Newbie in need!

[Mike_trx]

Hiya guys :thumb: (and girls), just had a mechanic look at my Nova 1.3SR as it was tappin like mad. He reckons ive either got a valve that needs replacing or a piston ring has broken or been put in upside down therefore needing some new bits. Im really just tryin to find out if anyone's had similar problems and how hard is it to get at worst a replacement block an head complete. Ive got twin 40's, a piper fast road cam, vernier pulley and loads of other mods so im a bit gutted if the cars in need of serious surgery :cry: as ive just bought it and I love the little thing. I really want to keep it but if it's going to make me homeless to repair then I guess that's that. Cheers...

P.S it's an 88 Mk1 if that's any help

[Welsh Dan]

garysomething was selling complete 1.3 heads on here a week or two back, I'll root out his forsale thread. :thumb:

http://www.novaload.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73051

[Adam]

Might just been hydraulic tappets dirty/worn.

[SRI crazy]

mayb a tappet has stuck down, does it happen when the car is warm/cold is it there all the time or does it get any better or worse when the car runs a while?

[Geth]

I've had exactly the same problem with my 1.3 (very similar setup as yours) and I still haven't worked out exactly what caused it. I've started an engine rebuild now and narrowed it down to either an extremely worn valve guide or the head gasket blowing between cylinders 1 & 2.

Other things I tried before the rebuild were new followers and lifters as they can sometimes get stuck when they are old and a new exhaust manifold gasket.

[Mike_trx]

Sorry I took so long to reply guys. Basically it's extremely loud on start up until oil is pumped around the engine then it quiets right down to barely hearable. After a run in the car or 10 -15 minutes on idle it gets loud again. I had the cylinders compression tested and Im loosing compression on cylinder 2 and when I remove the HT lead from cylinder 1 the engine still runs which looks like its only firing on cylinders 2,3 and 4. It had a rebuild only 8000 miles ago so it's pretty gut wrenching needing a repair already. I dunno what to do I really need to know exactly what the problem is on a budget along with it's repair. Cheers for the replies guys...

[bigbened]

well thats the noise then if the 1st cylinder isnt working. check the simple things first like the leads plugs etc,

beleave me i know and theres nothing worse than splashing out your cash on something you dont need to do

[Mike_trx]

Hiya, yeah im going to take a trip down to vauxhall for a 2nd opinion ( better safe than sorry right? ) about the noise. It's just had new magnecor competition leads and new plugs although I did find the pin on the rotor arm in the dizzy had a small end missing of it although I was assured it was still making the connections fine. Cheers for the help...I'll post in here thr results incase that's a nother nova down the drain! ;)