O.K., so I am finishing the installation of valve job and tightening down the valve rail on my 02MC. Now I notice a couple of lash adjusters have fallen off for some reason, and are laying on the top of the head. This is long before the final torques have been applied to the 10mm bolts. There are two there, but a third is now missing... gone! Maybe it was not there in the first place (unlikely but since I didn't know they could come off, I might not of have noticed.) Other possibility: it found its way to the oil intake hole and is now in the crankcase. I looked with a magnetic finder and flushed the oil twice hoping to find it. No luck.

I can't seem to find any replacements on the web? Any suggestions. Feel free to include abusive language about how dumb this whole thing is.

 

Hi,

welcome to the forum.

Enjoy your stay, all the best on your search.

 

Yeah, you must be very careful when putting the rockers/lifter assembleys back on. Thats usually the last thing I do before I put them back on it replace the lot of if the car isnt too old is replace the ones that look suspect. Usually I abuse them a little hand to see if they fall off. If they dont they will be ok when installed
But yes. kind of a ^!*()^#&($&!%&%^#&*#)( Design

 

I ran into this same issue when installing my new cam. Unfortunatly I didn't realize they came off until everything was assembled and running. I heard a ticking noise and took it all apart again. When I pulled the intake rocker arms off I notices two valve lashing tips missing. I couldn't find them at first either. I used an extendable magnet and CAREFULLY searched underneath the cam where I couldn't see. Sure enough both of them were found. I had to replace two rocker arms due to wear on tge tips of the rocker arms.

You're in a better situation because you never started it like this. If you find tge valve lashing caps and they're not too damaged, you can buy some plastic weld to mend them. I did this to fix some cracked ones and it worked great. Make sure to clean them really good with carb or brake cleaner first. The plastic weld I used was a two part epoxy and I think it is made by DAP. it sets up as strong as original plastic.

Valve lashing caps are not sold separately. You have to but a new rocker arm to get one. I think Mini sells them for about $50 a piece.

Good luck!

Chad

 

Yeah, i have never only seen them sold with the wholle rocker.
Again Good Luck

 

Thanks Chad..everything you said turned out to be exactly right on. One of the plastic caps was broken and I successfully glued it back together. I was able to get the lost one with a rocker arm for around $65 from the Herb Chambers in Boston (car towed from their parking lot while picking up the part but that is another story). Got everything back together but can't get it to start. It throws 0340 code which is CAS circuit problem. I checked the electrical connection on the left side of the engine block and it seemed fine. Could the CAS itself be bad? Checked the spark, also fine and there is a smell of fuel. Doesn't fire whatsoever. There is a small clicking sound, but I think that must be the chain hitting the tensioner which has not been extended (supposed to extend with a rise in oil pressure). So I'm at a loss as to what do next...

Bill (NotYetRated)

 

Did you support the cam gear with the chain to keep tension while doing the job. Also, did you mark the chain with the corresponding tooth on the gear to retain proper timing? It sounds to me like it could be a timing issue. If it's too far out, it won't start.

You said you checked all of the connections, I know. You should check them again and make sure the cam positioning sensor is plugged in.

As far as the gas smell goes, I would check all of the o-rings on your injectors, top and bottom. If you had your fuel rail off you should make sure to put a bit of grease on each o-ring before re-installation.

Keep me posted, we'll get you through this.

Chad

 

Chad:

Yes I did indeed support the timing chain with a bungee to the hood, noting the warnings that the chain could have jumped a tooth on the crank gear if it I didn't. Since the project dragged on due to the lost lash adjuster and cap, I worried that somehow it might have slipped. So I put a chop stick in the number 1 cylinder and rotated the timing chain until TDC. The exhaust cam on number 1 was at 9 o'clock and the intake at 3. With this, the little triangle was pretty much at 12 o'clock, leaning a bit toward 11, as the picture shows in the Bentley manual. So I felt like this was all right. (Truthfully, I am worried that something is still wrong since I do hear a small click as turns over trying to start and wonder if its is the value hitting the piston rather than the tensioner not yet extended as mentioned previously.) At most it would still be off by a tooth or so. BTW: the Bentley manual is unclear about the role of the gold colored link. Mine is not lined up with anything. So...not sure.

I didn't take off the fuel rail, since the head would come off just pushing it forward (to the radiator) a bit. I never broke the fuel line, at least don't think so. The smell of fuel is only when I take out a plug to check for spark and sniffed down in the cylinder. Very faint, but it does seem like some fuel is getting in. I don't know where the other end of the CAS is connected. Look like it goes into the fuel rail...so I focussed on making sure the CAS connector snapped and then locked with its red ring.

many, many thanks for your help...

Bill

 

PM sent

 

You might want to check your coil to see if you're getting spark. Pull one of the leads off of a spark plug, make sure you're away from fuel, have someone turn your ignition over and see if you can get an arc to a piece of metal from your spark plug wire. You may need to stick a screwdriver in the end of the lead and have the arc come from the screwdriver shaft to something metal.

 

You might want to check your coil to see if you're getting spark. Pull one of the leads off of a spark plug, make sure you're away from fuel, have someone turn your ignition over and see if you can get an arc to a piece of metal from your spark plug wire. You may need to stick a screwdriver in the end of the lead and have the arc come from the screwdriver shaft to something metal.

Is it trying to start at all? Any sputtering or any type of firing sounds? Check the wiring harness plug that goes to the coil as well.

As for the ticking sound, you may have lost one of your valve retainer clips. I hope you don't have a loose valve. Simple enough to check with the valve cover removed.

I've always reinstalled my timing chain tensioner extended already. I know that's not tge correct way but it has always worked for me. I've always hated guessing weather it popped out or not.

Chad

 

This project has gone from bad to worse. After several attempts to get the MC started, it threw a code of 0341, cam angle sensor circuit. So, I ordered a new CAS and nothing; just as before, it would not start, fire or anything. I then read the last thread and removed the no. 1 plug to confirm that there was really a spark. I also noticed that the grounding strap from the block to the frame was a bit loose...a good connection but not tight and the bolt had been stripped so it had to be replaced. No problem but when i tried to start it again to check the spark, the starter quit all of a sudden. No solenoid clicking, just nothing, despite strong lights, other electrical systems working fine. I tried to jump start it, thinking there was a problem with the battery, but no response. I had the battery checked out and it was fine under load. Now there is no response whatsoever from the starter. Bentley manual says it could be EWS system that is blocking the starter and that it has to be scanned to fix it. Is this true? Why would this all happen?