Petrol sounds like a diesel

Hi again guys, has anyone any theories about why a petrol 2.25 4CYL engine would sound like a diesel? We've had its apart a couple of times & only just (with the help of the guys on here) managed to get it started again but she STILL sounds like a diesel which is the reason we took the engine apart in the first place. Any suggestions much appreciated thanks x

what nocking? top or bottom kinda area?

Crack in the exhaust manifold? Blowing gasket between inlet and exhaust manifolds or manifold and block or manifold and pipe? Ignition timing cog slipped a tooth? Valve timing slipped? Chain tensioner idler wheel worn? Hole in piston? Bent and/or sticking valve stem? You've filled it with diesel? How far down have you stripped it?

Hi 90,not sure if its top or bottom just sounds like a diesel...very loud.
Hi again Oxides, we've stripped it right down & rebuilt it all back up with a new camshaft as the original had sheared at the key. Also all new gaskets,new distributor,drive dog & coupling. Changed the oil & coolant. The timing is for some reason 180 degrees out which is the way it was when we bought it so obviously we've had to put it back the same way. Just been informed after starting it up that it sounds like the cam shaft.timing,wheel etc may have gone again? originally what was happening was that the distributor drive dog pins snapped off twice then the pin snapped so we bought replacements twice. We are just at a loss? x

how does it run? does it rock about on the mountings?

Hi 90... no, it doesnt! x

sounds like exhaust noise, but could easily be anything from crank main / bearings up tis hard to say as i cant hear it,

Hi,its not the exhaust or the crank bearings. When we first put the new camshaft on & started it up it didnt sound too bad but once we'd re-torqued the cylinder head & checked the gaps it reverted back to sounding like a diesel again? The sound is like heavy tapping if that helps? sorry i know its hard not being able to hear it yrself but i do appreciate the suggestions x

can you record the sound it makes and post it up here ?

what caused you to rip it apart ?

Hi Sean.. sorry but i wouldnt have a clue how to post the sound on here lol & the original reason we took it apart was the engine sounding like a diesel! at first we thought it might be something to do with the distributor as,like i already said, the pins on the end of the drive dog snapped clean off then the roll pin snapped so obviously there was something causing that to happen as according to the previous owner it had happened when he had it but he told us it had been fixed.

timing, tappets?

ChristineR said:

Hi Sean.. sorry but i wouldnt have a clue how to post the sound on here lol & the original reason we took it apart was the engine sounding like a diesel! at first we thought it might be something to do with the distributor as,like i already said, the pins on the end of the drive dog snapped clean off then the roll pin snapped so obviously there was something causing that to happen as according to the previous owner it had happened when he had it but he told us it had been fixed.

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when you say you've stripped it down and built it back up again, was it a total strip ? - did you do things like test the crank bearing faces for ovality/regrind if required, replace all bearings or just the easy ones - or was a just a strip down quick eyeball then bolt back together job and hope the few parts you changed have sorted the problem ?

there does come a time with elderly engines when it's better to look out for a cheap working replacement rather than spending often, 100s of hours rebuilding, unless ......

yer not wrong about the 100's of hours sean sounds bottom end to me, ?

90truckcab said:

yer not wrong about the 100's of hours sean sounds bottom end to me, ?

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could be anything, next to impossible to diagnose over the net eh

Sean said:

could be anything, next to impossible to diagnose over the net eh

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er yeah,
spose it cant be any worse than that 10 mm socket i found in an engine once il try and find the pic

Well i think yr both right,but as well as those hundreds of hrs its also been almost that in £'s too so in my opinion the time has definitely come to admit defeat & do what i suggested to the others in the first place & take it to someone who knows exactly what they're doing. So thanks to all of you who've come up with suggestions & as soon as she's running like she should be i'll post some pics up of her as she's in the middle of a repaint at the min after having taken off 36yrs worth of multi coloured paint layers lol cheers x

90truckcab said:

er yeah,
spose it cant be any worse than that 10 mm socket i found in an engine once il try and find the pic

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me dad found a very expensive gold ring in a sump years ago - think they went to the states for a fortnight on it

ChristineR said:

Well i think yr both right,but as well as those hundreds of hrs its also been almost that in £'s too so in my opinion the time has definitely come to admit defeat & do what i suggested to the others in the first place & take it to someone who knows exactly what they're doing. So thanks to all of you who've come up with suggestions & as soon as she's running like she should be i'll post some pics up of her as she's in the middle of a repaint at the min after having taken off 36yrs worth of multi coloured paint layers lol cheers x

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have you got a phone you could record the sound on and send it to some here who could post it online for all to hear ?

well i could take a video on my phone if someone could tell me how to post it on here? you have to bear with me on this... im a blonde whos definitely dumb when it comes to computers lol x

ChristineR said:

well i could take a video on my phone if someone could tell me how to post it on here? you have to bear with me on this... im a blonde whos definitely dumb when it comes to computers lol x

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sod videos of the engine then .....