1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
Just bought this car. Motor was rebuilt by a reputable shop about 10 years ago but hardly used since. I have the receipts.
it sounds smooth and tight when you first start it. after it reaches temp you can start hearing lifter noise. it comes on slowly but gets steadily louder. wondering if this is normalish for these motors? is there a way to hook up an oil pressure gauge? any ideas short of digging into the motor? thx! |
88v8 Ivor Duarte Gloucestershire UK (1041 posts) Registered: 02/11/2010 04:29AM Main British Car: 1974 Land Rover Lightweight V8 |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
Hello and welcome.
A gauge can be attached via an adaptor at the oil switch . Solid lifters? Look in the rocker box, are there adjuster screws on the rocker arms? Ivor |
88v8 Ivor Duarte Gloucestershire UK (1041 posts) Registered: 02/11/2010 04:29AM Main British Car: 1974 Land Rover Lightweight V8 |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
At 2,500rpm around 30-40psi hot.
Idle 10psi upwards. I wonder what oil it has in. I run 20/50 in mine although that's a matter of debate amongst users. A remote oil filter can drop the pressure, also the usual other things. Even a little thing like the oil pump cover gasket being too thick can make the pressure disappear, as I discovered some years ago. Newish engine... I wonder if the cam was broken in properly at startup. Annoying to have issues with your new car. Ivor |
BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6470 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
If the oil pressure is in the normal range my best guess is that lifter preload was set too light.
Jim |
DiDueColpi Fred Key West coast - Canada (1365 posts) Registered: 05/14/2010 03:06AM Main British Car: I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now! |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
Hi Mike, are you certain that its lifter noise?
These engines are prone to several...uhhhm... idiosyncrasies. Is it multiple rapid ticking noises, or a single larger click, is it a harsher noise that comes on under load and disappears on deceleration? etc. Give us your best description and we'll do our best to confuse the issue. Live like you mean it. Fred |
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Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
took some video..
the noise kicks in at 2:20 and comes on slowly. [youtu.be] second video is restarting the car the noise is more evident. also its hard to cranks when warmed so maybe timing is an issue? [youtu.be] last comment is the noise went away for a minute or two and then came back. i'm pretty baffled at this point. looked in the valve covers and there is not oil splashing around but there is a little oil in there. bought a oil pressure gauge and will check that shortly. will T off of the oil pressure switch and see what type pressure its running. |
88v8 Ivor Duarte Gloucestershire UK (1041 posts) Registered: 02/11/2010 04:29AM Main British Car: 1974 Land Rover Lightweight V8 |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
With the rocker boxes off, there should be oil seeping from each joint in the rocker gear. It is possible to assemble it wrong so it leaks too much oil or not enough.
It will be interesting to see what the pressure gauge shows. That restart was not good. An awful lot of cranking. My 215 with Edelbrock 500 (still) not properly set up, restarts in about two turns. If I stop and immediately restart, sometimes the first turn is slow because the compression has not bled down, but that video was spectacularly slow. If it is lifter noise, they're not very loud. Do you have a mechanic's stethoscope, or failing that a long screwdriver, might be able to tie down the source a bit better. Ivor |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
uugh so frustrating ..... is the oil pressure switch somehow connected to the fuel pump? i was able to put a mechanical oil pressure gauge in and the car had 60psi. at fast idle. now the car wont start as its not getting fuel. had to remove the oil pressure switch to put the gauge in. should i have used a T ?
guess the fuel pump wont run if the oil pressure switch is not hooked up???? |
mstemp Mike Stemp Calgary, Canada (223 posts) Registered: 11/25/2009 07:18AM Main British Car: 1980 MGB Rover 4.6L |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
Yes so you don’t kill an engine with no oil pressure! 1980 Rover 3500 SD1 had the same setup. Big brother was watching out for all of us even back then.
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88v8 Ivor Duarte Gloucestershire UK (1041 posts) Registered: 02/11/2010 04:29AM Main British Car: 1974 Land Rover Lightweight V8 |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
As Mike says, that was the standard setup. The oil pressure switch lights the red warning light on the dash, and switches the fuel pump. The engine will run on the fuel in the float chamber(s) until the pressure builds, but in any case a healthy engine will trigger the switch just from cranking.
On my car, the pump feed was bypassed by a PO and I've never put it back. If you have room for a T, that's the way to go. 60psi sounds promising. If you run the engine with the rocker boxes removed, you'll be able to see how much of that is leaking out of the rocker gear, and down onto the cam. Hopefully enough, but not too much. Ivor |
roverman Art Gertz Winchester, CA. (3188 posts) Registered: 04/24/2009 11:02AM Main British Car: 74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
I could be wrong, but standard oil pump and relief spring, 60 psi not too likely, especially warm. Cranking slowly/ intermittent,
too much spark advance, sometimes. Thrust limiter on cam is correct ? Enough lifter preload ? Good Luck, Art. |
bsa_m21 Martin Rothman Vancouver, Canada (216 posts) Registered: 01/06/2009 11:41AM Main British Car: 1980 TR7V8 Rover 3.9L |
Re: 1980 TR8 215 lifter noise after warm up
From what I could hear in the 2nd video, it sounds like tappet clicking to me. My '96 Discovery makes the exact same noise. This could be caused by too little lifter preload, sticking valves, worn cam lobe, crud in the oil passage way, etc. In my Discovery, its a worn cam that I haven't, yet, bothered to replace.
Just my 2- cents. :) M. |