Re: When not to trust the manual

["Mark Battley" <m.battley@domain.elided>]

>Since I've still got a tiny bit of the slap/rattle
>sound going on, I'll try the engine-off method later
>and see if it all goes away.  And I'll use that method
>exclusively from now on, every 6000 miles.

I still much prefer to open up the cam cover, and see and feel what is going
on. It's only a few minutes work. If you choose to use a lever (a BIG
screwdriver works well) to help the tensioner come out of its bore to take
up the slack, don't overdo it, it is possible to get the chain too tight.

I don't believe that you should have to use a lever though. What I do is
turn the crank and cams slightly in appropriate directions to get all of the
slack at the tensioner, then loosen and retighten the lock bolt. Sometimes
give the tensioner a gentle lever to make sure it has come out, but don't
hold it out. If you do this, and it still rattles, it may be that the chain
is too worn. Twice I have had the situation that no amount of retensioning
would get away from the rattle, even using a big lever. With a new chain the
tensioner did the job without any help.

On boosted brakes - I have found on the twin remote booster systems that we
RHD people are "blessed" with, it helps to bleed the system a second time
with the engine running - I might be imagining it, but it seems to give a
firmer pedal. All I can postulate is that without engine vacuum the boosters
don't use their full range of movement.

Mark Battley
Auckland, New Zealand.

1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce (still no windscreen, but thanks to the MIG
and grinder no longer has holes in the metal where the windscreen should go)
 
1989 Fiat Uno Turbo 
1989 Fiat Croma
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