Worn/Burned-out Valve Question

porkpie700

Buy & Sell Member
Hey dudes, just did all the valve clearances on the super s today. Each one is spot on and they're all evenly accurate. But the noisy tick tick noise (which up untill now i had thought to be a noisey tappet) is still there when the engine warms up. From a complete cold start the noise will come along just 1 min after starting.
It just sounds exactly like the trademark k10 noisey tappet sound, it's just that it isn't being made by the tappets.

Now i have never come across an engine with either a worn or a burned-out valve so i don't know what that would sound like if it was the case. So if anybody out there has had a worn, sticking or burned-out valve; what kinda sound does it make?

As i mention in my SS thread the valve timing was discovered to be out (i.e. the cam wasn't lined up right by whoever fitted the last timing belt), and i was told that it's possible to burn-out the valves by running an engine like that. So naturally after years of watching columbo, i'm just a little bit suspicious.

Any info from anyone who has experianced a similar kinda thing to this, or as i say with bad valves, would be appreciated.
Cheers dudes (Y)
 

frank

Club Member
a burnt valve wont make any noise tho eh porkpie, it,ll just make it run on 3 at idle.
try a smaller tappet clearance, the tappets tend to wear a groove that is hard to gauge accurately with feelers.
and if that makes no difference, then maybe little end or piston slap ?
 
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porkpie700

porkpie700

Buy & Sell Member
Do you reckon a compression test might throw up some clues? I've done the valve clearance before on this engine, but since the valve timing was out at the time (which i didn't know), i've done them again because the timing is now perfect, and so are the clearances.
I've inspected the conditon of the tappets, rocker arms, cam, all bolt heads and the oil pump drive gears (which i always do out of habit every time i take the rocker cover off an engine) and it's all mint, clean, smooth, no sooty black deposits. Everything's a nice clean goldy colour, no petrol smell or gunk.
That's why i don't understand it :confused:
 

gtsnissanb

Official MSC Trader
I know I'm probably teaching you how to suck eggs here but it's not the vac controller?

I should probably read the full post

Too thin oil??
 
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porkpie700

porkpie700

Buy & Sell Member
15/40w castrol gtx, it's all i've ever used in all my micras except for magnatec before they discontinued it. The vac lines are all new too, i completly replaced the whole system just last week. It's comming from the head over cylinder number 4, i've been listening with the old screwdriver to the ear trick.
The exhaust is only pumping out water no smoke at all, just water from as soon as you turn the key. So the mixture must be spot on, there's no popping or backfiring and the engine runs at a constant stable idle, no bobbling or pulsing. The only thing i can think of is a worn valve slapping against it's seat.
 

gtsnissanb

Official MSC Trader
15/40w castrol gtx, it's all i've ever used in all my micras except for magnatec before they discontinued it. The vac lines are all new too, i completly replaced the whole system just last week. It's comming from the head over cylinder number 4, i've been listening with the old screwdriver to the ear trick.
The exhaust is only pumping out water no smoke at all, just water from as soon as you turn the key. So the mixture must be spot on, there's no popping or backfiring and the engine runs at a constant stable idle, no bobbling or pulsing. The only thing i can think of is a worn valve slapping against it's seat.

Hmm, don't know what to suggest as stripping the heads a bit extreme for a ticking noise unless it's causing real problems?
You said the timing had been out, you sure there's no damage? Can you get hold of a bore scope to check the piston tops??
 
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porkpie700

porkpie700

Buy & Sell Member
I think i'll compression test it before i do anything else with it, if the results are not good then it'll need stripping down anyway. I'll be changing the water pump anywho so if the head needs to come off i can change the pump at the same time. I'll tell you what, super s engines are a lot more fussy than the old carb motors lol.
 
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