Hi, looking for advice...

Rebuilt my A14 engine with a new block (old one had vertical scores in the bore caused by a loose gudgeon pin.)

Started the rebuilt engine up, everything working fine, ran it for about 20 mins on two occasions, temperatures fine and electric fan cutting in and out regularly- everything looking good.

Then a few days later i started her up and got a whirring./scraping sound coming from the front. first thought was alternator bearing, so removed fan belt and ran engine but still had the same noise.

used my big screwdriver to my ear and tracked the noise down to coming from near the camshaft pulley.

Removed the timing chain cover, suspecting that i had forgotten to tighten the camshaft pulley bolt and it had come loose and chain scraping somewhere. Cant see any marks where anything was scraping, but i noticed a distinct lack of oil, either on the timing chain or behind the camshaft retaining plate, and the inside of the timing cover dry also.
The slinger was fitted...
oil pressure warning light goes out as soon as the engine runs.

what can i do next ?

Thinking about putting the timing chain and crank pulley back on and running it without the timing cover to see if oil is getting in there, but will i cover myself and my garage with oil if i do that ?

is there a way to pressurise the oil system without the engine running so i can see whats happening ?

You can always crank it over without plugs, it'll get oil pressure up pretty quickly.

good idea, why didnt i think of that !?!
tried it, refilled the sump with oil, took out the plugs, put in some wire and a switch between battery and solenoid so i could stand at the front and operate it.

oil coming through quite nicely , not spraying about all over the place but being layed onto the chain.
Couldnt hear the noise from before over the starter motor. but at least oil is there.


tried to upload a video..... how do you do that ?

Upload your video to a video hosting site, such as Photobucket or Youtube. After the video is up, Reply to this topic and paste a link to the video here

ok, quick vid of timing chain in action.... not the most interesting youtube video ever.. but maybe of interest to someone on here...

https://youtu.be/ZV_VPymjBuU

So my strange whirring/scraping noise is not caused by oil deprivation....

The other thought i have is that the cam bearing could be spinning in the block... is this likely ?

did you pull out the cam? Lube issues in Thailand thats a first! :)

How about putting on another chain sprocket or securing bolt on?
it could me eyesight but it looks like its wobbling around.
Sometimes bolts can be close to breaking when overtightened
similar alternator bearing and even water pump spun way
above the redline for too long they start to scrape and squeel.