Quote:
Originally Posted by suzublu
Oh dear Cliff  what happened? |
Bit of a long story, but I'll try to keep it short. Around a year ago I noticed a knocking noise on start up. It only happened when the engine was stone cold (i.e. first start of the day) and would disappear completely after a minute or 2 max.
All very odd and had a number of folks listen to it with a number of differing theories. One thought was belt related, so new belts - no cure. Lates thought possibly a blocked oil pickup so that was removed and a piece of "paper" was found blocking the pick up tube - hooray. Next morning - still knocking
.
A couple of other MG Rover 'tecs diagnosed piston slap and thought it nothing to worry about, so I put it out on my mind over winter and stopped stressing. With Spring nearly here though, I decided to it had to be sorted, as it was getting me down and I was losing interest
. I'd only driven her just over 1000 miles in the last year, and much of that was back and forth to Lates.
So today was the day. A much recommended mobile mechanic came (Russel Walsh) with a view to doing whatever is necessary to cure the issue. He thought the noise was emanating from the front bank, and agreed it sounded like piston slap, so the head came of for a quick peek, but no obvious signs of damage were evident. After more spannering, the oil pump came off and, although the pump itself was given a clean bill of health last year (following a pressure test), it was clear that the oil pumps gasket was delaminating, and it was a piece of this that Lates had found last year in the sump
.
So, tomorrows plan is for the engine to come out and more stripping down to take place.
She'll be fixed, regardless of cost, and Russell is hopeful that it can all be sorted in time for the National. In the meantime, I've got a shed full of parts that can be cleaned and polished
.
Hey ho - it's only money.
Cliff