high oil pressure and noisy head

Hopefully the 2 are not related.

I seem to have abnormally high oil pressure, as below (in bar)

Cold start/idle - 7
Cold cruise 6/7
Cold throttle - 8

Hot idle - 2/3
Hot cruise - 5/6
On boost - 8+

On left hand turns it will fall to around 3.

The gauge is a pro plus unit which only goes to 7 bar and I don't entirely trust it but it is consistant. I don't know what grade oil is in it but have bought some Fuchs 10w50 and a new filter which i should have for the weekend, I will also check the sump pan and compression test the engine if my kit turns up. Also going to put standard sender and gauge in too see if readings are the same, I don't have a mechanical gauge to use. Any other areas I should check while I'm at it?

My other problem is I think the head is louder than normal when hot, very quiet when cold, but hoping it just needs shimmed but too thin oil might contribute to this too, I have a video if anyone wants to listen, apparantly it was at fusion motorsport for a check up before I took delivery and he had no concerns but I have been unable to contact him to ask, thoughts

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bynvox09xn48v00/VIDEO0032_01.mp4

For reference spec is,

Forged pistons, cosworth head gasket
Piper 270 cams, head ported and polished
3071r turbo.
Nistune.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry but that sounds horrendous

Who did you get the car from?

I would be very concerned with that, first thing I would do is remove that rocker cover and make sure the spray bars are clear and not blocked, also as you say remove the sump and check for debris as sounds like the engines being starved of oil

Something definitely is very wrong

It's not right is it. Sounds worse on the video but not by much. Strange that it is so quiet when cold.

Bought it from a lad in Woking , engine was built by a respected member on the OC and looked after by ed. I don't suspect any foul play as the seller is still happy to talk to me, I just don't have much luck with cars at all.

If it has been starved of oil then the damage will have been done I imagine. I have a spare standard head if it comes to it.

Member on the oc ?

Just listend to the video .... that doesnt sound to healthy ....fingers crossed for you mate...

It is what it is if there is damage. I have standard cams there if required, might even be good to bring the power band down the rev range a bit.

Video wont play but as bob said i suspected spray bars. Get a mechanical oil gauge if possible even compaird to decent electronic ones there so much better

I'll get the spray bars off on Sunday and clean them up. Not convinced it's the issue although I would like it to be. Previous owner said he changed the oil and filter every 200 miles!

remove the rocker cover
clean spray bars and make sure oilways are clear
check (very closely) all the cam lobes, rockers and pivots..........pivots have a habit of stripping threads in the head which can cause major troubles.
remove sump and check for metal debris
remove oil strainer and check its not partially blocked with silicone that's broken free as ive seen people use crap loads of it then it oozes out and breaks off blocking main oil galleries ect.
once its off pour some petrol over it and set it alight as that will burn off any crap lodged in there.

hope for your sake its all good but I would not drive the car at the moment until you've got to the bottom of it

I'll have a good look at all that on Sunday, just dropped it off at my unit until then.

Had a peer through the filler cap and the lobe I could see looked pretty dry, when cranked there didn't seem to be any oil coming from the spray bar but I can have a proper look on Sunday.

why on earth did he change the oil every 200 miles, was taht running the engine in? If not then that is alot of oil changing

A bit of belt and braces maintenance from some previous bad luck I think.

Its wouldnt say its belts and braces when he sold it to you like that ....

As much as a cynic as I am I don't think there's any foul play here, shit happens and it's the chance you take buying cars unseen.

Sorry to hear this, hope it all gets sorted

Im not saying there is any foul play so to speak im just saying i wouldnt sell a car sounding like that or i would of atleast investigated the problem ...

Who built that engine?
that really is pretty poor and for ed to say there's nothing wrong is not good either, did he know the guy?

Can't blame the guy that sold it as he may not even know, only what he's been told by others, there's a few round that way that are all feeding off each other so to speak but il say no more
Pm me if you like

Pm on the way. I'm might not have been like that if/when ed saw it but not been able to get in touch with him. Not interested in the blame game or forum politics just looking to sort it out. I really don't think he knew as I think he had ed do all his maintenance.

I have a similar noise on my engine! No where near as loud as that in fact most folk cant hear it if i ask them. It has been there since i bought the car years ago. I would be interested to know what the cause of this is. I have the hks cams in mine. Is it sthing to do with the cams and the shims?

Had the rocker cover off and the spray bars out, one was a bit blocked, so cleaned up and refitted, cranked it over and confirmed all spraying, bit of wear on the lobe but nothing to be concerned with, made no difference to the noise.

Drained the oil, clean as a whistle, no significant metal particles, didn't drop the sump pan as I am almost certain there is no issue with the pickup, plenty oil getting to the head.

Compression checked when hot for good measure, 150ish psi across all 4.

The head has rocker stoppers so removed these to get a good look at everything, I couldn't see any obvious damage or problems.

This surely has to be a clearances issue, shimming?

When cold or idling there is no noise, as soon as you touch the throttle when hot it appears.

Have loads of pictures of the head but I can't see them helping?

post the pics up anyway mate one of us might spot something you didnt

Ok, heres a link to the pics then

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/keajwjh3hrqno3s/QgA9ZayLQ9

My only observations were that the rocker arms could be wobbled a bit when their valves were open, didn't alarm me too much though, solid when valves closed.

In the pic of the timing chain, right in the middle of the pic there is what I assume to be the tensioner? There seems to be a pin of some kind not all the way in, dead center of the pic.

That pin is supposed to be like that graham
It's the locking pin to keep the tensioner closed on installation, then when it's tightened up you knock the catch off the pin the tensioner springs out to apply tension to the chain.

Did you try wobbling all the rocker pivots to see if any are loose?
Also check the valve shim clearances............we set them to 0.10mm inlet and exhaust, if you have gaps bigger than 0.20mm you then run the risk of throwing a rocker, especially with high lift cams fitted.

If you Jo need to shim it then is the time to have a good check on the rocker pivots as cams will be loose and pressure taken off the pivot points

I gave them all a wobble via the rocker arm, I imagine it would be glaringly obvious if they were loose?

I'll look into measuring the clearances on Tuesday if I can. Between the rocker arm and the cam lobe?

Yeah between rocker arm and cam lobe off the rock.
Use 2gauges when measuring and measure from either side of the rocker (not the middle) that way the rocker won't tip to one side so you will get a much more accurate reading