1.8 clipper died on motorway :( :( :(

Hi guys,


just wanted a couple of peoples opinion before i carry out surgery on my original clipper engine.

 I was on the M4 earlier on this week, when all of a sudden i lost all power and had to head into the hard shoulder on the severn bridge of all places!! twas a sad day!

i tried to turn her over once we got to the hard shoulder, she started, so no engine seizure… phew!! she was just running extremely rough, possibly on three cylinders.

a knock has also appeared, ive done my doctor bit with a stethoscope and the knock is coming from the top of the engine as opposed to the bottam…

needless to say i am completely gutted, i've done a lot of work to get her running correctly, and then when you think every problem has finally been sorted…bang!!

was just wondering if anyone had any ideas of what i should look into after i have removed the head from the engine. lifters? Piston rings? valves? has anyone had this happen to them?

any advice would be much appreciated, just wanna get my baby back on the road!!

cheers guys,

chris

no one been through a similar ordeal then?

i can go into more specifics, i just wanted to have a natter with someone who had been through the same sort of work? i still havent had time to take the head off the engine yet, but from talking to people, lifters and snapped valves are the general consensus.

Anybody know of a place to pick up parts for the inner engine for cheap?

Come on guys, can anyone help out with some advice?

T :?

hey mate.

i've had similar problems in the past with my 1.8 carb (loss of power, running rough (no knocking though?).
on one occsion mine turned out to be a blocked carb from crap in the tank. i ended up having a new tank on!

on another occasion it was poor sparkage, and some new 8mm HT leads sorted it.

then last night she was running fine (low on fuel   ) to the petrol station, then on the way home she lost loads of power, couldn't get out of third without stalling, she cut out but would start again, though running really rough.
i managed to limp home in third, though she wouldn't get much over 3000rpm.

i'm guessing mine is a blocked carb again, due to running low in the petrol tank. just go the carb off, its well mucky. i've got a weber 34/36 to fit, so we'll see how that goes this afternoon.

good luck.

ash x

im not very good on the technical words, but check all fuel thingys

Carb flange fuel filter, clean out fuel tank fuel check filler neck, mine was doing this was from fuel starvation, had all the above replaced & runs sweet as a nut now mate

Are you comitted to removing the head? Worth a sniff test on the coolant tank before, perhaps? Depends if you have a friendly garage nearby I guess.

If you don't have a nearby garage which is friendly, then I guess you're on your own and a compression test is probably the best DIY test for a HGF (head gasket failure).

Before commiting to removing the head look at the valvetrain as it comes off. Anything cracked on it? etc. mind you having said that, there's not a lot to check on the VW motor here.

If the compression is indeed low on an outer, or adjacent pair of cylinders, then by all means remove the head. You're looking for darker areas between the cylinders on the head gasket, signs of 'blowing' from the cylinder outwards, etc to start with. Then get the head chemically cleaned and inspect all areas around, for cracks, especially the areas between the cylinders.

If you remove the cylinder head, then you can also look into the engine and inspect the bores. If they look honed and the pistons go up and down smoothly, then all good. If there's scratches or other signs of imperfection, then suspect the worst. If the pistons visibly wobble (unlikely you'll be able to make them though, even if rings are gone) then obviously you're into full engine rebuild or replace territory.

thanks for the replies guys,

fuel system was all good, ive done the filler neck, cleaned tank, cleaned carb throughout, cleaned all fuel lines and changed fuel filter. this was a previous issue that i had, but had completely sorted it.

I'm definitely into removing the head area, i think the knock is coming from cylinder 2, and it sounds as if this cylinder has lost compression.

would it be worth a top engine rebuild, if it were to be ring that had gone or would people generally say an engine drop out the best solution? needless to say, i know this is going to be an epic journey, but im definitely up for it.

Does anyone know of a reliable, cheap head inspection service?
when iv started the work, i will start posting some pictures, as i can appreciate it being difficult trying to visualize what has happened without seeing/hearing it.

i will ressurrect my baby!!!!

 :wink:

My 16v cut out and developed a loud knock/tap and compression was down in one cylinders had the head of valves are ok. Turns out big end gone piston developed extra travel and was hitting the head (you can see the mark). Get someone with some experience to check it, i couldnt work it out it was a local engine specialist that my mum knows that found it out for me.

I'm not to downbeat though, gonna rebuild the engine myself and learn. Good luck dude.

hi,

have you checked my post "clipper problems sorted" 27 august - might help as i thought my problems were more serious.

cheers

Docc

should start repairs when gasket set comes through next week, will post some pictures of what i find, wish me luck!