Roller rocker came off

[jcode68]

Well, took the stang out for a ride tonight and I noticed a pretty loud ticking from the drivers side valve cover. It sounded bad enough for me to turn around and head home. About 1 mile from home, I heard something from the top of the enginemm. Finally got it home, popped the valve cover and saw one of the roller rockers completely off. I checked the push rod on a flat bench and it didn't look bent. I am going to go through and readjust all the rockers this weekend and make sure the locks are good and tight. Anyone know if this could have caused damage with the lifter or cam? I have a hydraulic roller cam and lifter. Also, anyone got a good link to follow for adjusting the valves? I have read 1/2 a turn as well as 3/4 turn for pre load. Thx.

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[TOM B]

When you looked at the loose rocker did the nut back off, was this you first start up and test run after a camshaft installation. if not then something came apart.
You should also check the lifter, is the roller on the lifter ok.
Did the rocker stud on the head pull out.
Maybe it was just not adjusted right and nothing else is wrong.
Pace performance has a very good valve adjustment sequence on ther web site.

Valve Adjustment Procedure

 

[jcode68]

My guess is the lock nut on the rocker came lose and eventually the nut backed completely off. There is no visible damage. The stud did not pull out of the head. I was hoping that I didn't need to pull the intake to check the lifter, I probably won't unless there are problems after valve adjustment. I figure the dog bone and spider would have kept the lifter aligned, so shouldn't be any damage.

Thanks for the link on valve adjustment. This one says 1/4 turn to 1/2 turn. Didn't specify what type of lifters or cam, anyone else have an opinion on how far to adjust the preload? Dhearn, I know you are out there ;-)

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[jlangholzj]

My guess is the lock nut on the rocker came lose and eventually the nut backed completely off. There is no visible damage. The stud did not pull out of the head. I was hoping that I didn't need to pull the intake to check the lifter, I probably won't unless there are problems after valve adjustment. I figure the dog bone and spider would have kept the lifter aligned, so shouldn't be any damage.

Thanks for the link on valve adjustment. This one says 1/4 turn to 1/2 turn. Didn't specify what type of lifters or cam, anyone else have an opinion on how far to adjust the preload? Dhearn, I know you are out there ;-)

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honestly, i had this problem too after a cam install.

what i found to work best:

tighten them all untill the pushrod can't freely move anymore. give it a 1/4 turn, then start it up. Usually, if you put your finger on the stud bolt, you can feel if there is any slap in the lifter. i know each one of my rockers is set just a little bit different. if you want to get really old school, i've seen my grandpa listen to them with a piece of rubber hose, and you can hear if there's any slap.

 

[jcode68]

After reading the thorough instructions on Crane Cams website, I think I will follow their instructions since they are specific to hydraulic roller cams & lifters. They state 1/2 ro a full turn for preload. I will probably go 3/4 to split the difference. I also read on their site that if there is not enough pre load on a lifter, it can cause the push rod to slap against the rocker arm, which not only produces noise, but will cause the lock nut to come loose. Am going to take my time and make sure pre load is set properly and all lock nuts are firmly tightened. Thanks for the responses.

 

[jcode68]

Well, I adjusted the valves per the instructions on Crane Cams website and all seems back to normal, although I seem to be running very lean based on how white my plugs are. Guess I have another issue to research and resolve... They never seem to end, but I guess thats why I enjoy this hobby. There is always something to learn.

 

[jcode68]

Roller rocker came off again!

I took the Stang for another ride tonight and about 10 miles into it, I started to hear the familiar clickity clank noise from under the valve cover. I nursed it home and walked away, so I haven't popped the valve cover yet. But I'm pretty sure what I will find is the roocker (probably the same one as last time) worked itself loose again and came off. I am certain I tightened all of the lock nuts tight when I recently adjusted the valves following the last time this happened. I have probably drove the car 50 miles total since I readjusted the valves. Anyone got some insight as to why this happened again? Do I need to use lock tite? Is it possible for these lock nuts to be defective? I don't want to put it on again only to have this continue. An now I don't trust driving it far until I know this is resolved. Help is appreciated.

