MGF rattly engine?

[JEA55]

Just been to look at an MGF for sale - the engine sounds really rattly - could this be tappet adjustment needed? or does it mean something more serious?

Also, how do you find out if it is a VVC engine (owner doesn't know!) - it is a freestyle, not sure if these were all VVC?

Thanks,
Jim

[talkingcars]

VVC can be rattily, decent oil helps.

VVC have drive belts at both ends of the cam.

[cococola]

I have a freestyle vvc they are rattley but also 49 on the road left

[daz]

The plenum chamber should have vvc on it & from memory the redline on the rev counter should start at 7250 revs. Vvc's do seem to rattle quite a bit, the tappets can't be adjusted, on older fords I used to remove the lifters & squeeze them in a vice this quietened them down

[Helsbyman]

And then again it could be a loose plug a very common problem
My VVC is quite but I have had it from new and the oil was changed once a yr with full synth

[DanieleT]

VVC engines re rattly.
Changing the tappets wont help much eto quieten them down either.
The bearings in the housing at each side of the head become starved of oil on startup and over time develop the beautiful rattlyness.
I've been told that it is the use of poor oil filters which causes this as they dont have a valve to stop oil from draining out of the head.

So as the car is parked up, oil exits the head, car is started and the bearings are dry for a short time..over thousands of miles this happens.

[stuart]

Yep, it's the bearings on the VVC mechanisms- the slightest bit of wear translates into an unholy tractoresque clanking and the only way to cure this is to swap out and exchange the VVC mechanisms- Brown and Gammons were looking into having the troublesome bearings remanufactured and uprated, but they reckoned that the cost of rebuilding existing VVC mechs would probably be greater than the cost of fitting new items.

I had mine done a few years back- Price- £375 + labour per unit, with £120 back on the old mechanisms on an exchange basis...admittedly quite a high price to pay for something that won't lead to a catastrophic engine failure, but quite satisfying to not hear that rattle any more.

[JEA55]

Thanks for all the advice - I decided against buying it, there was no history with it, the exhaust was blowing as well, and the owner knew nothing about the car, it just seemed it could turn into a money pit!

I'll keep searching, although finding a decent one seems to be quite a task now!