Fitted some 1.4 Cam But Have Problems, Please Help!

Hi,

I fitted a 1.4 inlet camshaft into my 1.0 today. On first start up, everything was fine, engine sounded a bit more clunkier but the car drove fine for about 30 min, could tell quite easily there was a power difference so I was happy.
BUT the car is very shaky on idle. And then when I started the car again 2 hours later, it was really struggling to start. Upon starting, within 2 min, the engine light came on.

As it currently stands, it struggles to start roughly 40% of the time and the engine light is still on.

Can someone please please advise on what could be causing it?
 
I understand its an open question as there could be many things causing the engine light to come on, but maybe someone has gone through this themselves after they changed their camshafts??
 

frank

Club Member
1 tooth out maybe ? there are some pics on here somewhere of the correct position of the lobes (a search on lobes, username frank should bring a few threads up)
 
1 tooth out maybe ? there are some pics on here somewhere of the correct position of the lobes (a search on lobes, username frank should bring a few threads up)

Hi,

Yes a few threads came up. Ill have a look at the lobe positions on cylinder 2 and 3 at TDC tomorrow and hopefully that'll clear things up.

Thanks for your help again.
 
Hi,

I have attached a few photos of what it looks like at TDC. Can you please check it?

It looks okay to me? Theres 5 linkages between the two sprockets and the lobes line up like the photos. Is there something I am overlooking?

Also, I did four 5 mile journeys today, and the engine cut out on me once.

This might be a bit off topic but when looking at the spark plugs, 3 of them looked pretty good but the one on cylinder 3 is covered in black thick soot, the inner walls of the spark plug hole are also the same. What would cause only one spark plug to be like this? Is this what could be causing the rough idle? Although the rough idle only started to happen after I changed the cams.

Really appreciate any help.
 

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Last edited:
I sorted it out today - was one tooth out!

It starts up like normal now, smooth idle as well, and the engine hasn't cut out on me at all.

However, engine light is still on. Going to disconnect battery tomorrow to reset the ECU and hopefully that'll make the light go off.

Appreciate your help.
 
I sorted it out today - was one tooth out!

It starts up like normal now, smooth idle as well, and the engine hasn't cut out on me at all.

However, engine light is still on. Going to disconnect battery tomorrow to reset the ECU and hopefully that'll make the light go off.

Appreciate your help.
You can get a WiFi OBD2 connector for like £10 and a free app to clear engine warning codes. Mine never detects what the code is but it always clears it.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Micra Sports Club mobile app
 
Hi people.

Its been a nearly two weeks with the 1.4 inlet cam. Power gains from 3000-5000rpm are excellent but there's quite a bit more lag at 0-3000rpm especially in gear 2, but can be felt a little in gear 3 as well.
Normally I could pull out of junctions in gear 2 (if I didn't need to come to a standstill) but now this is becoming really difficult, the car really doesn't want to go at low revs in gear 2 and takes AGES to accelerate to around 3000rpm and then it just flies.

Any idea what is causing it? (are the little dots on the sprockets supposed to line up with the female links or the male links on the chain? no idea if this would even make a difference as mine are currently lined up with the male links)

Have I introduced some slack into the chain or something I really don't know??? The chain doesn't look fully tensioned between the two sprockets but it did look fully tensioned before I started any work.

I am a beginner so any help is appreciated.

IMG-4324-min.jpg

IMG-4326-min.JPG
 

frank

Club Member
i usually roll down a hill in low gear as a basic compression test, so that each cyl takes a few secs to turn.
and did you remove the tensioner ? and then preload and release the ratchet inside it ?
 
i usually roll down a hill in low gear as a basic compression test, so that each cyl takes a few secs to turn.
and did you remove the tensioner ? and then preload and release the ratchet inside it ?


Sorry I don’t understand the rolling down a hill thing as a compression test? Can you explain plz?

And no I didn’t remove the tensioner and preload the ratchet. Was I supposed to? I only worked with the sprocket at the top, simply clicking the old camshaft out and clicking the new one in place.
 
Just looked online and I think I understand your basic compression test now.

So I should put the car in gear 1 while car is off, and release the handbrake and see if it rolls down the hill to see if the compression in the cylinders is strong enough to hold the car?

Should the compression be strong enough or am I expecting it to take a few seconds before it starts rolling like you say?
 

frank

Club Member
if it went chug,,,,,,,,,,chug,,,,,,,,,,,,,,chugchug it would indicate 1 low compression for instance, it takes a bit of practice :)
and missed your tensioner reply tbh, the top tensioner is hydraulic and mechanical, so its best to remove it when changing a cam and then click the internal rachet fully in, then fit it back and shove the inner part in hard for the ratchet to reset, and then you should have no slack in the chain
 
if it went chug,,,,,,,,,,chug,,,,,,,,,,,,,,chugchug it would indicate 1 low compression for instance, it takes a bit of practice :)
and missed your tensioner reply tbh, the top tensioner is hydraulic and mechanical, so its best to remove it when changing a cam and then click the internal rachet fully in, then fit it back and shove the inner part in hard for the ratchet to reset, and then you should have no slack in the chain

Ah okay I seeee. I'll open it up in a few days and do the work on the tensioner to remove the slack then.

And as for the 1 low compression, will that just be due to engine wear?

Thanks for the help.
 
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