1971 Beetle Rocker Assembly Fell Off

[signsoflifesa]

I've been overseas and left our beetle in the care of our daughter. Got back this week and she informed me she hasn't driven it much because it wasn't running right. I started it up and found a misfire in 1 & 2 cylinders. Changed plugs, checked timing, etc. No help. Thought I would take off the tappet cover and when I did the rocker arm assembly bolts had come off the studs and the whole thing was loose. That is why it was "misfiring." So, my question...what kind of damage could this have done? I'm getting smoke from that side of the exhaust now. Wasn't before I left. So I'm wondering what could have happened. I rebuilt this engine two years ago this July. I torqued the bolts but evidently it didn't hold.

[miniman82]

Probably nothing, put it back together and see. If anything, it might have boogered up the tips of the pushrods.
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[Quokka42]

Depends how far out they were and how long. Pull your pushrods out and roll them on a flat surface to check if they are straight - a visual check under a bright light will show any damage to the tips or rocker cups. Pop them back on with a bit of blue loctite and loctite and tighten the other side.
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There has only ever been one man who was perfect, and they nailed Him to a cross.

[signsoflifesa]

Thanks for the replies. I will have to find out why it is smoking on that side now. The nuts had completely come off, but the assembly was still on the studs...doing nothing, obviously.

[VWCOOL]

It may be smoking on that side (exhaust smoke?) due to a build-up of unburnt carbon etc due to its 'misfiring' when the rockers were loose

Give it time to burn off...

Hope this helps

[bugguy076]

I had this happen to me a couple of times. It's not that big of a deal. Just check the push rods like stated above and for any other bent or broken parts. . Reasemble and reset the valve gap. Should be OK.

[signsoflifesa]

Thanks again for the replies. It seems the smoking has all but disappeared. Now just trying to get the valve cover to stop leaking.

[Rome]

Hope there's no lasting damage. Did you put wavy lockwashers under the nuts when you fastened the rocker assembly to the two studs? And make sure that those C-clips are properly fitting onto the shaft, so that they cannot pop off in case they were really worn?

[HRVW]

Use a 8x15mm nut and NO washer to hold the rocker arms down.

(old engine builder of 28 yrs)