33 valve clearance adjustment and handling

[Keith Walker <100662.3423@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jonathon

=46rom your description it seems to me that your car has the =

later hydraulic tappet engines. Only the very early 1.7's had
bucket and shim heads as far as I know, and my old '88 1.7
Sportwagon had hydraulic tappet.

The hydraulic tappets cannot be adjusted normally. If they are
rattling then you need to clean them out. You may get away
with flushing the engine through a few times using something
such as the engine flushing solutions sold by Halfords, but
otherwise you will have to pull the heads apart and either
thoroughly clean out the hydraulic tappets or replace them.

My old car I sold at 105000 miles to a friend who ran it
until 127000 miles, at which point it still did not rattle or
burn any oil at all between services.

Your handling does not sound usual, although all my 33's
have been very noticably effected by the bow waves of =

lorries. My guess would be either the front shocks or
the front suspension bushes. Also worth a look are the
rear suspnsion bushes (I went through 6 in 60000 miles)
and the front strut pan bearings.

All the best

Keith

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