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TR2/3/3A Noisy TR3a Engine

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Vince

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My 1961 TR3A has the 2.2 liter engine and had not been started since 1979. I have changed the oil twice and put about 50 miles on it. Overall runs very well, about 50psi oil pressure, 175 psi compression on all four cylinders. But it has two noises that bother me. One is likely a lifter, the other is a higher pitched ticking noice. Please check out this U-Tube video I made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYSdMQpywBc

I have used a stethoscope, even compared my TR3a to a friend's engine while idling, appears to be loudest coming from the distributor. I did run the engine with the front belt disconnected with no change in the noise.

Any ideas?

Vince
 
Have you grabbed hold of the distributor and felt it to see if you can 'feel' the noise?

You might also inspect the inside of the dizzy cap to see if the rotor is striking the cap.

Another area to look at might be the centrifugal weights to see if one of them is swinging free (spring missing or detached). That last check is suggested since the noise disappears at higher RPMs.
 
Geo has some good suggestions there. I'm sure you'll figure this out.

And welcome to the Forum. Good looking 3 you have there!

:cheers:
Mickey
 
Did you try running it without the rocker/valve cover off?

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd
 
I did grab the distributor, the vibration is strongest there. You may have something on the weight/spring idea, I will have to check that out.
 
I have not run it without the valve cover yet.
 
With the lifter noise, could be a bent pushrod or a dry tappet.

Gunk can build up in the hollow rocker shaft and deny oil to the very end tappets.

Viv.
 
I had a similar ticking noise on my TR3 years ago. It turned out to be the "key" in the fan pulley shaft wearing out it's "slot" in the fan pulley housing. Wore the slot to about 1&1/2" so the pulley housing would slap back and forth against the key making a noise very much like a bad lifter. If that's the case it might even make that noise with the fan belt disconnected? Karl
 
Nothing to add to the above, but very nice TR3. Where had that been hiding that it hadn't been started since 1979??

Scott
 
Hi Vince,
Nice looking car! I'm over in Carbondale so we're practically neighbors.
John
Carbondale, IL
1960 TR3A
 
He pulled the fan belt...first post....smart. Eliminated cracked fan, dynamo, water pump and crank pulley.
If it's timing chain tensioner, should be able to, cap off, rotate engine by hand (even in gear and roll it fore and aft) and see how far the crank pulley moves before then rotor begins turning.
 
I like this idea, can check the chain tension (ie slop) from outside the car. I am out of town until 8/24, will check this out when I return.
 
Vince, as we discussed on the phone; I'm fairly certain this is a timing chain problem . You can pull the chain and tensioner without removing the shroud. Be sure to change the timing belt and front engine seal (with the tensioner) while you have it apart. You might also check the TC inside of the cover to be sure it hasn't been gouged (it can be welded if it is).
 
Yes, I agree - I had a broken tensioner last year and this sounds very similar - a rattle noise on idle but when you rev the rattle will go away. My cover was also gouged as PKPoole notes (welcome!), but apparently wasn't leaking enough to be noticeable.

Not sure what trick you use to avoid pulling the front valance - I think you have to move the radiator out of the way to get the fan off, etc - in my mind it would be a lot easier biting the bullet and pulling everything off.
 
Randy,
You may be right about disassembly being easier by removing the shroud, but I think it can be done without doing so. You do have to move the radiator forward, and it is definitely a knuckle scrapper. I think Vince will be happy to just have identified the problem. Thanks. Pat
 
You can do a lot of stuff without removing the apron, but in the end I think it is always less....."work" to just remove the apron (and most of the time the apron end up coming off in the end anyway so the time and sraped knuckes were for nothing). A few years ago I managed to get the steering box out without removing the apron and then removed the apron anyhow.

I am keen to hear what the source of this noise is though as I have a very slight version of it myself.
 
Plan to remove distributor this weekend to confirm that's not the source of the noise. Assuming it's not, then I plan to get into the timing chain. Our local British car show is 9/17, want my car there, so I plan to get into this after the car show. Will trailer it to the show to avoid putting too many miles on it while it's making this weird noise.

So, stay tuned.

Vince
 
I had a tensioner break loose one time and wore a hole in the timing cover! Funny thing was, it was still keeping the chain tight.

Dan B
 
Checked out the distributor, it was making some slight clicking noises due to stickiness in the centrifugal weights linkage. Cleaned up the stickiness with WD40, springs worked fine, re-installed and the larger knocking noise is still there. So now I am convinced it's the timing chain tensioner.

As mentioned before, this will wait until after the local British Car Show.

Meantime, if anyone is interested in pictures and the work of the last year on the car, then check out my blog:

https://61tr3aproject.blogspot.com/...-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

Vince
 
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