hi, started the a15 in the morry minor for the first time today, it has been sitting for about 6 months with no oil in it, i put a new filter on and filled it with 20w40 oil. When i started it (pretty much started first pop (cold, with dellorto DHLA-40 carbs so i was kinda impressed!) but it was making an awful noise. it sounded like a noisy waterpump or something like that, but it wasnt.

its been running for all of ten or so seconds as i dont like the noise! i had a thought, does the oil pump need primed at all after sitting for so long without oil?

if not, then what could be causing the noise? The engine was running great before it was pulled out of the car it came out of and had no noise like that. Only thing that has changed is oil/filter and its got a new set of headers on it. other than that nothing else changed.

I can't imagine what that noise is unless you explain it a bit more. Is it a knocking, tapping, grinding, crunching noise?

You would need to prime the oil filter if you put a new one on. But the pump is relatively small and because of it's engineering wouldn't need any priming etc.

Something bad going on there dude. But check all the other things, make nothing is rubbing against a pulley or something that could make noise.

Process of elimination is good protocol for diagnosis, especially for the inexperienced like me.

its a grinding noise. Front pulley isnt contacting the chassis (in a morry minor it can be close)

nowhere else is close to the chassis. Would not having that 3mm sheet on the back of the engine make a difference? I dont actually remember it being there in the first place but there definitely isnt one there now, it's the one that gets sandwiched between the block and the gearbox. This engine/gearbox has a thin sheet that covers the bit behind the sump and protects that.

I might try to crash start it without the starter motor in, there may be a possibility that that is sticking in, i have a feeling i swapped it for another, newer, one that i had there.

Tomorrow ill take a video of the sound and upload it so you can hear it, i wont be running the engine for very long just in case its an internal issue.

Ive never heard of priming oil filters after changing them. I cranked this engine over for about 15 seconds before i gave it a spark, just so that the oil pressure could build up.

Nah , I wouldn't start it anymore.

If I were you I'd begin to pull it out and apart.

You know there is a problem. Just check it isn't the alternator or anything.

Maybe drop the oil, pull the oil pump.

Pull the dizzy?

Or take the spark plugs out and turn it over manually and see where the sound is coming from. Then start pulling gear off.

Scary stuff, not a day or two ago another Kiwi had flattened his camshaft in a matter of hours.

ill pull the oil pressure sensor out and crank the engine, that will tell me if its got oil flowing, it wont tell me if its at pressure though. I would assume that the pump wont have stuffed out over the course of 6 months with no use.

could be as simple as the metal protector rubbing on the flywheel but i dont think it is that close. I need a stethoscope to narrow it down

The A Series oil pump is so solid in construction that it'd be one of the last parts to fail in a sitting engine.

If you do that it'll definitely piss oil out. I'll put money on it.

Are you talking about the sandwich plate that splits the engine from the gearbox?

Good luck with it all mate.

yea, all my 1200 engines had a thicker metal plate but this 1500 doesnt and i dont know if thats normal for the engine or not. tomorrow ill troubleshoot

Ill try in this order:
~taking the aux belt off.
~removing the distributor
~checking oil pressure
~removing starter and towing down the driveway with no plugs in.

im still adament that its not an internal problem as nothing has been changed since it was last running internally, only things that have been off are the alternator, the dizzy, starter motor and manifolds.

It takes 1-5 seconds for the clattering to stop after changing the oil.

The plate between engine and transmission is not needed. It won't cause any sound either way, only your clutch travel may be affected if you have the wrong length throwout bearing.

Ahh, morning dd.

So what is he clattering chattering do you think?

The clattering is low oil pressure, until the filter and galleries fill. Do you not hear it after you change the oil & filter?