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Hi guys - I have an ea81 that ticks pretty loudly at idle - it seems to be coming from the camshaft - tick goes away at about 1200 rpm then comes back at idle - it was REALLY bad when I got the car but after I adjusted the valve clearances it improved a lot - its a "GEM" recon motor that sounds perfect at revs but goes clackity clackity at idle - I would hope a recon motor would have got a new oil pump ? ---- oil pressure issue ? -- bad pushrod ? bad lifter ? had it running with the rocker covers off and theres plenty of oil getting to every rocker - oil light goes out instantly at startup - any ideas ? Cheers

I'd warm up the engine and carefully check your valve clearances again.

Your oil pump will not be the issue as these ea81's run solid lifters. It took me three goes to get my clearances right without any major ticks.

Cheers

Bennie

Aren't there are some ea81's that have hydraulic lifters?
Being a 'GEM' engine and knowing 1st hand their dodgyness from past experience, who knows what they did or put inside.

Well - I got the motor out and sump off - turning it over by hand I noticed the camshaft gear moving in and out by about 2-3 mm - in the Subaru book the thrust clearance is supposed to be 0.020 mm - I think I may have found my noise - can I simply press the gear further onto the camshaft ? Cheers

I'd be looking into why it's moving that much - there must be some sort of spacer that's missing or something that holds it in place needs to be checked out to make sure it's still good or find out if it's loose or needs adjusting etc.

I haven't got an exploded view of the ea81 handy to check it out. There might be a manual in the download section on the forum which can be handy. Toonga also has a link to some good factory manuals too

Cheers

Bennie

Well I looked a bit closer - and the gear is loose on the camshaft !

pitscars007 wrote:Well I looked a bit closer - and the gear is loose on the camshaft !

How long have you had the motor? is it under warranty still or did pulling it apart void that?

I have the 83 FSM and a compilation of the Gregorys and an FSM if you want them.

TOONGA

Thanks for the replies and the offer but the motor was in a Brumby I bought some time ago for $250 - at least I have a couple of good heads - and I suppose it is possible to put a new cam and lifters into it at some stage - I have a few ea81s lying around so for now I will make one good motor to go into a nice Brumby I'm buying with a cooked engine - its just got a bit harder than I had hoped - Cheers

Why is the cam moving and can it be resolved rather than looking at the engine as a source of parts?

Cheers

Bennie

On looking closer ---- the gear is loose on the camshaft ! -- now what ??

pitscars007 wrote:On looking closer ---- the gear is loose on the camshaft ! -- now what ??

Take that camshaft and gear out and put in one from one of the other motors.

It will mean splitting the motor so while you are at it ...

TOONGA

I was hoping to be able to get another gear onto the camshaft without splitting the motor (the camshaft should be ok as the gear is alloy) - getting the gear very hot and the cam very cold and drifting it on there ?

Neat video worth watching :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZG1zo8w8L8

Yep, sorry you're not going to get it off without disassembly first & most likely it will need a press too ...

Cheers, Bantum ...