MD22 sewing machine sound

MonniotC said:
Just a thought - if the cam-cover wasn't tightened down properly (i.e. coming a bit loose) that would cause the valve clearances to go wonky by allowing vertical movement of the camshaft. Worth checking that it is bolted down tight?
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I was thinking that. I once considered removing my cam cover to inspect underneath, I has no idea of the implications.
 
A few years ago I removed the head on our Prima 50. As far as I recall there were no particular problems with the camshaft cover. There is no gasket and the seal is provided by a bead of silicone. As it's torqued down there's little or no chance of it "coming loose". I didn't measure the clearances as the engine is quiet running.
 
MonniotC said:
Just a thought - if the cam-cover wasn't tightened down properly (i.e. coming a bit loose) that would cause the valve clearances to go wonky by allowing vertical movement of the camshaft. Worth checking that it is bolted down tight?
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If it was loose then there would be oil spewing everywhere, also the cover is the top half of the bearing that the cam runs in, loose? no!
Stu
 
skipper_stu said:
As explained I used some flat bar and studs to hold the cam down whilst I checked the clearances. I had the advantage of having the head off when I did it. To do it in situ is a challenge, to get the cam holders on you have to take the cam cover off which is what holds the cam in place and so as you undo the bolts the valve springs push the cam out of place. There is a special tool that I think holds the cam sprocket and back of the cam where the water pump drive is, in place. A workaround is to put the cam timing pins in place, slack the cam belt, accept the cam moving and then clamp it back in place with the flat bars. Then check the valve clearances. If they are really out then I would take the head off ....
Stu
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Jesus Christ! That's one engine which I'm steering well clear of. What a horrendous palaver just to check a cam clearance.

No wonder this BL engine design was a cul-de-sac in OHC engineering terms. :)

Richard
 
RichardS said:
Jesus Christ! That's one engine which I'm steering well clear of. What a horrendous palaver just to check a cam clearance.

No wonder this BL engine design was a cul-de-sac in OHC engineering terms. :)

Richard
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It s just not the sort of thing that is done on a routine basis or that the vast majority of users would ever want to do.

As I said earlier its something that would only be done when rebuilding after a major overhaul ... then the procedure would be relatively trivial and I guess properly equipped BL agents would have had the tools available in their workshop.


I thought it was Perkins engine anyway not a BL design !
 
VicS said:
It s just not the sort of thing that is done on a routine basis or that the vast majority of users would ever want to do.
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But it's what I do regularly enough to justify me saying that I'm steering well clear. Others can make their own decision, of course.

I can check my V8 32V in about an hour whenever the fancy takes me so putting up with that Perkins fiasco is a definite non-starter. ;)

Richard
 
RichardS said:
But it's what I do regularly enough to justify me saying that I'm steering well clear. Others can make their own decision, of course.

I can check my V8 32V in about an hour whenever the fancy takes me so putting up with that Perkins fiasco is a definite non-starter. ;)

Richard
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Why are you routinely checking clearances on bucket and shimmed heads ? What engines do you have that requires you to do so ?
 
PaulRainbow said:
Why are you routinely checking clearances on bucket and shimmed heads ? What engines do you have that requires you to do so ?
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They dont require him to do so. He just checks them for " pleasure" when ever he fancies doing so..................

"Nice day today , perfect for a sail maybe but I fancy shutting myself in the engine room and checking the valve clearances, just like I did a couple of weeks ago." :)
 
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PaulRainbow said:
Why are you routinely checking clearances on bucket and shimmed heads ? What engines do you have that requires you to do so ?
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I check everything regularly on my cars (not so much on the boat as it gets a lot less use) but it's a car engine were talking about. I doubt whether I would have managed 40 years/1 million miles of motoring without a single breakdown if I didn't know my motors inside out.

I even take off the wheels to scrub the insides and get the cars up on ramps to thoroughly wash the undersides ..... just so you know what kind of perfectionist you're dealing with. ;)

See http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...n-if-you-don-t-put-water-in-your-car-radiator for current project.

