Big problem...

[opeljohn]

Been reading this thread and thought I would throw in a couple of ideas. In your original post you say you had been in the mountains. High elevations mean a run-rich situation, carbon fouling of plugs very possible. Also I know Bill Hoffmann burned a hole in a cylinder when he drove his Manta out to CA in 2000. He felt it may have been a problem with low octane gas while driving thru mountains. I recently had my engine run rough due to fouled plugs. After changing points, plugs, condenser and plug wires, problem solved. Too bad we cannot lean our carbs out like aircraft do as we ascend mountains. Actually I attribute my fouling problem to raw gas being dumped into carb throats during shut down and hot starts. This seems to be a problem with the 32/36 Weber. Anyway pulling a couple of plug should tell you a lot.

[tekenaar]

The distributor is down tight, spark plugs are all intact, all vacuum lines are snugly in place. I've already swapped out both of my fuel filters. The inside of the distributor cap is very clean; no moisture or carbon. The points are down tight, and gapped properly. I've checked all the little stuff, and so far everything checks out.

I really do hope it is something simple, but I can't think of anything left to check, except under the valve cover.

tekenaar mentioned the condenser... How would I go about testing that? I know what it is, just not how to tell if it's good or bad...

Resistance test with an ohmmeter would only really indicate if shorted or open, so best is to just replace it. That said, two more "distributor" things to check . . . using original Bosch rotor? it has a small resistor in it between the center "coil" contact point and the plug wire "firing" end, resistor opens once in a while! . . . Secondly, what about the cap's central carbon button contact on the inside (from the coil HV wire)?

[tekenaar]

The distributor is down tight, spark plugs are all intact, all vacuum lines are snugly in place. I've already swapped out both of my fuel filters. The inside of the distributor cap is very clean; no moisture or carbon. The points are down tight, and gapped properly. I've checked all the little stuff, and so far everything checks out.

I really do hope it is something simple, but I can't think of anything left to check, except under the valve cover.

tekenaar mentioned the condenser... How would I go about testing that? I know what it is, just not how to tell if it's good or bad...

Resistance test with an ohmmeter would only really indicate if shorted or open, so best is to just replace it. That said, two more "distributor" things to check . . . using original Bosch rotor? it has a small resistor in it between the center "coil" contact point and the plug wire "firing" end, resistor opens once in a while! . . . Secondly, what about the cap's central carbon button contact on the inside (from the coil HV wire)?

. . . the ground wire on the movable points advance/retard mounting plate?!!



. . . don't know why I didn't think of this! If braided ground wire is broken, you'll have an intermittent points ground! . . . NOT good!!

[CDN OpelNut]

I had symptoms similar to this once when a rocker nut blew off a stud. The car would run ok under throttle but wouldn't idle well and was noisy as the rocker bounced around.

Can't you find somewhere to pop the valve cover off? It's a five minute job that would at least eliminate some causes.

[wrench459]

tekenaar mentioned the condenser... How would I go about testing that? I know what it is, just not how to tell if it's good or bad...

You'll need a scope to check the oscillations on the primary side.
With only a 5 spot or so its cheaper just to replace the condenser.
Generally when a condenser goes bad it will idle fine but when the rpms are raised the engine will back fire and raise all sorts of cane.
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/local_l...&catid=1&id=57
I think the above link shows a known good condenser pattern
I'm not sure if a rod bearing has spun. What does it sound like hot under a no load at 2500rpms?

[GRS72GT]

Ok, my dad came out here and helped me look things through. We took the valve cover off. It is definitely not a stuck valve. The head is actually immaculate. It also turns out that I really never had a chatter from the valves not being properly adjusted, it was something else...

After about 30 minutes of head scratching, we looked really close at everything. There was a silvery powder and some tiny flakes of the same color in the oil all around the edges and in the little pools of oil around the valves. Definitely points to a bearing issue; either it disintegrated or it is in the process of disintegrating. This was most likely the source of the knocking and the squelching/scraping... It could also be that what I, and others, thought was the need for a valve adjustment was indeed the bearing disintegrating and causing the rod to knock.

Either way, I either have to rebuild the engine and pray my crank doesn't have to be ground The other option is to buy an engine to drop in, which I will probably do for the time factor. I need this car to run ASAP!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. I much appreciate it, and I will definitely remember all the advice!

[ungermm]

I need this car to run ASAP!

I would think that doing an engine rebuild yourself would not be practical. Have you thought of giving Jim (OpelJim) at USAOpel a call? He's close enough (~40 miles). Maybe have yours towed there and have him take care of it. Then have you dad pay for it all. That's what dads are for. I know from experience.

[GRS72GT]

I shot Jim a call after we figured out what was up with the motor. He said he has a motor in his shop that's ready to roll and was recently rebuilt. I'm just going to swap it out to save the time. My dad has everything we need to make the swap at his place, so we're going to have a day-project next week, haha. I will also be able to take the old motor apart to see how bad it is, and see if I can sell any of the parts, or keep them for spares.

[ungermm]

Another though, you might want to go with a rebuilt high compression engine which will give you more horse power.

[myopels]

You might want to check your rockers to see if a nut backed off and let the rocker jump off the valve stem. My Kadette did just that. I heard rattling and then sort of a bang, then a bad power loss. the intake rocker jumped off, and sealed the cylinder from the manifold. I thought the motor was shot until I popped the valve cover and saw the nut was loose. I got another nut, snugged the rocker, and she ran fine.