Alfa Pages

[RFlower]

There was a ticking noise from the valve gear when I bought the Imola. It sounded no worse than my VW has been occasionally sounding intermittently for years, and boxer engines are bullet-proof, eh?

When I got the car home I flushed the oil at least twice and gave it a fill of Mobil 1. Problem fixed, I thought.

Recently (about 7000 miles later) it got far worse, more towards clanking, so put it into the garage until I had time to take a look.

One lifter is destroyed, nicely concave, with a hole in the centre; its cam has a pointed instead of a flat tip. The lifter and cam next to it are headed the same way, probably got trash from its neighbour. Two others have radial wear marks and scratches on the cams. Four, on opposite sides, are perfect.

My opinion is that the young gentleman who owned the car before me, or his predecessors, just never changed the oil, so it used up whatever ep properties it had. By the time I did so, it was too late.

Next time I'll investigate sooner!

The brown colour is a reflection - not rust!!

So, looking for cams - see Sales and Wants


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Dick Flower, Nr. Carcassonne. '94 Trofeo 1.4 ie (F), '93 Imola 1.3/1.4 ie (now for breaking) (F), '91 1.7 ie (GB)(spare car), '86 Sprint 1.5 QV (F). '87 VW Syncro camper (F), '73 NSU Ro80 (F), '99 Fiat Seicento (F)