Valve train trouble - please help.

[weirdscenes]

Lanos 1.4 SOHC year 2000.

Bought this recently as a none runner.
Started first crank, ran a few seconds, then died.
I have wasted a week thinking this was a controls problem.

Primary fault and last owners reason for selling was "engine starts and runs OK for a few seconds then dies"
Car very recently fitted with new head gasket, coil pack, and timing belt - I suspect as part of attempts to clear the fault. No other history known - has done 48000 miles

I Did a proper compression test today - 1 & 2 zero 3 & 4 50 PSI. !!!
Drained cooland and power steering oil. Took head off

OBSERVATIONS

Block and top of pistons is very clean. Bores unmarked.
No signs of any contact damage. cylinder head gasket intact and new looking but looks a bit "odd" eg. some of the water cutouts missing, possibly oil ways missing ?? (will check this later tonight)
Inside of rocker cover dirtier than expected (if it has indeed been opened up recently) but not terrible. Some black semi- hardened sludge near 1 & 2 - slight milkiness between 2 & 3.
Camshaft housing also dirtier than expected - I wonder if oil and filter has been changed recently (will do this on re-assembly)
Camshaft drier than expected some slight rust-like smears on a couple of lobes, some light scoring but lobes intact and undamaged.
Cam followers (rocker arms) - 1,2, 7, & 8 have flats worn on top !
Cylinder head is clean and checks flat (with straight edge)
Valve housings, valves, and exhaust ports are all black, but not carboned up.
Leak tested valves by inverting head and filling with diesel - all valves appear to be leak free.
When I inverted the head one of the hydraulic (?) valve lifters dropped out but the other seem to be quite firm.

QUESTIONS:
Is it possible that the valve train is getting insufficient oil?
If so could this cause inlet and exhaust valves to be open at the same time ?
Could the flats worn on the cam follwers cause a similar thing ?
Could it be a combination of the two ?
How free should the cam followers be ?
Is there am overhaul kit available for the lifters ?
can I get cam followers here in the uk ? from where ?
I have not looked at the lifters yet but is there a kit available for overhauling them ?
Assuming the block is OK, and there are no cracks in the head, is there anything else I should be looking for with regards to compression loss ?

Any help greatly appreciated

[Daniel]

cylinder head gasket intact and new looking but looks a bit "odd" eg. some of the water cutouts missing, possibly oil ways missing ??

Check that the head gasket was the correct one and in the correct position. Not upside down or the like.

[MMamdouh]

well... i find it hard to believe that the person that did the head job neglected a faulty cam shaft... this probably happened after the head work... and since you mentioned a "strange looking" gasket then maybe an oil passage is blocked indeed causing severe cam corrosion and damage

this is a pic of a 1.5 SOHC gasket (the one in the middle)... it is the same one used on your engine, please post a pic of your gasket to compare ports.


MMamdouh

[weirdscenes]

Hi
Thanks for the pix
My HG looks as if its correct when compared with the 1.5 OHC
I have a suspicion that the guy who changed the gasket was an amateur mechanic (as indeed am I)
It was done at 39000 miles and now reading a little over 48000
camshaft is scored but not that badly. I am more concerned with the heavy wear on 4 of the cam followers
Could flats occur within 9000miles ?
There doesn't seem to be any other damage,
I have now stripped the head and find most of the valves are black on the sealing face but Not burned.
I have ardered a full top end overhaul kit including hydro lifters cam followers etc as well as a new Oil pump, idler and belt.
Decided it's not worth riking the existing belt etc.
If you look at pic of my gasket oil ways appear OK but 6 small (about 4mm dia.) water holes were all clogged.
Oil deposits in head around valve stems and in rocker cover are "gummy"
I wonder if head has been running hot and in some way this has gummed up the valve lifters ?
Hope I've attached pix correctly