Hi all,

what are known if any problem areas for the 3.5 engine that I should look at for in my next purchase Ralliart or VRX:

I know of the tappet noise issues and also rough idle issues.

What about leaks, head gasket failure or engine main bearing failures? Do these occur at all on hard driven vehicles such as the Ralliarts or VRX?

Leaks are a no brainer to check and for head gaskets, I assume the check the colour of the engine oil. How do you tell if main bearings are playing up and what else should i check?

thanks LouisK

how hard will u be driving the car? doing plenty of burnout? rally driving?

No, she'll be the family car so easy does it. I have found a Ralliart which seems great, but I just wanted to do all the checks to make sure its all ok, so the pointers will help. Never had problem with the 3.5s that I have owned, but not sure if the Vrxs and Ralliarts are any diff given their performance.

If never heard of a magna doing mains.. also the head gaskets are impossible to do as they are a full metal gasket. Ive never ever heard of a head gasket issue too. it would be hard to do.. :)

Hi all,

what are known if any problem areas for the 3.5 engine that I should look at for in my next purchase Ralliart or VRX:

I know of the tappet noise issues and also rough idle issues.

What about leaks, head gasket failure or engine main bearing failures? Do these occur at all on hard driven vehicles such as the Ralliarts or VRX?

Leaks are a no brainer to check and for head gaskets, I assume the check the colour of the engine oil. How do you tell if main bearings are playing up and what else should i check?

thanks LouisK

Hey can someone explain this to me, My engine runs great but has always had this extra sound that I couldn't figure. Sounds like sumthing knocking the inside of the rocker cover

When I use to own my 2nd gen, I could tell any magna that started up just by the noise that it made, tappets generally were the main noise.... Althou it did seem to disappear when warm.... One thing I could suggest, have a look at what oil you are using... if its very thin oil (Say like 0/5 Mobil 1?)... you could be loosing all oil down to the sump, therfore when starting the engine on cold there will be very minimal oil at the top... try changing to a thicker oil to stay at the top... Just something I thought could help thats all

Oh and as for the problem areas of Magna Motor's.... You will have no problems with the Motor at all, you might see a bit of oil used in the later life, then again what engine doesn't... Performance I have found to be very high, as long as the motor is well looked after, it will look after you. Ive had mine (3rd gen) for eight years and hasn't missed a beat :D

hydraulic lifters need flushing. They dont run tappets they run hydraulic lifters which flill with engine oil to control valves via the rocker arm. Gunk builds up in the lifter ports and prevents them from filling porperly which makes the knock sound. Try changing your engine oil and if that doesnt fix it try an engine oil add like wynnes then dumo your oil again and that should fix it. Just what I have found!

Hokies, I started with 20/50 oil when I first got the car but someone suggested going thinner so now its got 15/50 but I guess I'll dump 20/50 again