Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Timing belt issue 1990 Plus 4 M16

A proper compression tester may be a good investment to verify valve damage. Plenty available on ebay for less than £15.

This would be a tough one to call without having the motor in front of you .... cam belt hasn't parted and still seems to have some tooth presence even at the tear ... we presume the bolt has got between the belt and the toothed pulleys ... if so, as it went over the top it would have 'adjusted' the cam timing ... possibly enough to cause contact ... as Deejay says, a compression tester is cheap and will be more reliable than sticking your thumb over the plug hole ... looks like the pulleys need checking for damage. Dropping a new belt on and cranking it over will tell you if you really do have lower compression on a couple of cylinders ... if so, enough valve damage to prevent proper seating is probably a likely candidate ... good luck and keep us informed as to how you get on

K

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Last time I did a cambelt on one of these I found a mystery bolt exactly where you found yours.

For the life of me, I could not find where it had come from and it looked as though it has not been screwed into anything!!

As well as a head set, you will also need the cam locking tool and a holder to secure the bottom pulley.

It was a 90 minute job when I did it last.

Arwyn

Arwyn - could that be a bolt from the water pump? Question on your bottom pulley - what did you use to hold it? i've got the cam lock and crank stop rod. Want to be sure I have all the right bits.

Again, thanks for the feedback.
Have acquired a budget compression tester from the Auto shop and watched the YouTube video from Rover.
(From what I can make out, the 6mm deflection of the belt is horizontally at the top; the 19mm Haynes mentions is on the vertical halfway between the exhaust camshaft and crankshaft sprockets ...)

Anyway, for the next step I've decided I'll try and get the sprockets lined up in the correct positions, put on the replacement belt, tension it up temporarily and then check compression before pulling off cam covers or head and investigating further.
Like I said earlier, I can find the timing notch on the crankshaft pulley but can't seem to find an adjacent mark on the engine proper to align it with? Am I missing something here? Maybe inserting the dowel rod to lock the crankshaft sets it at the correct spot??
Bourbonmog, you mention you have got a cam lock tool. Would it be possible to get the exact dimensions of it so I could maybe dummy something up out of scrap metal that would do the trick?
Thanks.
Col.

I've got a universal pulley locking tool

Arwyn

I actually googled the Rover M16 cam lock tool. OEM was way too much. Bought a complete kit like this
https://www.amazon.com/vidaXL-Engine-Universal-Timing-Locking/dp/B078TM4F8Z
to cover all avenues. It worked out to be about 20 pounds with free shipping.

I've seen some videos where they make their own (porsche, etc) but for 20, why not be able to do several different engines. We'll see if it works.

Update on the mishap with the timing belt and loose bolt......
The small bolt that came out and rode around the crank sprocket is actually one of 3 that holds the back top half of the plastic timing belt cover to the motor.
Damages .... the timing belt jumped several teeth on the cam sprockets so bent all the valves with no compression in any cylinder.
Anyway, with the kind assistance of another local Morgan owner we removed the head and dismantled the cams. Sourced a new timing belt here in Oz and new set of valves and complete head gasket kit from FW Thorntons in UK.
A local engine rebuilder set the new valves in last week and yesterday finally got it all back together. Started first up, so let it run at a fast idle to warm up a bit then a drive for about a mile and a half and all seems to be going well. Coming back to home, just about to put it back in the shed and the engine just died ???
Tried to restart, it gave a couple of half hearted coughs then just winds over with no attempt at firing.

Any suggestions ?
I have checked the timing belt hasn't moved, removed one of the spark plugs and appears to be spark (from what I can see at a distance in daylight!!), compression OK in the cylinder I tried, fuel pump is clicking away like it normally does when ignition turned on and I could smell fuel when the spark plug was out, checked all the wires I'd undone have been plugged back in, checked fuses. (We didn't remove any of the attachments on the inlet manifold when dismantling as we were able to undo the manifold bolts and pull it to the side enough to get the head out.}
Thinking maybe a sensor of some sort could be the culprit?

Not sure how to go about tracking it down if it's electronic?
Col.
ps: Have used Loctite on the threads of the bolts holding the timing belt plastic cover housing in place so hopefully won't happen again!! I'd recommend anyone with a M16 Rover motor to take the front timing belt housing cover off and just double check those bolts in the back cover to make sure none are coming loose - -- a costly exercise otherwise ...

This is a very informative post. As the owner of an M16 the most important info to me is the existence of F W Thornton. When I recently had the Campbelt ,water pump and idler changed I had a job to locate a cambelt and parts. The motor factor would insist on sending parts for a T16.

here's the parts list. all fit like a glove and ops checked good on my M16.



I also made a cheap deflection measuring tool from card board. 6mm max per the 1993 tech video



I used the Gates Krikit merely to ensure I was applying the same pressure and not as an actual tension gauge. It does fit into the back cover slot at the top of the cam belt so it did the job I was looking to use it for.

I was told that if it doesn't start and you have spark, check the fuel pump relays and the cam sensor.