Hi guys,

I am posting this to hopefully save you guys some money and also kill the paranoia of the valve retainers failing.

It is common knowledge that these fail mainly due to an over rev of the engine normally due to a miss shift. I have read on this forum many post of fellow members being paranoid about these failing due to wear and tear also.

My car: 2001 7 owners, I know nothing about the previous history of the other than its servicing. 105,000 miles.

I was concerned that my retainers were cracked and were basically a ticking time bomb waiting to drop a valve and lunch my engine. For peace of mind and hopefully to save myself th cost of a new engine I pulled the trigger and had the retainers upgraded to 04+.

I had the work carried out by Performance Autoworks in Fairford, great guys, recommend them.

Here are the retainers removed from my car:





As you can see there is nothing wrong with my old retainers, the cotters are immaculate also.

There is no signs of cracking, they are in brand spanking new condition!

So where does that leave me? £400 out of pocket HOWEVER my mind is at ease knowing that I have upgraded retainers and cotters installed. All depends on how much peace of mind is worth to you.

Maybe it is time to end the paranoia, and start enjoying the car.

Mike

NOTE: I am no mechanic, I have not posted this in the aim to stop people upgrading them, I have posted this to ease fellow owners minds.

 

You would need to put them under a microscope to look for micro cracks to see whether they are at risk.

If you want if you send me some I can get the lab at work to have a look under the microscope to see if these cracks exist or not?

 

Good idea to do them though,, i am going to do mine later in the year, its an insurance policy really, your engine is now pretty much bomb proof and can now take 10700 rpm in a miss shift, there are plenty of guys in the states that hove done this and found cracks, so i reckon it's £400 well spent.

 

Could be very interesting to see under a microscope Rob

 

Microscope won't help too much at least initially

This would be your starter for ten
http://www.elmerwallace.co.uk/Dye-Pe...an-Kit/163.htm

Other brands are available but this is the stuff I'm most familiar with