the head

a cheap and effective diagnostic tool.

good luck

cheers Simmo

Originally Posted by Michael2

......

Once the car warms up I start to get a tapping sound from the Drivers side of the motor.

I had a similar sound recently and it was the arm on the lift pump - it had sideways play, but this sounds closer to the head.

.....

Can't help with any other stuff, but on the topic of the tapping .. suspect everything, and don't leave any moving part off the offenders list.

I recently had a tapping(almost knocking) noise issue on my tdi.
Drove me bananas trying to locate it. Silly part was that it was right there in plain sight and I couldn't see it suspecting every other bit instead.
My tapping sounded like misadjusted tappets. Tappets were adjusted 3 times to be sure to be sure .. kind'a thing. nothing. still tapping.
Then noticed 1/2mm play in the fan bearing, thinking AHHHH! gotcha .. nup. Then I noticed that the waterpump pulley had a mil or two out of round, changed that .. nothing.
Then one day whilst it was tapping, I had the socket on the serpentine tensioner while doing other stuff and the wee-est, tiniest bit of pressure on the tensioner and no tapping!

The tapping was the tensioner tapping on it's bump stop. Not easy to see at first as it's deeply recessed, but once noticed, can't not be 'unseen' again!
Turned out that the last three belts I got(Gates and or Dayco) even tho there were supposedly correct 1580 lengths, were just slightly longer(all from new did the same thing).

Ordered a supposed Continental branded on off ebay, and it also came in Dayco brand, but unlike any of the ones I ever got locally.
The smooth side has a cross hatch pattern, bu tmore importantly and even tho it's also a 1580 length type too .. is a millimeter shorter than the other three new belts I still have.
It's slightly shorter overall length(made it a tad harder to fit too .. but now gives a lot more clearance on the tensioner bump stop .. tapping gone.

Initially trying to locate/diagnose the tapping sounded like it was passengers side No1 piston .. and of course I feared the worst at the time. Big end, small end, piston slap .. who knows, just the worst.

But with a few revs it'd disappear(mostly) .. and was, in an overall sense, on again off again noise.

Originally Posted by AK83

............
The smooth side has a cross hatch pattern, but more importantly and even tho it's also a 1580 length type too .. is a millimeter shorter than the other three new belts I still have.
It's slightly shorter overall length(made it a tad harder to fit too .. but now gives a lot more clearance on the tensioner bump stop .. tapping gone......................

Congratulations on being able to measure a millimeter difference in the belt lengths.

Originally Posted by Xtreme

Congratulations on being able to measure a millimeter difference in the belt lengths.

Funny about this.

Assuming the Earth is 40,000 kms around the equator and you can put a string around it.

You also have the ability to add one metre to the 40,000 km length of string and suspend same evenly above the ground the whole way round.

How high above the surface does this lengthened bit of string now sit?

DL

Originally Posted by Xtreme

Congratulations on being able to measure a millimeter difference in the belt lengths.

HaHa! .. yeah when you read it like that .. sounds silly.

Nah! what I meant was that when fitted.
The new Dayco belt off ebay(which wasn't the Continental I was looking to buy), gave the tensioner that extra mil(or two, or three) the gap it needed to not tap, causing the annoying noise.
Not that the belt was shorter(which it probably was) as a loop.
Maybe it was shorter, or maybe it didn't stretch as much as the other three, it just gave a mil more clearance on the tensioner bump stop.

Originally Posted by 350RRC

Funny about this.

Assuming the Earth is 40,000 kms around the equator and you can put a string around it.

You also have the ability to add one metre to the 40,000 km length of string and suspend same evenly above the ground the whole way round.

How high above the surface does this lengthened bit of string now sit?
DL

With the 1m added, the string would then sit 159mm above the surface.
And I have no idea what your point is.

Originally Posted by Xtreme

With the 1m added, the string would then sit 159mm above the surface.
And I have no idea what your point is.

Thats the point. There is no point because its round .mmmmm. NOW back to my UFO

Originally Posted by Xtreme

With the 1m added, the string would then sit 159mm above the surface.
And I have no idea what your point is.

Point is that a really tiny increase in a circumference situation (like a belt) can have unexpected downstream effects, especially friction.

DL