Tappets- anyone know the valve clearances? '97 1.3 (not gti)

[bluesummerby]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me if the tappets on a non Gti 1.3 Swifty are adjustable/
if so what are the clearance settings????
I thought i would try this before i replace the cam (thanks for the earlier reply Danswift ).
My ears are bleeding and its not because of my sound system (mainly cos it's not got one) - lol

thank you in advance

Bluesummerby

[dominator]

all swifts from 89 onwards are hyd the noise happens to my gti aswell
the oil has gone to thin and all it needs is a good flush and oil change that usualy sorts it for me

gary

[DanSwift1988]

The oil has clogged the oilways because it's to thick (sludgey?) causing the tappets to become dry and start ticking (Thats what I always thought anyway)

- Drain the old oil.
- Add some cheaper engine oil and an engine flush and run the car for about 10-15 minutes to clean it all out.
- Now drain that oil and take off the old filter.
- Replace filter and use a good quality Synthetic 5w40 (Motul worked for me) Start the car up and it should sound lovely and quiet.

You'll be amazed at how the car sounds after that! But if you dont want to spend £30 on oil then like Dominator said any oil should do just you might notice it will start ticking again!

[bluesummerby]

Thanks for the reply (s) guys. i have discovered this afternoon that the tappets are in fact adjustable but without the valve clearance specs i can't really adjust them. I have however also done an engine flush, new filter and oil job but it has made no difference whatsoever (again because the tappets are adjustable rather that hydro).
After looking at the tappets i can confirm that the oil ways are fine and that the cam appears to be not too bad (but i'm no engineer)
I am also a little worried that i can smell a hot oil type smell when i get out of the car after a run? What do you think? Something i should be worried about?
Cheers
Bluesummerby

[dominator]

thats strange according to the chilton(us haynes) manual it says that all swifts after 89 are hyd
i wouldnt have thought that would be just a us thing would it?
or maybe the car has had an old engine fitted before you owned it

but anyway the same manual says for the 1.3 pre 89 the rocker clearance is
5-17 1000/inch or about 0.012-0.045mm and the limit is 0.9mm
hope this helps

gary

[bluesummerby]

Thanks for your reply Gary.
Just to check and, forgive my ignorance here, but hydro tappets don't have adjustable nut and screw on the top do they???
I'm just wondering in case you are correct and they are hydro.
bluesummerby

P.S are those specs for both inlet and exhaust?

[dominator]

it def sounds like rockers which means your car has had an engine change at some point
it dosnt say about the in/ex clearances but then it dosnt even give any clearances for the 3cyl at all its a bit of a shite manual realy

but i do have THE answer i was given an autodata disc a while ago its basicly what garages use to calculate sevice times all that bollox and it has every car from 50`s to 2004 and that says a pre 89 1.3 clearances are
in 0.23-0.27 when the engine is hot
ex 0.26-0.30 again when hot
i imagine they are metric sizes

gary

[bluesummerby]

Gary you are a lifesaver! Thanks very much for the info.
I'm more than a little bummed that i seem to have an older engine.
Guess that what happens when you buy a car off Ebay. Still i gave very little for what is, on the whole, a nice little motor.
I have been offered a replacement engine which has 12,000 miles on it for £150 but i wouldn't know where to start doing an engine swap on one of these
If i can silence this one then i think i'll just run it till it eventually dies and then think about a replacement engine or car.

P.S wow-handy disc. lol

[dominator]

yeah it is, the bloke i got my gti manual disc put it in the envelope because he took a while to copy it
like you said in one of the other posts related to this its only a crappy runaround and unless it bellowing out smoke i wouldnt worry bout it just change the oil regular and itl prob last you a fair few years

gary

[bluesummerby]

Hey not so much of the crappy if you don't mind - Seriously though thanks for your help. I'm gonna attack the tappets tomorrow evening (if its not monsoon weather outside) and i'll let you know how it goes.
cheers
Bluesummerby

[nzswift]

Just confirming
Hot
Inlet 0.23 - 0.27mm
Ex 0.26 - 0.30mm

Cold
Inlet 0.13 - 0.17mm
Ex 0.16 - 0.20mm

[bluesummerby]

Again- thanks very much guys for your help. The cold clearances will save my fingerprints
i'll let you know if it works.