Ok, ready for some more help with my clacking engine..

[bloopbloob]

Thanks for the help so far. thought i'd start a new thread to keep it simple without all the stories. Here's the video that shows how it sounds like a diesel engine, then some pics(i have more if it would help, also)with valve covers off. My question is now what? I didn't find anything obvious in there like i thought i might.... only thing i noticed was oil on the upper to lower intake gasket... so where do i go from here?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Xwjbev08FY

also, if i'm doing all this already, is there anything that would be worth upgrading while i'm at it? like springs or some 1.7 rockers? would they really help much with the basic mods i have (in sig)? funds are low, but i could swing it if it meant not having to go through all this work again down the line...

 

[n2o-89fox]

I would take off the rockers and pull out the push rods and see if any of them are bent. Also if they are good I would put the intake back on but leave the valve covers off and start the car to see where the noise is comming from.

 

[Maryland Stang]

Wow! My roller rockers are noisy but that is just wrong.

Without being right there it's hard to even tell where the sound is coming from.

What's the oil pressure like?

Did you check the timing lately. Hook a timing light up and then rev the engine up and down while watching the timing. Is it jumping around when you go from revving to not revving? (Timing chain)

Pull the inspection cover off of the bottom of the bell housing and see if anything is hitting the flywheel.

BTW, with the mods you have you should see if you can find an Explorer intake somewhere. It would work well with what you have.

 

[Foxfan88]

+1 on unbolting rockers and checking each pushrod for any bent ones.

and like stated above, put the upper back on and start the engine. it will fling oil around but it wont take long to find the noise. take a few feet of rubber hose, and hold one end up to your ear. then the other end to each rocker arm until you hear the ticking load, you will be able to tell where its at easy.

 

[bloopbloob]

ok. well i've never done this before, what do i need to know before i take off the rockers? do them one at a time then put them back on as i go? i'm guessing order matters? i'm sure i'll need a torque wrench, right? someone told me today about having to use a feeler guage for something? sorry for all the questions... but i'm a total noob to this, and its being done in a parking lot, so i'd like to be prepared and know what i'm doing here.... thanks.

 

[redneck15431]

Yes, your best bet is to get a torque wrench because you will need it to retorque the rockers back on. Just make sure you keep track of everything and keep everything in order or else you will end up with a mess full of parts and missing pieces. Even label them if it helps you. Taking out rocker's is fairly easy. The tedious and time consuming part is putting them back on. You have to make sure that whatever cylinder you are working on is at TDC (Top Dead Center) before you torque the rockers back to spec. Which means the piston is at the very top of the cylinder and both valves are COMPLETELY closed. You will have to turn the engine by hand to do this. Take out the spark plugs though before you turn over the engine...it makes it worlds easier. Also when you put the rockers back on, make sure that your pushrods are resting in the center of the lifter and the rocker arm...I bent a pushrod one time because I was in a hurry and didn't check..lol. So I ended up having to tear it all back apart. Other than a torque wrench you don't need any special tools to do this.

My pushrod was barely visibly bent, but you could still see it, so I reccomend rolling them on a completely flat surface and see if they wobble.

Good Luck!

 

[BlooDReigN]

Did you turn the engine over by hand yet to check if any of the rockers are loose? You could have a loose rocker that FEELS tight, because the lobe of the camshaft is pushing up on it. Turn the engine over a little bit at a time by hand (I believe you need a 15/16 socket) and try and wiggle the rocker arms around. If you don't find anything...proceed with the removal of the rocker arms and pushrods. If you find nothing there, you probably want to remove your lower intake next and check out the lifters.

If nothing is wrong there, I would suspect bottom end damage like a spun bearing or something.

 

[battyice]

When you take the rockers off to check out the pushrods, take a close look at the rocker arm itself and the pedestal stand. A cracked pedestal stand can cause some serious noise.

 

[bloopbloob]

ok well it has finally stopped snowing and we actually had a nice day here today. so my next question is: are all the rockers supposed to be at the same angle? i suspect the noise is coming from the drivers side, and the rockers on that side are not lined up, but on the passenger side they all look almost exactly the same.... pulled the two most crooked rockers off,and the pushrods seem straight... just looking for some more advice before i keep going... thx

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

the rockers are easy, just get a 1/2 socket and rachet and take em off, not very hard to do... take all the pushrods out and roll them on a flat surface, like the kitchen table, to make sure they are not bent, my 86 almost all of the pushrods were bent but very slightly, so there was no noise!! but if that does not solve your problems, and your oil pressure is good around 30psi at a hot idle, its your lifters im 100% sure on that!!

