Pretty common question, Astron 2.6 with tapping lifters, or lifter. Seems to only be from the left side of the motor. Tried Lifter Free and Oil Stabilizer to no luck so i'm assuming it needs adjusting. Last time it was in for a valve stem seal change I was told they may need tensioning at some point and now sounds about right.

Can this be done at home, or is it more of a mechanic job? If so, how much am I looking at to have it done?

Additionally the roof liner has a few issues again, I tried to fit new clips in for the portion near the rear window, held well for about 3 seconds and now I have 6 small (1-3mm) holes in the fabric, and it's held up with cable ties so I can see out the back window. I'd like to just get a whole new roof liner, so 2 questions:

1. How much would a motor trimmer charge to re-cover the existing board with either new fabric or a black vinyl?

2. Does the roof liner from a 3rd gen, lets say a TE, fit the second gen Magna? One at the wreckers seems pretty similar to the 2nd gen one but it's hard to tell if it's a little more curved or not.



I'd be tempted to jump to a V6 but at the moment, there's no way i'd be able to justify the cost, and if I sold the current one in advance to cover it i'd be selling off my Diamante bar, 2 new tyres, a new head unit, a Sigma Estate grille, modified boot lid and garnish and about $1000 worth of repairs with it... to someone who just sees a stock Magna and offers me $500 for it. Leaves that option somewhat dead, so i'll probably just play round four of repairs and hope these are the last ones for a while.

Otherwise, it still moves and drives, so at least that's a good sign. lol The problems are mostly annoyances and probably don't justify ditching the car anyway.

Cheers in advance.

buy a better TR roof liner from a wrecker
its cheaper than a trimmer

not to difficult to remove one out of a sedan


if the tappets are just clogged you can remove the rockers and clean them easily

or replace the hydrulic tappets - the surfaces may be hammered

the valve stem seals can be replaced without removing the head you need a special tool and compressor
motor to TDC
12 mm socket and tension wrench
undo rocker cover
undo rocker bolts
back on
torque rocker bolts to 19 nm
rocker cover about 8nm

hi
i changed my roof lining a couple of months ago. $16 from u-pull-it. its cheaper than getting it retrimmed.just need to remove the passenger front seat and lay back drivers seat to get it out the car. as for the 3rd gen lining its different.

hi
i changed my roof lining a couple of months ago. $16 from u-pull-it. its cheaper than getting it retrimmed.just need to remove the passenger front seat and lay back drivers seat to get it out the car. as for the 3rd gen lining its different.

just put the passenger seat down too and the gear stick to L or Reverse in manual.

I got another one then had it trimmed for 100$ and put it all in myself.

This is a wreckers one, i'm just having one issue with it, and that is the clips that secure it to the fittings near the back window, they just don't hold. Anyone come across this before? (probably a result of 15 year old plastic) :confused:

Valve Stem Seals are brand new, had them replaced late last year, so they'll be fine. Have to take the rocker cover off and have a look in there but i'm guessing something needs replacing. Shame because the lifters are supposed to be new according to the last major service sheet, but they sure don't sound like it. :doubt:

EDIT: Looks like this wreckers one has the same "falling fabric" problem... i'd rather fix this once and for all and have it retrimmed rather than pulling dud roof liners from the wreckers every 3 months.

yeh, go to a motor trimmer , cost me $70 but it was piece of mind..

Yeah, I may go this route just the piece of mind it won't fall again (at least not for a long time anyway). The current one is back up again, i've patched it up at the back and it looks great, but who knows how long that'll last.

Have you tried buying replacement plastic clips from a Mits dealer?

Could be the answer.

Rob

the valve stem seals can be replaced without removing the head you need a special tool and compressor


I don't advocate being dodgy at all... but on an astron you can safely drop the valves by bringing each cylinder to TDC as you do it, without having to use a compressor or any sort of tool.

Have you tried buying replacement plastic clips from a Mits dealer?

Could be the answer.

Rob

Probably would be the solution, fixing them to the board was the hard task here but that was thankfully accomplished today, after 5 hours of trial and error, with double sided tape. :P

I'll wait until I can get the roof liner done then buy new clips to go with it.

Updated (Again)

Dad took it out for a run tonight, started it up and revved it up a bit, as the revs declined it was making a loud "knock" sort of noise. Sounds like it's inside the rocker cover but it was a fairly deep "clock" sound (no, not tick :P). I'd say they've deteriorated pretty far to be making that kind of sound, but thought i'd post it up anyway see if it remains the same, aka. needs new lifters, or if it could be heavier repairs such as the cam. Maybe. I'm no pro at what goes on beyond the engine walls. lol

Just note it only makes this deep "clock" as it drops the revs, not when increasing or running at a steady speed.

Updated (Again)

Dad took it out for a run tonight, started it up and revved it up a bit, as the revs declined it was making a loud "knock" sort of noise. Sounds like it's inside the rocker cover but it was a fairly deep "clock" sound (no, not tick :P). I'd say they've deteriorated pretty far to be making that kind of sound, but thought i'd post it up anyway see if it remains the same, aka. needs new lifters, or if it could be heavier repairs such as the cam. Maybe. I'm no pro at what goes on beyond the engine walls. lol

Just note it only makes this deep "clock" as it drops the revs, not when increasing or running at a steady speed.

Could be timing chain related.

Listening in on the engine, it seems to be at the opposite end of the motor from the Timing Chain, and there's no accompanying rattle, buri'll still take it in to account anyway considering it's all linked, just in case. May be able to put it in for a service at the end of the month.

Starting to think the best bet is just to pull the rocker cover off and crank it over, get sprayed with oil but find the problem in the process. That'll probably help solve all the engine problems in one hit even rather than just the old trial and error. I'll leave that to a service centre though.

mate, you can not adjust the lash adjusters, they are not adjustable.

You should be able to pick up new ones for approx $14 each, ensure that you completely clean the rocker gear as it also blocks up and restricts the oil flow.

Ah, now thanks for clarifying that, mechanic wanted to adjust those, or something rather... so god knows what he was on about.

I'll probably get around to it by the end of the month. It'll be due for a service by then anyway.

You could try some magnatec in it if it doesnt fix it it wont do any harm.

Tried it, along with some oil stabilizer later on, didn't work. :confused:

I'd say it's time to replace them, seems the only viable option.