Date:         Sun, 09 Jun 1996 16:25:22 -0600
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Dieter Dworkin Muller <dworkin@village.org>
Subject:      The Adventure of the Thrown Rod


The Gerbil ('66 w/ '71 engine) has had a ticking noise, a lot like a
really misadjusted valve, but nothing you do to the valves has any
effect on it.  One mechanic suggested that it was a bad rod.  He went
on to say that, since the engine seemed to run fine, he wouldn't
recommend messing with it as he's seen them go for quite a while.

Well, it's been about five years now, and it finally went.  Instead of
a medium-volume ticking noise, it now alternates between a really loud
tick/clack and a really loud rattle (with engine speed held constant).
Amusingly enough, the engine has just as much power as it ever has.  I
was hoping really hard it was a loose exhaust header, or a valve that
had thrown itself way out of adjustment, but neither of those is the
case.

The noise seems to come from slightly right of center (FIF).  When
turning the engine over manually, there's quite a bit of resistance on
the compression stroke of number one, and not a whole lot on any of the
others.  Number two seems to have the least resistance of any of them.
These together make me suspect that number two is the one with the bad
rod.

Looks like it's time to start saving for a rebuild.  *sigh*  I was
hoping to get the '59 on the road before the '66 needed significant
work done to it.  It was a nice theory....

	Dworkin