 

[Fsg231]

ur problem....

lol, ok ur rockers are way out of adjusment, sorry i had too rewrite this post, chevys make that all teh time, get urself a feeler gauge, and start adjusting

 

[bloopbloob]

ok well here's a pic of what i'm talking about... oil pressure was normal (drove it almost 400km sounding like this!), there was oil on top of all the rockers. if you look at the passenger side pic i posted in the first post, all the rockers line up, could put a straight edge across and touch them all. but in this pic, i tried to highlight the ones that are crooked... i removed the worst ones to check pushrods, (labeled A) . also, if it is a lifter, since i drove it 400km at almost 2k rpms, will i need a new cam?

 

[Foxfan88]

thats perfectly normal. those particular rockers are on a camshaft lobe. and its pushing the valve open. thats how the engine works, the camshaft rotates and the lobe pushes up on the lifter and pushrod, pushing the rocker, the rocker pivots and pushed the valve open to let air into/out of the cylinder. ther rockers move up and down constantly when the engine is running.

to see it better, rotate the engine by hand and the rockers will move up and down.

just take them all off, they are easy to take off and check for bent pushrods.

 

[Foxfan88]

lol, ok ur rockers are way out of adjusment, sorry i had too rewrite this post, chevys make that all teh time, get urself a feeler gauge, and start adjusting

her doesnt need a feeler gauge, the only time you use a feeler gauge is for a solid cam. 5.0s have a hydralic cam and you have to set preload in the lifter rather than lash.

 

[ls1beater4eva]

howmuch oil pressure you say u have ? it sounds like there are no lifters pumping up, when this noise started happening where u getting on the car pretty hard or was it normal driving ?

 

[bloopbloob]

howmuch oil pressure you say u have ? it sounds like there are no lifters pumping up, when this noise started happening where u getting on the car pretty hard or was it normal driving ?

just have the stock oil pressure guage, but it sits where it always has, around the "O" to "R" on NORMAL. Had the engine rebuilt about 2 years ago, with new bearings, new timing chain, and new oil pump. This happened after about a 5k rpm in 5th gear pull

 

[bloopbloob]

thats perfectly normal. those particular rockers are on a camshaft lobe. and its pushing the valve open. thats how the engine works, the camshaft rotates and the lobe pushes up on the lifter and pushrod, pushing the rocker, the rocker pivots and pushed the valve open to let air into/out of the cylinder. ther rockers move up and down constantly when the engine is running.

to see it better, rotate the engine by hand and the rockers will move up and down.

just take them all off, they are easy to take off and check for bent pushrods.

ok thanks. i do understand the concept of how it all works, but i just don't understand why on the passenger side, they all are lined up perfectly (you can see in one of the first pics posted), but on the drivers side they aren't... just seemed odd to me.

 

[ls1beater4eva]

ok sorry if this is off topic for just a second what on earth where u doing at 5 grand in 5 gear lol racing a bike, ok anyways maybe u stretched a rod bc thats alot of rpm for a 5 gear pull check your valve springs and see if any of them are broke , loose any of that kind of stuff .

 

[bloopbloob]

ok sorry if this is off topic for just a second what on earth where u doing at 5 grand in 5 gear lol racing a bike, ok anyways maybe u stretched a rod bc thats alot of rpm for a 5 gear pull check your valve springs and see if any of them are broke , loose any of that kind of stuff .

ya i know it was stupid... long story. going through a rough time. i'll just say my safety wasn't on my mind.
springs aren't broke, as far as i know. all seem fine just lookin at them. is there a way they could be damaged without obviously looking damaged? and how do the springs come off? so basically from what i hear so far, i guess i'll just start pullin all the pushrods and checkin them all, then move to lifters if i can't find anything? i'm pretty set on the idea of it being a seized lifter, now that its apart and can't see any scarring or anything else obvious....

 

[bloopbloob]

ttt... haven't done anything except check the 2 pushrods, still hoping for a bit more input before i start messing with the whole valvetrain and maybe screw it all up.......