Hi all - new to this forum - I have an ea81 motor (recon) with a weird "clackity clackity" noise at idle - that completely disappears at about 1200 revs - then comes back at idle - it was REALLY bad when I first got the motor going and after I adjusted the valve clearances it was a LOT better but still annoyingly noticeable - any rate I pulled the motor out and sump off and noticed that the camshaft gear will move about 2-3 mm - the workshop manual puts the camshaft thrust clearance at .020 mm - I cant see if the gear is loose on the camshaft (press fit) or the whole cam is moving back and forward - would this be making the noise ? the gear looks ok - no horrid wear - the valve train looks ok (recon motor) - I think it has solid lifters - any ideas ? Cheers

Well I looked a bit closer - and the camshaft gear is loose on the camshaft - oh dear !