Engine problem! PLEASE HELP!!!

[robi1000]

Hi everyone! I'm from Slovenia and I'm one of very very few owners of Williams Clio in my country. So nobody from my forum could help me because nobody ever had one! :( My mechanic is on holiday for another two weeks and I'm dying to find out what is wrong with my Clio...

So the problem is: I was driving on highway with high average speed, there were no problems with overheating or something (I would also like to point out that I always wait for the car to warm up to operating temperature), and when I was paying toll, car suddenly stalled. I turned the engine on and then this weird noise started. It's like very loud tappets and is mostly heard when accelerating. When I checked the engine at home, I unplugged 1st and 2nd spark plug and there is almost no difference in engine running. There was oil around these two spark plugs before I unscrewed them out. Other two spark plugs were dry and are operating normally (if I unplug spark plug, engine stalls). Also exhaust note changed. It sounds more like Subaru Impreza now. :)

Any ideas? Please help, I'm desperate! :(
Thanks!

Robi

[Clio_GTT]

do a compression test

[robi1000]

What went wrong? Gasket or something?

[Lunner]

I'd suggest swapping spark plugs and trying that, sounds liek a couple arent' sparking, possibly cus they are covered in oil, what were the old oil pressures like during your 'fast driving'?

[Coops]

check spark plugs as said, check rocker cover gasket to ensure its not leaking oil onto the HT leads and plugs and dry them all off it is has and see if it runs okay then

failing that check connectors to the injectors,. they can come loose and cause a few cylinders to stop working

and also do a compression test to check the head gasket

[robi1000]

I was checkin oil temp and pressure constantly because this was the first time I tried how fast this baby can go. Temps were normal, pressure also. I think my oil pressure gauge isn't working ok because when engine is cold it shows sth like 3 bar and then drops to 0,5 if oil gets really hot (120 deg)! It didnt change after failiure. It's still around 3 bar when accelerating(should be 4-5 right?).

[MAXIBOY]

thats about right on a used engine.

[robi1000]

There is no edit button. :evil: I changed the spark plugs, had 4 brand new Bosch at home. Maybe little better, almost no difference. Probobly the only difference is that these were dry, old ones were covered in oil.

[Coops]

no thats the oil pressure, totally unrelated to cylinder pressure, the cylinder pressure could show a blown head gasket between two cylinders so there would be no other symptoms. you can buy a comp test kit over here for around £15, it screws into the spark plug hole with the plug out then you simply crank the engine over on the started. repeat for all cylinders and you should get a reading between around 150 and 160psi and all four reading should be within 10psi of each other

[Lunner]

my pressure is good but not the best i've seen it, 3-4bar cold idle running 5W40 oil, at 80-90 at 125deg oil temps about 3.25-3.75 bar

The looud knocking could indicate bottem end bearing failure

[BRUN]

your pressure sounds ok, not too bad

sounds to me like your rocker gasket has gone, you got oil on 2 plugs, and they then couldnt fire properly

get some new plugs and see how it goes, if that fixes it, put a new rocker gasket on

[robi1000]

What needs to be replaced if bearing failed?

[Coops]

fair bit, depends on damage to crank! could require a regrind and at least complete bottom end rebuild

when mine had these symptoms tho it turned out to be head gasket blown between 2 cylinders and the knocking was that, both times i've blown h/g's :oops:

[Clio_GTT]

What needs to be replaced if bearing failed?

Depends which ones it is, if you've spun a bearing on the crank then you'll need a regrind and some new oversized bearings

[BRUN]

does the noise sound like its coming from the top of the engine or the bottom

is it more of a rattle or rumble

[Lunner]

What needs to be replaced if bearing failed?

Depends which ones it is, if you've spun a bearing on the crank then you'll need a regrind and some new oversized bearings

I've had that, spun all 4 of the ****ers....thats what you get for not running it in properly after a rebuild :oops:

[Clio_GTT]

robi, best thing you can do is compression test the cylinders with a compression tester.

[Coops]

What needs to be replaced if bearing failed?

Depends which ones it is, if you've spun a bearing on the crank then you'll need a regrind and some new oversized bearings

I've had that, spun all 4 of the f**k**s....thats what you get for not running it in properly after a rebuild :oops:

lunner man, did you check ring gaps on piston rings when u put the pistons in with new rings? n did u use std rings on a re-honed block?

[robi1000]

I'd say it's more from the top. Also my best friend is a mechanic and he used to have Transit van with bearing failure. It's not that sort of knocking. It's more like really loud tappets and I think it's coming from the top. Also bearing is knocking constantly, this becomes louder when I apply throttle. It's not that loud when idling. Other than engine mostly running on two cylinders it sounds fine(on idle).

[Coops]

my bets h/g between 2 cylinders, same as me! but get a compression test before you splash any cash!

[robi1000]

I don't have compression tester. :( I guess this will have to wait for my mechanic to come back from holiday. I really hope that it's the gasket. Otherwise I'll be spending alot in the next month. :( And that's just when I wanted to give it a full respray and alloy refurbishment. :cry:

[robi1000]

I think the compression is a bit lower than normal. When I brake with engine it's not stopping as it used to. It's not a dramatic decrease but is noticable.

[robi1000]

We did compression test and it's fine. Dizzy cap looks OK too. There's spark on all 4 spark plugs. Other options left are, that cam belt skipped a tooth or bearing failiure. Neither is good. :cry:

What do you think? Any other ideas?

[robi1000]

Well, crank shaft skipped a tooth and my mechanic said there's a "play" in the bearing. How expensive is this going to be. I guess very. What is the estimate cost of repair?

[MAXIBOY]

new belt and pulleys. think its about 70 pounds sterling

R12932 CAM BELT & TENS SET CLIO 1.8 16V 75.00

thats at gsf

[robi1000]

Wait! Is it the same part as for F7P? I used to have R19 16V and have loads of parts at home waiting for better days... I have new bearings, piston rings, cam belts, gaskets,... And I also have a spare F7P engine. Are any parts usable in F7R restoration? In short: What can I use from F7P on F7R in my Williams?

[robi1000]

EDIT: I know piston rings will not fit. But what about bearings and stuff?

[MAXIBOY]

yes lots of those are the same.

[robi1000]

Right now I'm dying to know if F7P bearings fit in F7R??? I have to replace them, so I wouldn't like to buy extra if I have them at home.

[MAXIBOY]

yes if there the same standard over oversize

[robi1000]

I'm back with more questions. :) I have replaced dizzy cap, rotor, spark plugs and cables. Now it idles fine. We're guessing the problem might be with pistons. More specifically just with one piston. Is this a common fault? I was asking around a little bit because I know some people who used to race with Williams and most of them said it's probably something with pistons. Any ideas?

[Wobba]

What was the answer to this? I have same symptoms.

[MAXIBOY]

piston fault would show on a compression check though..

[Wobba]

piston fault would show on a compression check though..

Yep, I will do this tonight. I just want to be prepared for the worse and have as much info as poss.