So I have noticed a ticking noise in the last few hundred miles in the MR2 S/C I picked up last year. I used a cheap stethoscope to determine that it was coming from the head. Pulled the valve covers to the below pictures. The engine only has about 1000 miles on it. I am not real familiar to what healthy internals look like but this doesn't look good to me. Sorry that the pictures are a little washed out. To my eyes, the ramps have a scruffy looking bronze color on them and the top of the lobe looks a bit beat up. These are aftermarket cams.
Those cam lobes do NOT look healthy.
definitely looks like an oiling issue... but, im surprised the peaks arn't worn down more.
What is your oil pressure psi? Oil squirters working?
In reply to NordicSaab :
No idea. I will see I can find a "How to" on that.
Edit: on the oil squirters. I know how to check oil pressure.
Someone in the 4AG community thinks that the valves might be overly tight so I will check clearance tonight.
Ok, I think I have the culprit. The cams and springs are nice quality upgrades but the lifter buckets are the stock shim over design. With the aggressive cam grind, it causes the shim to jump. My choices are stock cams or shim under/shimless bucket swap. I really SHOULD go back to stock cams (that is what OldSkewlToy said from the beginning) but honestly it is a toy and I really like the insanity of these cams.
After reviewing some emails with Dan (OldSkewlToy), I think that I need to swap back to stock cams for now. The stock compression is too low to justify these insame cams.
At least you’re able to find the cause of the problem. That’s the biggest challenge in these kind of situations. No use that to make peace with that smaller Cam
What cams are these? If they'll work decently when polished up, I might buy them off you...I wouldn't care that they're ugly and have a bit less lift & duration than they originally came with.
Ug. Bummer.
However, stock cams running at 7k rpm with the tail out are way more fun than awesome cams sitting in the garage.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
They are Web 101s. The full specs are on their sight. I don't think they have any permanent damage. I am definitely going to sell them. I have no idea what going rate in on used cams but I would happily cut you a reasonable deal.
In reply to Robbie :
Yeah, I think the stockers are plenty good for now. I have other limiting factors to deal with before a cam upgrade is required.
In reply to jfryjfry :
No kidding. I am glad that this is a well researched engine and I had all the hallmarks of the shim issue.
When I bought these cams, there were very few cams to choose from. I was much younger then, and the bigger is better mantra was strong. In hindsight, a smaller cam, or even stock cam, would have be better suited. Sorry to hear they are causing you fits.
Yeah I think if I were to buy these, I'd get them ground down to <8mm lift. They wouldn't be a bad choice for a big-power boosted build, but I can see why they caused shim trouble. I'm planning to switch to shimless buckets regardless.
In reply to beaterku :
No worries! I bought it from you fully expecting it to be a project.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
I will polish them once they are out and let you know. If they are good and measure fine, I will probably try to sell open market just to help fund the project. If they need to be repaired, I will make you a deal!
You'll need to log in to post.
