bent valve?

[92-Eco]

I screwed up today. i was adjusting/checking my timing, had the ratchet and socket on the crank pulley to get everything TDC. Checked the timing, it was ok, started the car and heard a loud noise.....so i quickly shut it off and went to look for the problem and saw that i had forgotten to remove my ratchet from the pulley. the pulley was off of the snout of the crank with ratchet and crank bolt lying on the ground below. So i put it all back together and I rotated the engine by hand to make sure it was smooth, it was, so i timed it and then started it back up. I now have a slight tick that gets faster as rpm increases. It sounds like a bent valve but the car runs/drives as normal and dosent smoke or anything abnormal??? What are the signs of a bent valve?

[maxfax]

Generally a bent valve won;t seal properly causing low to no compression..  It will hiss or puff out the intake or exhaust (pending on which valve it is) as during the compression stroke all the compression will be pushed though the valve...  If it's running okay and just ticking, maybe you got lucky and just fubared a lifter..    A compression test would tell the tale...

[jtanguay]

pull the valve cover and inspect the lifters.  there's also a chance that you slightly bent some valves...

[theman53]

I think it was MykeW on here that bent a rod in his wife's TDI doing the same thing...we all make mistakes. Good luck with it and I bet that if it is a hydro head all you did was smash one of the followers/cover.

[92-Eco]

well, i pulled my valve cover and checked the lifters, my #3 intake lifter was a little low. So, I pulled the cam out to get a better look at the lifters and the low one was collapsed. The center was pushed in farther than all others. The valve stems looked perfectly even and I measured them just to be sure. Good news i guess  , but what is inside the lifter to let it collapse like this?

[92EcoDiesel Jetta]

Good to hear the damage is light. Can you shooot some pics of the collapsed lifter?

When I did my timing belt, I disconnected the battery and also left a note on the battery to check the sprocket bolt, IP sprocket and cam locks.

[92-Eco]

Yeah, Ill post some pics tomorrow night. I like the note on the battery-great idea, lol, sure dont wanna go through this again

[arb]

Good to hear the damage is light. Can you shooot some pics of the collapsed lifter?

When I did my timing belt, I disconnected the battery and also left a note on the battery to check the sprocket bolt, IP sprocket and cam locks.

Almost every service manual starts with "Remove negative battery cable" - kind of a safety measure so you have to do a mental check before starting the engine.

Glad you don't have to drop $60 to pop the head (12mm bolts).

[lovinthedeez]

why was the crank bolt out/loose enough to fall out?  its the four small hex head bolts that hold the pulley on.

[arb]

why was the crank bolt out/loose enough to fall out?  its the four small hex head bolts that hold the pulley on.

Looking a the crank pulley from the passenger side, the engine turns clock wise. Leaving the socket / wrench on the bolt, as soon as he started it, it would have come in contact with something - drive shaft maybe, and the engine would have unscrewed the pulley bolt.

Sound about right 92-Eco ?

[lovinthedeez]

hard to believe that the bolt would have spun its way all the way out to fall on the floor.  i'd think the rachet would fall off the bolt at the first impact, and thats assuming it(the rachet mechanism) didn't break trying to loosen one of the gnarliest bolts to get loose on a motor.

[92-Eco]

yes i agree it sounds kinda odd but arb's right, thats exactly how it happened. it is hard to believe that the socket/ratchet stayed on long enough to spin it completely out and fall on the ground but......the engine spins pretty quick compared to the threads on that bolt so it wouldnt take but the 1-2 seconds it was running to spin it off. Glad i didnt have to pull the head though. didnt have time to get any pictures of the lifter yet but i will soon...