Rockers

[steve6864]

Some may remember from the old forum I picked up a tapping coming home from Darren`s earlier this year.Turned out to be the rocker arm over the last cylinder,drivers side.Supposed to be rounded,mine was worn concave!Anyway,if DMC had sent the right rocker cover gasket I`d be on the road. Be careful if you are ordering this gasket from them.Unless you need both sides,when ordering just one the blow-up picture and the scroll down descriptions don`t match,which led to me getting the wrong one.Should be fixed soon,but,holiday weekend might delay it.6864.By the way on E-bay I`m listed as 6468.Soon to be corrected.

[DMCMW Dave]

Unless there is more to the story, you need to very carefully inspect the cam - the rocker arms don't usually just fail like that unless there is an oiling problem, which generally damages the camshaft as well. If the cam is damaged it is now "soft" and will continue to wear at a relatively fast pace.

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That valve cover gasket thing is a bit annoying as it's not always clear what "left" and "right" means with respect to the engine. Convention is that an engine's "front" is the pulley end, and right and left is with respect to that with the engine installed in the front of the car, from the perspective of the driver. DMC of course turned that all around by reversing the direction of the engine in the car, but the L and R was defined by Renault/Volvo with respect to parts. Better to note and use "1-2-3" or "4-5-6" as that is cast into the valve covers. This applies to ordering head gaskets as well. I'll generally ask people "driver side" or "passenger side" when getting into such order discussions on the phone.

[content22207]

Has low ZDDP oil claimed its first DeLorean victim? (Other classic marques have already reported damage).

Bill Robertson
#5939

[DMCMW Dave]

More likely lack of maintenance at some time in the past 30 years (10-year oil change interval) or overheat. I've seen this damage with both.

[steve6864]

Dave, the problem with ordering was in the picture on the DMC site.Showing the side with the oil filler neck is obviously driver`s side and that gasket is,basically,a rectangle.It is shown on the blow-up as item described by the #1.Scroll down and order #1 and you will recieve the passenger side gasket,which has angled corners.To make it worse,the invoice will say RH-123,but,the web will say LH 123!Anyway,I called late on a Friday,of this holiday weekend,and they jumped into action and sent me a replacement,free shipping,before Fed-X called it a day.So,customer service was above and beyond.6864.Cam was okay.