I tried starting it again and the engine refused to run?

I checked the oil this morning and it was still as topped up as it was yesterday, and I couldn't put any more in. Sounds the same as yesterday. Just wondering what could be causing the slightly louder noise than the last time it was running properly (2 years ago). At least it is not spewing blue smoke like it was when I left it. Apart from the slightly elevated rattling it seems to be running fine!

So, getting the valve cover off and looking inside is the next thing to do. How do I change the tensioner for the timing chain? I think that may need to be changed.

Yes, sure. No problem.

An interesting development today.

I went out for a short drive and for the first few minutes (less than a mile) blue smoke came out of the tailpipe but lessened the more I drove. Went to a shop and parked the car. On the way back home (about a mile, maybe a little more) there was no blue or white smoke - just the regular exhaust emissions and smells (no where near as bad as it was when this issue first appeared).

When I parked the car in the garage I left the erngine running and popped the hood to listen to the engine. Lo and behold, it was running as quietly as before this problem happened! See video attached which has sound.

So, do I go ahead and take the valve cover off and then the head, or do I leave it as is and just change the oil out?

Hi Joe,

Yes, this happened all by itself! I will change the oil out and change the oil filter.

Hi Joe,

Yesterday I changed the oil, which was an adventure as I did it myself, and the oil came out black. I used oil thinner designed for pre-oil changes. An oddity cropped up. When the oil came out and was decanted into 4L plastic jugs (the 4L distilled/spring water bottles that you can get at Walmart) it filled 2 and 1/3 bottles which works out to around 9.5-10 liters. The oil capacity in my Bentley manual states 6.5L! What's up with that?

Anyway, I put in new oil and drove to various errands putting about 20-30 miles on the engine. Everything now purrs just like it used to! I am absolutely amazed and stumped as I have the videos to prove how bad it was (though I have none with blue smoke billowing out the back).

Also, I am getting the fuel gauge meter, which tells you how many gallons (here it's in Liters/100km) per 100 miles one is getting, down to the 4-5 liters per 100km range, which is way more than it's rated at. This is thanks to getting the DME fixed.

The chassis of the car at the engine end (fenders, hood) no longer gets hot like it did just before the engine locked up. It's barely warm to the touch after finishing the day's errands.

Overall, an amazing fix!

Thanks for helping me through this. Your encouragement contributed to getting this car fixed.

One of the steps that we discussed to do was to change the valve cover gasket. I did this today and boy was it clean inside where the cam was. Here are three images to show you. The old gasket was pretty hard and stiff. I also changed the gasket material where the spark plugs go. The clean lines is probably due to me using Auto-RX, a fluid patented by an American and designed to clean the varnish off of the metal within the engine.

Here is the website: https://auto-rx.com/
I purchased two bottles. When you read up on it, you'll see why. Brilliant product - but stick to their instructions!