Hi everyone,
I'm looking for opinions on how much action needs to be taken with my
2000's upper chain. The prior owner had the whole thing rebuilt about
25-30,000 miles ago, and I know that all the chains/guides/tensioners
were replaced because I have the old ones sitting in a box that he gave
me. Just for fun, I pulled off the valve cover today and looked at the
"L", the tensioners, etc. Here's what I've found:
The "L" has just the slightest amount of notching in it, only on the
bottom edge, and it's really more of a mark than a cut. The depth is
less than 1mm into the metal, possibly less than 0.5mm. The extra bolt
holding the chain guide in place in the front was in place, and
everything seems tight.
The timing chain, when I unload the driver's side of the chain (put the
car in second gear, pushed it back as hard as I could and set the
parking brake), can definitely reach the "L" with just a little push on
it.
So here's the thing. I've never heard the infamous "death rattle" on a
sick Roadster, so I don't know how loud/odd it really is. Yes, my car
sometimes rattles a bit at idle (very quietly), but it's hard to
localize over the fan noise and could easily be something in the engine
compartment, like the fan, etc. This rattle is no louder than the
little buzzes/rattles, etc. that normal modern cars have when you stick
your head in their engine compartments, so I can't say definitively that
this is chain rattle. For those of you who know, how loud is loud? How
loud/weird is a dangerous rattle, and what's a normal, thirty year old
car rattle?
Also, could the scuffing on the "L" be due to starting the car after
changing the oil, when the new filter is empty? I've heard some
rattling when I start the car after an oil change, which goes away
within a few seconds of the restart. I have a good fitting oil filter
anti-drain tube in place, and the car is running 20W50 Castrol. Oil
pressure is low when warm at idle, pops right up to normal when the
RPM's come up.
I'm (still) a student, so I ABSOLUTELY cannot afford to redo the upper
chains, guides, tensioners, etc. at the moment. So my question is, is
this a critical problem that needs to be addressed before the car goes
another 1,000 miles, or does this sound pretty normal and not like the
dangerous rattle and metal cutting that we read so much about in all the
2000 literature and websites? If so, is there anything I can do to stem
the tide until a full redo?
Thanks a lot,
Andrew Taylor
1970 2000 SRL311-13183
Philadelphia, PA
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