Ticking and Banjo Bolts

[Kalevera]

Guys -

After fitting my new coolant return line today, I decided it was time to check the valves for the first time (I've driven the car about 500 miles in the two months that I've owned it).

There's been a bit of ticking noise...I didn't know it wasn't normal until Brett Anderson told me to check the banjo bolts after he noted "some ticking" from the valves.

Upon popping off the valve cover, I found the front banjo bolt and accompanying brass crush washer sitting in the exhaust valley by the drain -- uh oh. The rear one was tight.

Some of the cam lobes don't look great, but it's hard for me to tell if they're scored or what. Some have a darker hue to the contact area between the rocker arm and the lobe; others are shiny enough to produce a reflection, which I assume is an indication of oil starvation.

The chain and tensioner appear to be fine.

I used a bit of generic loctite and torqued the banjo bolt and crush washer back in. Waited a few hours before I started the car. After hearing it run for a while, I isolated the main "ticking" sound to the 2nd cyl intake.

Anyone know if this sound will go away now that I'm taking care of the banjo bolts? I guess I'm more concerned about losing the head altogether.

thanks in advance -- whit

[tim]

This may be a stupid question now that you've closed it up, but you did measure the valve clearances with a feeler while you had it open, didn't you? Spec on the 535 is .35mm hot, .30 if cold. Intake and exhaust valves are the same. Get used to this procedure.

Sorry if you did and my comment is insulting, but you didn't mention it in your description.

[Kalevera]

Tim - as they say, there are no stupid questions, and yours certainly wasn't.

In fact I *didn't* check the gaps because I didn't have a feeler gauge or a way of turning the crankshaft. The closest thing I have is a spark plug gap tester...in retrospect, I realize that I mis-read it.

I'm sure it has a .30 setting, which I assume equates to the .010-.012 metric listed in my Bentleys? Last night, I wrote it off as being too big for the task...

Whit

[JoeS]

I have the same issues with ticking. I have tried a few different valve clearances, but my M30 still sounds like a sewing machine. After all the changes, i noticed some improvement. But there still was the constant ticking. SO i really investigated and realized that my injectors are loud as hell. Funny thing is they are relatively new with 30k miles on them.

[tim]

Valve chatter is ok. Ticking is a concern, but not the end of the world. Wait for Winfred to post. He's forgotten more about this motor than most will ever know.

[Kalevera]

Bump! Winfred? Anybody? I need more opinions on this...