Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Strange Engine noise after starting - 1980's + 8

Since Friday makes my + 8 a strange clicking after starting. After 2 minutes, it disappears.
Does anyone have an idea what could be the cause?

I have made a short Video:

Video

That doesn't sound good. Hard to tell from a video but it almost sounds like one of the cylinders isn't firing. Is it electronic ignition on your car?

sounds like a misfire to me also. Personally I'd replace the plugs and see if that helps. Could even be a wet plug, which then drys and heats up after two mins.

I cant get the video to run on my phone, but if it clears after 2 mins it could be a hydraulic tappet.

It does sound tappet like to me.

+1

Sounds like a tappet to Me also. But if it goes away after a bit I wonder if it is serious. I do know of a '85 +8 with Propane that had a noise like this but it did not go away. Turns out the engine was knackered and had to be replaced. Not sure of the total story of this but might be able to find out if needed.

Button
Seattle

Sounds tappety to me, too. Silly question: how's the oil level? Low oil pressure in the upper reaches of the motor when cold could be as simple as low oil volume in the sump.

Obviously, you'd then need to work out the reason for low oil level, but that'd be my first point of investigation (if you haven't already, of course).

Firstly is this a start up after a long period of non-use? That allows the oil to drain down from the top of the cylinders into the sump, and hence it does take some time to build up pressure and fill the hydraulic tappets. Some of the early Rover V8s required priming the oil pump after a rebuild, but I think your car would be after these (assuming the engine is original)

Also the grade of oil can affect how quickly the tappets fill up.

If I am not mistaken you engine will be one of the low pressure/high volume Rover V8s which require lots of flow but relatively little pressure, so again it may take a little longer for oil to reach the tappets.

However none of the above explains why it has just started happening. It is possible that a tappet (or a cam lobe) has worn badly and this is now starting show. Do you know the history of the car , has it been regularly serviced , is the oil clean and does the filter look new?

The noise does sound very loud for a tappet, so I would check that there is nothing else wrong.

As MOG 615 has said, the hydraulic tappets or cam followers are known to take a while to fill with oil on startup. The longer between startups the more they rattle. All hydraulic tappets do this. Sometimes a change of engine oil can help.

David