Thread: I threw a nodule on the end of a rocker arm!

I'll be glad when 2006 is over.

I'm racing along in my 300Tdi Defender at a nice 105kmh and lift off the pedal a bit as I come into the town of Vasse on the Vasse highway after a nice weekend in wine country. When "KNOP KNOP KNOP KNOP" - knop being a cross between knock and pop starts to happen and very loudly.

Next day after spending a nice long time the day revious with a tow truck driver taking me back to Perth and a not so long time with the RAC guy who said "It's probably a piston. You really should stick with Japanese..." I am looking at the thingy that goes around making things open and close and on the end of the rocker arm is a broken off nodule thing. The guy says he has not seen that before, they often take out the whole arm but this is just a thing on the tip.

So with luck and money they put a new thing on and start it and all is well, no need to take the head off - I've heard Tdis hate having the head off and I apparently I don't want to know how much that would cost.

I'm being philosophical for now.

But what I want to know is what made it happen in the first place? They don't know. One mate says valve gap setting was not right. I'm throwing it open for discussion.

Readers of my saga of misfortune will recall after I pranged it in January I took the opportunity to replace the timing belt. It's done about 10000 km since then all bar about 600kms country driving.

It won't be that cheap, I think they are replacing the whole assembly, that is the doovey with all the rocker arms not just the little nodule (cam lobe sounds about right) . I will photgraph the replaced parts when I pick it up.

It was not a steriody thing. It was not happening obviously as each cylinder fired, only each fourth.

It was the front most cylindar if that is relevent to anything