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From the research I've been doing it seems to all be pointing to that kind of direction. I think it's either gonna be the cam belt, tensioner or the water pump.. lucky as we're gonna change those bits anyway!

Silver Surfer wrote:I think it's either gonna be the cam belt, tensioner or the water pump.. lucky as we're gonna change those bits anyway!

Very quickly my friend, very quickly

It's not being used at all, so even if it's in the next couple of weeks it's not there's no chance of any kind of damage being caused (famous last words!)

Silver Surfer wrote:It's not being used at all, so even if it's in the next couple of weeks it's not there's no chance of any kind of damage being caused (famous last words!)

That's exactly when belts snap, what with being cold n'all...

got lots more time off over crimbo and my car is on hold for a while so gonna crack on with the cambelt anyway on your moto

Wouldnt it be more of a common sence to replace the Cambelt, cambelt tensioner and water pump before the engine went it? its something that is naturally done when doing an engine conversion and re-build!! this way its easier, also a new clutch on the gearbox, saving the hassel that when you drive possiblely 2-3 months down the line the old clutch may be loose ready to rumble.......

Its something ive always done when rebuild or engine conversion have been carried out..

Seems like this saga with the car is running thru till next summer. do it once and once for all. ie. no f-----g about!!


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Good advice Jimmi - We rebuilt mine when it was out of the car and it is so much easier. When its inside the car you will be putting things together only to take them apart again.

the other thing though is think, if i replaced the cam belt and for some reason it didnt start, its always one thing that could of gone wrong, better to always get a second hand engine in get it running and then change belt. fair enough if doing a straight engine swap like for like. my thought always is if it aint broke then dont fix it. why spend hundreds fixing sumin that aint broke yet.

I'm wondering why the cambelt tensioner or water pump should suddenly starting making a racket just because you've swapped it over?

Did you drop it accidentally or bang the front against anything?

Did noise start as soon as engine fired up?

The fact that the noise only happens at a specific point in the rev band suggests it's caused by vibration so I'd be more inclined to think that something is loose?

i have had a good feel around the engine bay and cant find anything loose. and as we gotta change cambelt anyway really then i might aswell take all off and have a proper look around, it definatly sounds like its coming from the front of the engine so i will find it somewhere

It's almost sounds like a nut is loose or something, but one of those annoying ones where you'll never really know until you take everything apart, at which point we may as well change the belt, tensioner and pump as was originally planned anyway.

Gonna order the water pump today, BMW sell it for £75 plus vat! GSF for about £36, euro carparts have one for £20 (Circoli) and one for £36 (KWP), anyone know the difference between these brands?

Just got off the phone to Ben (Duracel), he has an interesting theory. He reckons it could be the broken gear box clip that could be causing the noise. Makes sense as the engine had no noises or problems before when it was with the e30 gear box, now that the e21 gear box has gone in (with a couple of broken bits) and is bolted to the block it could be the vibration from the broken clip travelling towards the front of the engine somehow..

One way of checking it could to push down the gear lever and then take the engine to about 2-3,000 rpm to see if it still vibrates, if it doesn't we know what it is, if it does, back to plan A. Also, as Ben suggested, just hold the gear stick take it to 2,3,000rpm and see if the vibration can be felt through the stick.

Personally, I'd go along with that although trying to identify a noise without hearing it is like trying to describe the colour blue to a blind man.

It just seems unlikely, not to mention unlucky, should either the tensioner or pump have failed at that exact point in time. Not impossible though I guess?

I bought the £36 GSF pump by the way, and it was fine.

austin25uk wrote:the other thing though is think, if i replaced the cam belt and for some reason it didnt start, its always one thing that could of gone wrong, better to always get a second hand engine in get it running and then change belt. fair enough if doing a straight engine swap like for like. my thought always is if it aint broke then dont fix it. why spend hundreds fixing sumin that aint broke yet.

If someones confident to rebuild an engine and to do a swap then im sure its not difficult to change the belt.. its true to say ifit aint broke dont fix it, but when the timing belt breaks then whos fixing that, the whole head will have to come off it if valves get bent .. the timing belt is like women, unpredictable !!!.. tensioner needs to be changed to cos it runs on bearings and if it falls apart then the belt loosens, jumps teeth and SSSSNNNNAAAAPPPP .. also when there on the way out it wines loudly..... ive been thgere seen it all and its something to be avoided unless you all enjoy spending money 1 thing after anither... BUT the cars runs perfectly and job well done.. everyones happy..

Also the rattling noise, take the cam cover off, and look under the cam cover, there is a long plate/shield which is held by rivets, i bet its that that loosen and the rockers are hitting it, thus the faster you got more mettalic sound you will get, i had that last year in my engine.
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Thanks for the advice guys, when Tommi's back we'll get on the case and I'm sure it'll all be singing sweetly again.. hopefully!

Getting the water pump from GSF in kingston tomorrow at some point.