noisey engine problems

Ok... I have just fitted a repalcement NA diesel engine cos its all i can insure. Engine appears to be fairly good, however...

When i got it in and started, there was/is a clattering noise. I first thought this was due to the exhuast gasket, which I know is broken cos i broke it. Butm having done 300 miles in it last night, the clattering has now got worse. It is louder, and the engine doesn't misfire at tickover but it slow to pull and doesn't run smoothly under load.

The clatter sounds like its only coming from one cylinder.
At tickover it smokes a bit, either unburt fuel or oil or something like that, not black smoke anyhow.

It hasn't lots much oil, but since before i left for the long drive and a lot of stop start driving today it has lost 6 litres of coolant. This may be a leak but i havn't been able to trace one yet.

Earlier today when the engine was hot, the clattering was accompanied by a sort of squeaking, but this could have been any number of other bits about the car. Any ideas? Im checking the valve clearance and replacing the manifold gasket tomorrow, and looking for coolant leaks. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this noise is? Ta much,
Boydy

sounds like you've got a bad engine, and you've lost next to all of your coolant, so there's numerous different possibilities, neither of which are really good.

It is possible that the head gasket has failed somehow, allowing water into one of the cylinders which would of course then compress the water and bend the con rod, causing loss of power (due to lack of compression on one cylinder) and a horrible noise.

Surely your engine has been overheating with no water, again which could cause piston heads to crack or damage to the main block.

These engines don't really pull well on hills, even mine which ive just refurbed hasn't made too drastic an improvement.

Have a good look to see if you can find the water leak, other wise I'd suggest taking the head off to have a look inside

-Pos

Yeah i thought as much. The con rod isnt bent, as far as i know. I have just replaced the engine as i broke my old one while off road by hydraulic locking it, with a bent con rod and so im fairly sure the new engine isn't. I cant find a leak, but the water has dropped a bit over night so im guessing that its a leak rather than the head gasket (i hope) although this wouldn't be too hard to fix i suppose... I've done them before. The thing that i can't explain at the moment is the horrendous clattering noise - ive never heard anything like it from an engine before. And yes it did start to creep up the temp gauge with no water in it, which is why i switched off half way up a hill and walked to get some more water before i went any further, so im hoping i havn't damaged anything with excess heat. Hmm... Ill let you know when i check the valve clearances, and if not then off with its head i guess!

With regards to the coolant leak. If it's an external pipe leak, there will be some water / puddle or antifreeze residue on the floor. If this isn't the case, and the system is loosing water, I'd check that it isn't filling up one of your cylinders. Water doesn't come out of the exhaust from startup does it?

As for the clatter. If the engine's smoking a lot (like you say), why not check the injection pump. It could be one of two things:

1) Out of timing, usually if an injection pump is badly out of time, it will clatter like hell, but I think that's only when you throttle it.

2) Too much fuel being injected. Simply screw in / or screw out the long bolt on the engine side of the pump to increase or decrease the amount of fuel flow (can't remember which way round it is).

Hope you find the problem!

I have indeed found it, and it is catagorically the head gasket.
To note though, backing off the valve clearance to what it is meant to be did remove most of the clatter.
However... After 20 seconds of running from stone cold the coolant system is pressurised enough to make it spurt out of the expansion tank when released. It smells of combustion in the coolant, it blows water out of the exhuast on startup, there is a water residue in the oil, and it now runs like a 3 legged camel in a sand pit. So yeah... New head gasket time! I just hope that it is just the gasket and not anything more serious, ive alread got one broken block.

well there you go. At least you know what the problem is now but its not the best position to be in really. Put it this way though, when you take the head off have a really good inspection. Find the cylinder that's filling with water and check the con rod. If its bent you're best replacing it whilst you've got the engine in half, all you really need to do is take the sump off. I do remember Reading your post not long ago about the same problem caused by a puddle. Ay dear.

The new gasket won't sit right unless the surface is clean and absolutely flat. You can use a sharp chisel to scrape away the old gasket goo and some White spirit to soften any grime. When re-tightening the head also make sure that you tighten each bolt until it nips working from the centre outwards in a spiral shape. Keep working around tightening them all up in a sequence, not too tight but just bit by bit to prevent the head from warping. Then tighten them to the right torque.NB. Ensure the gasket is the right way around and seat it exactly right. A second pair of hands might be helpful.
Job done!

Good luck!
-pos