 

[10secgoal]

I will teach you a trick grasshopper. The problem is getting the jam nut tight enough with an allen wrench and 5/8. Do this and it will NEVER happen again. Put that one back on, adjust like any other time. Once you get 'em all done, go back with an open 5/8 wrench. Put it on each one and snug the nut again by itself. Probably get a 1/16 out of it if they were tight. This will REALLY bind the locking nut. Since learning this trick, have never had one back off.

 

[jcode68]

I will teach you a trick grasshopper. The problem is getting the jam nut tight enough with an allen wrench and 5/8. Do this and it will NEVER happen again. Put that one back on, adjust like any other time. Once you get 'em all done, go back with an open 5/8 wrench. Put it on each one and snug the nut again by itself. Probably get a 1/16 out of it if they were tight. This will REALLY bind the locking nut. Since learning this trick, have never had one back off.

Aaah, I see now master
I will try this technique and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[jcode68]

Valves adjusted, now I am burning oil!!!

I figured I would continue this thread as I believe the problem is related. I finally got some time today to go back through and readjust the rockers again (too long I know, but kids, business trips, life in general etc get in the way of Mustang time...). When I popped the passenger valve cover, sure enough a rocker was completely off. The lock nut had backed off and ultimately the hold down nut came all the way off. It wasn't the same roicker either, so that tells me I just didn't get enough bind on the jam nut. So I readjusted all of the rockers per Comp Cam's web site and used 10secgoal's tip about going back with just the wrench and got 1/16 turn to really bind them. So I feel good about this part being hopefully resolved.

The rocker that has backed off was the intake valve of cylinder #2. While I had the plugs out of all the cylinders and adjusting the valves, I noticed oil (quite a lot) had come out of the #2 plug hole. This did not happen to any of the other cylinders. I removed that rocker again completely and made sure the pushrod was engaging the lifter properly and it felt good, so I put it back on and adjusted it. I figured maybe there was residual fuel and oil in that cylinder from running the car home a couple of miles when the rocker had come off. So I button everything back up and start the car. Fires right up and sounds good, but I have a lot of smoke out the tailpipe. I left it run for a couple of minutes to see if it was just residual, but it did not get any better. I shut it down and did not drive it.

The only way that I know of oil getting into a cylinder is via bad rings (this a new motor from CHP with under 500 miles on it) or the valve seal. Nothing looked damaged under the valve cover, so I'm not sure how to troubleshoot this without doing a teardown, which I would like to avoid. Could use some help from you guys, thanks in advance.

 

[rbohm]

if you are running lean, you might have a broken ring from inaudible detonation. it does happen more often than you think.

 

[TOM B]

double post

 

[TOM B]

I had a rocker come loose on my new 347 that I built, ***** happens even to the best. I had to drive it for 16 miles to get home and pulled the plug as it was wet with oil, I thought the worst, I fixed the rocker lock and started it up, it smoked,
I let it idle for about a half hour, same thing, so I drove it down the freeway hard with the blower kicked in at 10 psi for 10 miles, guess what, it cleared up, ran great, got home and pulled the plug, super clean, tested the compression, great.
I believe it just took a Hot run to clean it out, that was a year a go and still runs strong with no smoke. remember that the oil was being pumped into the exhaust pipes and needs a good hot run to clean them out to.

 

[jcode68]

Can you clarify what you mean by oil was being pumped into the exhaust pipes? Why would this occur due to a non functioning intake valve? Thanks for the info, I hope my problem is similar.
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[TOM B]

Even a new engine with have a small amount of oil in the cylinder so a used engine will have more. you need a thin oil film so the ring dont seize up.
When you have a cylinder that is not running or one that has the intake valve closed all the time, the oil builds up, this is because the cylinder has NO compression to force the oil off the rings. If you ran it to get home the oil will build up on the plug because you have no gas or air and it then gets pushed out in the exhaust pipe.
A good running engine you wont notice burning oil because it is very very small amount.

 

[jcode68]

Ok, now I get it. Thanks for the explanation. I'll take it out for a good rip tomorrow and hopefully flush the demons out.
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[jcode68]

Thanks again for the info TOM B, I took it out for a good 10 mile rip today and smoke was gone after about 2 miles. I also replaced the pulg for that cylinder since it got pretty fouled. Seems to be running normal again.

 

[TOM B]

That great