steamy exhaust (101 v8)

Go on Tom, guess.....

Steve

you never know, could be natural for old engines with all them extra cylinders!

My oil stays clean, so if there is a problem its either a crack in the head or the gasket has gone between a waterway and the business bits.

I suppose i should find a compression tester and fight my way in to get it on all the pots :(

Clue : Think how Alf Garnett described his son in law. (forget the long haired bit)

Derek

Before my time!

That's because you keep washing it.

Steve

Tom Woods uttered summat worrerz funny about:

My money is on the head gasket, look for steam cleaned spark plugs. You could get a sniffer kit to test the coolant but to be honest It sounds like head off time. Rattle I guess is a lazy lifter (thats not an insult!) change the cam while you have it all stripped down, set of new lifters, new gasket and also worth getting the valves looked at too if they are owt like Morphs were.

Hopefully you will get the manifolds off ok but be prepared for knackered threads in the heads.

I HATE 101 Carb's thats got to be the worst part of the whole job.

Of course it may be quicker to throw in a 4.6 lump.

Nah, you'd never get it in ;-)

I didnt need any money left in my bank account anyway! ;) (roughly how much did it cost for you to do Morph?)

how does a lifter get lazy? (and additionally is a lifter another name for a cam follower? - i've never had a v8 apart before? and my saabs are OHC). is it more likely to be that than just a valve out of adjustment?

Is it a 3.9 cam i want to fit instead of the original to give it a few more donkeys or am i confused? Can i get the cam out without removing the rad too?

Additionally - am i mistaken in thinking that the 101 v8 is lower compression than the v8 was in other applications? - how is the compression ratio changed? is it done by the pistons, heads or gaskets? - just wondering if i can change this while it is apart too?

Funily enough i've got to go buy a helicoil kit to do one of the manifold mounting holes in the head on my saab too.

might go to halfrods thismorning and buy myself a set of those stubby spanners!

I was very close to buying a p38 for the engine but then everybody convinced me it would be too hard to get all the efi stuff off and that there was a lot of electrics to deal with. I'd like to stay with simple carbs on the 101 i think..

Though if anybody has a 4.6 lying about which they want rid of then let me know!

If the lifter is hydraulic like in a Saab twin cam engine, they pump up with oil when you start the car to take up any valve slack. They hold some oil, but as they age they sometimes leak back. Then, then can rattle for a few minutes until fully pressurised. Once "buggered" they won't pump up and hold oil, so they rattle longer or even all the time.

Are RR V8 engines tappet and either screw or shim adjust, or are they hydraulic tappets?

I'm not even up to saab twin cam yet! ;) I'm on single cam 8v engines.

My saab valves are adjusted using shims. I can cope with that!

I had assumed they were tappet and screw like all the series engines but what you say about the lifters makes sense.

Ah, the Ricardo design. Nice engine, but the bucket and shim adjust is annoying. Are there any any triumph parts that swap over? It was essentially the same engine as that fitted to dolomites, but with the transmission replacing the sump, and the engine fitted back to front.

They're hydraulic -

... and if the little valve plate (washer) breaks you end up with quarter of an inch or so of rocker clearance as the lifter doesn't pump up at all. It makes an awful noise!

That makes sense. its not making an awful noise, just a ticking.

Ive found some pictures of them now (they are not covered in my 90/110 manual atall like they dont exist!)

They are listed as hydraulic cam followers in some places so my thinking isnt totally wrong!

argh. just popped out to the builders merchant in it and it is now even worse!. Looks more like grey smoke now than steam though.

exhaust is invisible until it has been running for 30secs or so at which point it starts getting worse as it warms up. This consistent?

Still pulling well though! :)

Off to find a compression tester later :(

Stop driving it Tom, it sounds terminal. Grey is oil going in with the steam.

Steve

I thought blue smoke was oil? though im often confused!

its now parked up back in its favourite spot in the garden. I think it likes it there! I had my garden back for 24 hours anyway!

Oi Lee_D! - do you have a v8 engine rebuild manual i might borrow? or Richard - do you stock them?

I've just read about tappet preload and its scary so a manual might be sensible.

What is the general consensus on replacing the rocker shaft assembly while i'm in there? Should i do it too? I am definately gonna do my cam and followers while im getting dirty.

Tom Woods wrote: .

That's be pure oil I think - this sounds like its wet too, hence the colour - it matches that 200Tdi project engine of mine - that had oil and water issues.

Steve

DA3045 Book - The Rover V8 Engine £17.59 (no VAT) DA3039 Book - 'Tuning Rover V8 Engines' £15.99 (no VAT)

Have a look at the old shafts - if there's wear where he rockers go then you ideally should. If there's no wear, then don't worry about it. Same goes for the rockers - give then a look over before making a decision.

Richard

ah you young whippersnapper you, he used to call him a scouse git though with Warrens superb characterisation it came out like S'gas git - or gasket if you will, fraid it sounds like a little blow off a waterway they are very close to the cylinder between 2 and 3 pots if you can borrow a bore inspector the afflicted cylinders will be very clean I found that if you top her up and rev the knackers off the gas goes the other way and the header tank bubbles up. If you do pull the heads off worth checking the valves and seats very carefully I had one with a burn across the valve head which wasn't helping compression.

Derek I use Head Shoulders and Kurust on my hair