Richard
 
Richard, not everyone is as conscientious as you so to most the Perkins/BMC engine would be perfectly acceptable. If you specifically wanted an engine where you could easily check the tappet clearances even if it was not necessary, something like your V12 would be more suitable.
 
RichardS said:
I check everything regularly on my cars (not so much on the boat as it gets a lot less use) but it's a car engine were talking about. I doubt whether I would have managed 40 years/1 million miles of motoring without a single breakdown if I didn't know my motors inside out.

I even take off the wheels to scrub the insides and get the cars up on ramps to thoroughly wash the undersides ..... just so you know what kind of perfectionist you're dealing with. ;)

See http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...n-if-you-don-t-put-water-in-your-car-radiator for current project.

Richard
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So on the one hand you're happy to check the valve clearances on engines that don't need valve clearances checking, but on the other hand you complain about having to bolt 3 bits of flat steel down to hold the cam in place (on another engine that shouldn't need clearances checking).

Personally, i was really pleased when they developed engines that didn't need the tappets adjusting (along with points, condensers and carb's) and am quite content to leave well alone :)

The only extra job with the Perkins is bolting the cam down, what, 2 minutes ? Apart from that it's as straightforward as anything else. I've certainly worked on more awkward engines. In it's day, it was a good decade ahead of most of the competition in many respects.
 
PaulRainbow said:
So on the one hand you're happy to check the valve clearances on engines that don't need valve clearances checking, but on the other hand you complain about having to bolt 3 bits of flat steel down to hold the cam in place (on another engine that shouldn't need clearances checking).

Personally, i was really pleased when they developed engines that didn't need the tappets adjusting (along with points, condensers and carb's) and am quite content to leave well alone :)

The only extra job with the Perkins is bolting the cam down, what, 2 minutes ? Apart from that it's as straightforward as anything else. I've certainly worked on more awkward engines. In it's day, it was a good decade ahead of most of the competition in many respects.
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+1. And it makes a lovely sound too, my one sounds like a big fishing boat, but she is a CW28, so looks like one too. :-)
 
Yngmar said:
Oh! I've just managed two better recordings with some processing in Audacity. LINK>>The first one<< is from the engine room and you can hear the sewing sound, especially when throttling up. It stops when releasing the throttle until the engine is back down to idle speed.

The LINK >>second recording << is from the cockpit at the companionway (with engine room doors open), where the rest of the engine noise is more muted and the sewing machine sound sticks out more.
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Only just realised you posted links here to the recordings.

To my ears, it sounds about as it should, i'd leave well alone.
 
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PaulRainbow said:
In it's day, it was a good decade ahead of most of the competition in many respects.
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Indeed, it's really surprising that the cam-bearings-in-cam-cover system was not adopted and developed by engineering designers worldwide rather than being an engineering dead end. :)

I can imagine those BL bean counters referred to previously ...... "Not only do we save money by making a once piece casting instead of three bearing caps and a cover but we also make a mint from selling three special tools" ;)

(I think we should just leave it there and agree to disagree Paul .... you can surely see by now what you're up against? :))

Richard
 
MonniotC said:
Just a thought - if the cam-cover wasn't tightened down properly (i.e. coming a bit loose) that would cause the valve clearances to go wonky by allowing vertical movement of the camshaft. Worth checking that it is bolted down tight?
Click to expand...

If the cam cover was coming loose, you'd have oil pissing everywhere.
 
RichardS said:
Indeed, it's really surprising that the cam-bearings-in-cam-cover system was not adopted and developed by engineering designers worldwide rather than being an engineering dead end. :)

I can imagine those BL bean counters referred to previously ...... "Not only do we save money by making a once piece casting instead of three bearing caps and a cover but we also make a mint from selling three special tools" ;)

(I think we should just leave it there and agree to disagree Paul .... you can surely see by now what you're up against? :))

Richard
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.
 
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