can someone help me, please

[ALFA33boxer]

Hi everyone,

As some of you could have read my last post, my new car's engine should have a problem somewhere!!!

First starts in the mornings are perfect after changing oil to Selenia again, and there is no noise at all (no tap-tap noise, no clicking...just quite).
Yesterday was my first long trip after buying the new 33. I did some 400 km with some injection cleaner solution in the tank and had no problems in general, apart something that I'm trying to understand what it is...?

There is a noise under acceleration, like a clicking valve, it appears under accelerations even at high revs.It sounds like the noise that an engine does when you put bad quality petrol (if anyone had experienced that). The car runs very fast...as fast as my old one, but this clicking noise is doing my headache, I'm really confused as I can't understand what it is and never had this noise in all my boxer engines that I used to run.

Some days ago I changed both fuel pressure valves, as I thought it could be luck of petrol from a damaged fuel pressure valve, but even this didn't help to get rid of the noise.

I have noticed that the noise appears when engine gets warmer and especially when blocked in traffic, so some of you might think it can be the tappets, but from the post that I checked on web people that had trouble with noisy tappets say that you hear them clicking even when first starting the car in the morning (cold starts). Some of them say that maybe is good to try a thicker oil but I don't want to switch to 50 oil. They explain the noise similar to ''diesel engines'' and my old engine used to be a bit noisy on cold starts ( the tappets) so I guess I know how the tappets should sound....but this clicking is not so loud. If I pres the gas pedal gently there is no clicking at all, just when I push it hard and want to accelerate quickly.

Any idea???
Just the idea of taking the heads out makes me vomitit's something that I want to avoid as it would be to expensive for me now...

Advice please,

Elvis

[evilgidget]

Have you checked that you haven't just got a leaking exhaust manifold gasket? It'll give a loud "tapping" kind of noise under acceleration. Doesn't take much.

[ALFA33boxer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by evilgidget Have you checked that you haven't just got a leaking exhaust manifold gasket? It'll give a loud "tapping" kind of noise under acceleration. Doesn't take much.

[3ALFA3]

i kinda had the same thing at some stage in my 16v... i changed oil types... filter types etc.... put some hydrilic lifter free stuff in it and it has gone away fully... worth a try.. manifold gaskets sounds like a step in the right direction too. good luck :-)

[ALFA33boxer]

Hi again,

I'm back to tell something that I verified the last 2 days...
If I drive my car in long trips where the temp gauge stays to the middle, everything is perfect and without clicking or other noises and power is 100%, BUT if I get blocked in traffic and the car reaches 90*degrees and works in that temp for a while, than the clicking noise appears and the engine doesn't feel to pull the same, so what I'm trying to say is that my car runs like a rabbit when cruising but turns to a lazy turtle when blocked in traffic and gets to hot... Is this normal for a boxer (I don't think so). Has anyone else experienced the same symptoms when engine gets to hot??? I have read in another thread that 90* degrees is a bit much for our Alfas and I'm thinking that it might be affecting the engine performance and power.
Maybe I can connect a switch to manually turn on the fan when blocked in traffic or I can change the temp switch to the radiator to a 85* one...

Any suggestion?

Cheers,
Elvis

[ALFA33boxer]

Hi again,
please be patient and read what I have to say here, as it is very important for me

By now is sure that my 33 1.4ie doesn't have problems with the tappets, the noise I'm getting is for sure detonation/pre-ignition, but it only occurs when engine has reached and passed 85*degrees.
My car runs the Marelli IAW Singlepoint, so doesn't have a distributor. Normally it should automatically fix the advance and retard of the ignition timing but it feels it's not doing it when engine is hot and so I'm getting detonation when I accelerate or under load. What is responsible for fixing the ignition timing in my car??? I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a knock sensor!!! There is any timing sensor or what?

Thanks,
Elvis