British-Cars.org

Welcome to the DMR Site for British Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Valve adjust

How quiet can you get? I've done this a couple times. .012 hot inlet/outlet. Still can hear a sewing machine sound. Can't make it go away.
Could I have a problem I'm not aware of?

Peter 54TF
Peter Dahlquist

Hard to tell what is 'normal' and what is noisy on these cars. Worn lobes and/or tappets are both possible; also pushrods where cups have come loose. Finally, check the rocker tips for wear and grooving, that can cause accurate adjustment difficulties and noise.

How many miles since the engine was apart?

Tom
t lange

Tom
Engine is original and never opened up.
Peter
Peter Dahlquist

Are you kidding us Peter!!!! Wow. How many of us can say our T engine has NEVER been rebuilt.
Carumba!

Tom
'54 TF
Tom Norby

Peter, if you can't hear the valve train you're in trouble. It's in the nature of the design. Bud
Bud Krueger (TD10855)

Bud, I agree, if it aint tickin, it aint running right. I have never heard a quiet one. They all clatter to some degree. Same with the oil. not leaking, out of oil.
Tom Maine (TD8105)

Pete,
Be grateful you're tweaking at 12 thou and not 19 like our old-fashioned XPAGs.

Have you checked the pattern for adjusting valves? There's a goofy function of "adjust this" when "this other valve is down."

As an old-timer,,, I mean,,,, young-timer engineer, I like solid lifter that don't push on valves like hydraulic lifters! Tickey-tack noise is the only reason hydraulic lifters were invented. Rattle is a badge of honor for efficiency! It is normal, to some extent.

BUT! Do you sport a cast aluminum COFFIN valve cover? If you do, take it off and inspect it to see if rockers or valves are grinding it away inside!!! This will create a loud knocking that can be remedied in a half-a-minute by readjusting the valve cover position. I ground out big notches in our valve cover where the valves were punching out big gouges!

JIM
Jim Northrup

Peter,
The old saying is,,, "noisy valves are happy valves"

SPW
STEVE WINCZE

Thanks all I feel better.
There are times when I "over think".
Peter

Peter Dahlquist

Hi Peter,

All the previous advice is sound, but if there is an 'irregular' tap, esp. after engine is warm, often caused by loose cups, which were originally spot welded. It won't affect engine performance, but check next time cover is off. If a problem found offending cup(s)can be braised (safer)or welded again.

Cheers,

John
J C Mitchell

Tom briefly mentioned a common culprit: worn rocker arm tips. The valve stem wears a round hole in the rocker, and the feeler gauge bridges the gap. The resulting setting is way too loose. You may want to look at a rocker (1 or 8 easy to remove) and check for this. But even with everything perfect, there will still be some clatter. George
George Butz

If the rockers turn out to be the problem, send the whole rocker mechanism to Rocker Arm Specialists, who will rebuild everything nicely and fairly.

Check for loose pushrods at the same time.

Tom
t lange

My 44,000 mile engine has never been apart or out of the car and it ticks over very quitely, set at .012" hot.
Colin Stafford TF6688

If you have any reason to do some work on your engine - even cosmetic work - pull the rocker gear to check the rocker tips, check the pushrods for straightness, pull the side cover the check the tappets (keep in order) for galling or wear, and look down the tappet bores at the camshaft for pitting or damage. Shouldn't take a day.

Tom
t lange

Tom, thanks for the advice, but, "been there, done that" when I installed the new valve guide seals. Did not see and signs of abnormal wear that I would consider a problem.

Colin Stafford TF6688

Sorry, Colin, I was back on the original post about noisy valve train.

Tom
t lange

This thread was discussed between 06/07/2011 and 08/07/2011

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archives. Join this live forum now