ok so i started my stroker yesterday and everything was perfect with the help of silverxj and his timing wisdom now i have a ticking noise that changes with engine speed, so i took the valve cover off and primed the system again to make sure everything was getting oil. the #3 cylinder push rod {closet to the rear} is not getting any oil now? every other cylinder is pouring oil except that one? any thoughts or suggestions before i pull the head and or pull the oil pan to check my connecting rod bearing?
Thats not a good sign. It means the lifter isn't pushing oil up through the push rod. Could be a stuck lifter, or flattened cam lobe maybe? Don't see how the rod bearing would do something to change the oil flow thought the pushrod.
should i take the head off and pull the lifter out?, and ill check the feed passage to the lifter bore as well. the connecting rod bearing could have a blocked passage, the connecting rod is fed before the lifter right? could the lobe really wear down that fast?
The connecting rod doesn't feed the lifter. Don't go pulling the head off just yet. How were you priming the engine (turning it over with the starter or drill on the oil pump)? Can you feel play in the push rod? Can you push down on the rocker arm and feel the spring in the lifter push it back up? I would pull the push rod, make sure it is not bent. Then use an inspection mirror and flash light and see if you can see the lifter and verify that the cup is where it should be. Are you sure that the tick is coming from that push rod?
i primed with a drill, i did pull the push rod to make sure it was not bent or clogged. the noise sounds like lifter, and since that one is not getting oil i am going to investigate anyway. i even pumped up my lifters before i put them in the engine, how can u tell if the cup is misaligned? and is it possible that the lifter it self is clogged or faulty? i will pull the valve cover again and check to see if i can push the rocker down and feel the spring
Try rotating the engine and then prime again. Sometimes the lifters won't push the oil up if they are in a certain position. Also, run the engine with the valve cover off and see if you can narrow the sound down. What is your pre load set at? As for the cup you want to make sure it is at the top of the lifter, not sunk down in the lifter body. It could be a stuck lifter. Once you narrow down which one, try tapping the rocker with a rubber hammer or something else soft, which may free up the lifter.
Always start a fresh engine with the valve cover off; or any cam/valve train replacements or even any time you've had the head removed. In addition to seeing oil flow down every rocker arm when you prime you want to make sure that everything is rotating, lifters, push rods, and valves once you start it the first time.
I fear the worst has already been done, the lifter maybe collapsed, or ate through on its face. By all means though take the advice and make 100% sure you can't get oil up to the rocker before doing anything else. Don't run the engine for any reason though... If the cam and/or lifter got ate up during break in you have a lot of wear metal in your oil system right now.
I can't prove it but I think Wiping a lobe or dishing a lifter face is good for copper colored mains in short order. Everything I've torn down that had a bad cam/lifter also had excessive bearing wear on the mains and rods with copper showing through. Including my own 258 that came out of the YJ years ago that ate a HESCO RVOB cam and I didn't even know it until years later when I tore it down.
BTW I hear yah on that rain, same down here in VA. It's like Monsoon season here.
thanks for the info, im not giving up yet im going to pull the valve cover and see if the lifter is just stuck and im going to rotate it as well. its so crazy because it was running like a champ.
Yeah it costs you nothing to check it out totally, so it makes sense to. Hopefully my intuition is wrong. As I was saying the old 258 in my YJ ran fine with a rounded lobe on the RVOB and a dished lifter, it wouldn't have for much longer than it did, but other reasons caused the engine to get yanked before it started running bad.
shockcocker04 wrote:ok so i started my stroker yesterday and everything was perfect with the help of silverxj and his timing wisdom now i have a ticking noise that changes with engine speed, so i took the valve cover off and primed the system again to make sure everything was getting oil. the #3 cylinder push rod {closet to the rear} is not getting any oil now? every other cylinder is pouring oil except that one? any thoughts or suggestions before i pull the head and or pull the oil pan to check my connecting rod bearing?
thanks guys, bryan
Sounds like the no.3 exhaust lifter isn't getting pumped up by oil flow. One reason could be that a piece of dirt or other material has got stuck in the lifter. That wouldn't be so bad. Worse is if a cam bearing has spun but if that happened, there wouldn't be only one lifter not pumping up with oil.
Check the lifter preload on the no.3 exhaust. If you find that the lifter's collapsed, you'll have no option but to pull the head to replace it. Just pray that the corresponding cam lobe is OK.
Its fixed i pulled the cover when the rain let up today and inspected everything, i took the rocker assembly off the #3 mounts and pushed the lifter with the push rod, it did not compress or push back at all. so i put the rocker assembly back together and tapped on the #3 exhaust rocker with my rubber hammer and it just clicked. Then i primed the system for the 10th time with my drill and it started pouring oil!!!! so i timed it and fired her up with the valve cover off and the noise was gone and all push rods were pouring oil. Also i noticed that it idled better to? must of not been opening the exhaust valve enough.
now i have a ticking noise that changes with engine speed, so i took the valve cover off and primed the system again to make sure everything was getting oil. the #3 cylinder push rod {closet to the rear} is not getting any oil now? every other cylinder is pouring oil except that one? any thoughts or suggestions before i pull the head and or pull the oil pan to check my connecting rod bearing?
i hope its just stuck because i would hate to have to pull the head lol
im going to pull the valve cover and see if the lifter is just stuck and im going to rotate it as well. its so crazy because it was running like a champ.
i pulled the cover when the rain let up today and inspected everything, i took the rocker assembly off the #3 mounts and pushed the lifter with the push rod, it did not compress or push back at all. so i put the rocker assembly back together and tapped on the #3 exhaust rocker with my rubber hammer and it just clicked. Then i primed the system for the 10th time with my drill and it started pouring oil!!!! so i timed it and fired her up with the valve cover off and the noise was gone and all push rods were pouring oil. Also i noticed that it idled better to? must of not been opening the exhaust valve enough.