I have a 67 Cougar XR7 with a 1969 351w that only has about 2000 miles on the motor. It has a roller cam with tie-bar roller lifters. I'm having an issue with the lifters/rocker arms ticking and I can't get it to go away. It seems to tick once the engine is warmed up, but upon initial start-up I don't seem to notice it. The hotter the engine gets, the more they tick.
I had the rocker arm nuts turned 1/2 turn, so last weekend I tightened them another 1/4 turn to make it a total of 3/4 turn. Still ticking. So last night I tightened the nuts another 1/4 turn, for a total of 1 full turn. I drove the car and now I noticed the engine popping through the exhaust AND the rocker arms/lifters are still ticking. So I back it off 1/4 turn, back down to a total of 3/4 turn. It runs strong with no popping through the exhaust at this setting, but the lifters still tick.
Does anyone know what the problem is? Why do the rocker arms/lifters tick no matter how tight I have the rocker arm nuts? The oil pressure is 50#, so it's not low on pressure. I can't imagine the lifters are bad since they are pretty new (they have been doing this since the engine was rebuilt). It's not just one lifter/rocker arm ticking, they all tick. I took a picture of the rocker arm pattern on the valve and it seems the pushrod may be a little long, as the wear pattern starts in the center of the valve and rolls to about 3/4 the way across the far side of the valve (I attached a picture). But I doubt push rods being a little too long will cause ticking lifters/rocker arms. Am I wrong? I'm at a loss of what the problem could be. Any ideas guys???? Thanks for the advice....
I had the rocker arm nuts turned 1/2 turn, so last weekend I tightened them another 1/4 turn to make it a total of 3/4 turn. Still ticking. So last night I tightened the nuts another 1/4 turn, for a total of 1 full turn. I drove the car and now I noticed the engine popping through the exhaust AND the rocker arms/lifters are still ticking. So I back it off 1/4 turn, back down to a total of 3/4 turn. It runs strong with no popping through the exhaust at this setting, but the lifters still tick.
Does anyone know what the problem is? Why do the rocker arms/lifters tick no matter how tight I have the rocker arm nuts? The oil pressure is 50#, so it's not low on pressure. I can't imagine the lifters are bad since they are pretty new (they have been doing this since the engine was rebuilt). It's not just one lifter/rocker arm ticking, they all tick. I took a picture of the rocker arm pattern on the valve and it seems the pushrod may be a little long, as the wear pattern starts in the center of the valve and rolls to about 3/4 the way across the far side of the valve (I attached a picture). But I doubt push rods being a little too long will cause ticking lifters/rocker arms. Am I wrong? I'm at a loss of what the problem could be. Any ideas guys???? Thanks for the advice....