Compression lost, nasty noises..

[Gavin A]

Hello,

I bought ABY S2 which had been standing in a gararge since 2009.
It did not run and was taken off the road as it would not start, but was in daily use before this..

With a new fuel pump and cam sensor bridge/flash i got it running.

It sounded like a bag of bolts, the lifters making a raket and possibly more, was difficult to tell.

It sounded rough and i was going to let it idle for a bit but switched it off as it was quite late, i have now gone to restart it and when turning over it sounds like its lost compression on 1 or 2 cylinders. Timeing belt is lined up and tight, chain is fine also..
Could it just be the lifters? or the crank pulley slipped
This thing is starting to look like a breaker .. head off next i guess

[Gavin A]

Was turning over with nice compression before i ran the engine for 3 mins..
I dont see how anything could have hit when the belt/ chain os ok.

Do they "drop" valves?

[rynaqui]

Does it sound something like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvnoSD5QW94

Sorry to hear that but don't give up hope!

Check your plugs as well, they could have been there a while.

[Pirvu Eugen]

I think is just the plugs....clean them...
Is possible that the engine tryes to start with only 1 or 2 cilinders amd gives you that sensation that is turning faster at some point.

[rynaqui]

I think is just the plugs....clean them...
Is possible that the engine tryes to start with only 1 or 2 cilinders amd gives you that sensation that is turning faster at some point.

This

[montez]

have you done compression test to verify that it is lost?

[Gavin A]

I thought that, but it does it without the coil packs

[Gavin A]

Had to leave it and go to work, can you guess what im thinking about all day?

[rynaqui]

Hope you get her sorted soon but do make sure to check all the wiring, coil packs, spark plugs etc

[Gavin A]

Il tell you what i think, while it sat in the gararge for 3 yrs, the valve stem on 1 or 2 valves went a bit rusty, causing the valve to return slowly.
Ok when i turned it over, but when the engine did 3000 rpm it was enough for the piston to slap the valve/ valves.
This is the noise i heard when it was running i think, valve touching piston noise..

[Monkeymagic]

Run a compression test and take the guess work out. If the lifters had drained thye would be noisy until oil filled and pressurised.
Pull all 5 plugs and sping it over on starter to get oil into head.
then run a comp test. Very unlikeky a valve would stick, unless there was an existing problem and previous owner omitted to mention!

You may be panicking uneccesarily.
Also if cam cover off get some one to turn it over by crank by hand and watch the cam followers. If one is stuck open it will be apparent...

Personally I think you may be fine, although without seeing/hearing it difficult to say.

[Acidburn]

generally you'd have to do a lot to kill one of these, they are good strong engines. Where abouts are you? maybe someone's local that can give you a hand.

Have you tried getting the fault codes from the ecu?

[Monkeymagic]

If you are local ill quite happily help out.

[andyg plym]

Which car is it ? Coupe or avant year etc someone may recognise it I used to own an L plate aby red coupe that's vanished off the face of the earth

Maybe someone knows history

[Gavin A]

I agree, not enough info. Its a black avant on an N reg. I am a mechainc, and i know the comp has gone on at least 1 cyl, i have not had time yet to do a comp test to see which ones.
Yeh the lifters were noisy as expected but im sure i could hear more than that. The seller wasnt the type to lie, and everything else he told me was true to the date.

The point of the post was to see if this had happend to anyone else, if so what happend - as it could save me some time.
The engines are strong but the valves can still rust if left for long enough, though last time it happend to me it was on an old alvis.

Thanks for the help and advice guys, as monkey magic says - could be nothing.

Next is comp test, check lifter levels, then either run it up again or remove the head to see whats going on, maybe the gasket has gone...