SOLVED: Yet another 1.7 "clattering" investigation NOW WITH VIDEO, What to look for? Options

[jrmdir]

Hello:

I'm still trying to sort numerous suspect items related to idle, mixture and hesitation in this recently acquired car but the "valve?" noise is driving me crazy while I work on various adjustments.

I've adjusted the valves at least three times and believe there is no excess clearance but it seems to have gotten louder recently so I'm going back under to check things out - and this time plan to take the rocker arms off to check for new looseness or anything weird that would throw the feeler gauge measurement off.

I've read about possible valve seat detachment - is there a way to check for this short of removing the heads?

Anything else I should look for? What are the chances of rod knock instead of valvetrain?

Notes: Mileage unknown. Car sat for 3+ years and of course the seller claimed "ran well when parked" LOL! Compression is good when warmed up, not so good in #1 and #3 when cold. No blue smoke. Hard to tell but the loudest noise seems to be #2 but that's just a guess.

Thanks!

Ron

[jrmdir]

Update.....

First, thanks for the suggestion JFG, I wish that was it but my car has no HEs and the noise is definitely rev related and sounds just like valves or something worse like piston slap.

So, I did some more investigating and decided that before I take things apart I'm going to do another - hopefully more precise - adjustment. Got half way through it today and did find some extra clearance but no smoking guns so far. I'm thinking of getting a new feeler gauge for reference and also perhaps temporarily setting them all too tight just to see if things quiet down so I can rule out more serious sources.

Oh, 914werke - thanks a lot for the "tip" about the pushrod tips. As seen in the first photo I believe that is the aluminum tipped OE version you were talking about? So no hydraulic lifter mystery to solve!

The only thing I noticed that didn't look right is that on 1 and 2 intake valves, the adjusting screw is off center from the valve stem. See photo 2. I can push the rockers to the left to line them up so it seems as if another aluminum spacer like those seen in Photo 3 would do the trick if added to the right of the rocker. If in fact that's worth correcting.

Thanks again. More updates to follow.

Ron