Lifter tick is back

[optmaxx]

Well, I think that it's lifter tick. I did the test where you would unplug an injector for each cylinder, and the tick sound didn't change. The tick is louder at at start up and it lessens as I drive it, but it's still there. At first I thought that it could be piston slap because it's pretty loud, but the injector test showed that there was no change in sound, and it sounds like it could be one lifter.

I had changed the lifters once already, and the diesel sound did improve, but recently I had to remove the head to change a piston ring, so maybe some coolant got in. Or one bled down and it's having a hard time pumping up? It's been a few days and the noise seems to linger longer and it's not as quite; It does sound like it's coming from the top end too. Does this seem like it could be a lifter? I guess I should pull out the cam too if I have to pull the lifters again.

[Cheromaniac]

With any luck it could be just a stuck lifter so you could try adding Marvel's Mystery Oil or other additive in the crankcase and see if that frees it up.
Otherwise you could find yourself pulling the head again to check the lifters. With the lifters out, you could also peer down the lifter bores and check the condition of the cam lobes.

[optmaxx]

Thanks, I might try that MM stuff. I did put in the Rislone concentrate additive today that's supposed to unstick stuff, will it be over kill by adding some MM in there too? I'll check what's going on under the valve cover too.

Just wondering, what kind of power can I get from the 258 block? I still hung on to the block and the 4.0 head with the sealed water jackets just in case.

I actually did look at the cam while under the jeep with the oil pan off, and I didn't see anything odd. The tick does go away when revving to 2k RPMs, I guess I should find out if it could be the flex plate too. I will give it some time before I make the big decision to open it up...about how long should I give it?

[optmaxx]

What I meant to say is, can you get about 200 hp or more from the 258 block/4.0 head from a rebuild?

[Cheromaniac]

Thanks, I might try that MM stuff. I did put in the Rislone concentrate additive today that's supposed to unstick stuff, will it be over kill by adding some MM in there too?

It's worth a try. You've got nothing to lose.

Just wondering, what kind of power can I get from the 258 block? I still hung on to the block and the 4.0 head with the sealed water jackets just in case.

You could get 220+ flywheel HP (double the original HP number of the 258) if built right. The only limitation is that the smaller 3.75" bore doesn't lend itself to using bigger than stock valves on the 4.0 head, so you're better off building the 258 for low/medium rpm torque rather than going for a high HP number

I actually did look at the cam while under the jeep with the oil pan off, and I didn't see anything odd. The tick does go away when revving to 2k RPMs

That's encouraging but are you 100% sure that the ticking noise isn't just being drowned out by other noises above 2k rpm?

[optmaxx]

No, I'm not really sure, it could be drowned out like you say. At 2k I just hear the smooth exhaust blowing, and wish that it sounded more like that at idle haha. I'll give it about a month or so and probably open it up, I figure that I should do the cam also or at least inspect just to rule it out because it was a little hard to gauge them from under there, plus I may not be experienced enough to know. I'm not giving up on my stroker yet, I plan to run it till I start losing compression or if the noise gets way too much.

What about wrist pins? Will those tick, and will they quite down when unplugging the fuel injectors for each cylinder?

[optmaxx]

Well, after a drive today I just figure that my stroker is not healthy. I was checking to see how my blow by is doing from the oil filler and dip stick tube, and I don't get any at idle. However, when I rev it by hand, a little bit of smoke does come out of both the oil filler and dip sick tube (with out dip stick), but when I held the RPM I saw some oil come out of the dip stick tube and that didn't seem good to me. There isn't a whole lot of smoke coming from the crankcase when revving, it's very light actually, but the oil coming from the tube is what concerned me. At idle there's nothing coming out from either place.

I'm not sure how normal that is, but if it's not then I'll have to look at some options. Any ideas will be helpful.

[Cheromaniac]

It sounds like you still have a mild degree of piston ring blow-by. That, combined with the lifter tick, would need yet another engine teardown to fix so you might as well just leave it as it is and run it until something breaks.

[jeepxj3]

You might try a can of 'Restore'. I have had good luck with it. It will help your lifter tick and ring issue.

[Russ Pottenger]

I don't think the problem was fully addressed in the ' broken ring thread '.
You had a picture of a scuffed piston and that had to get transferred to the cylinder wall.
Installing new piston rings wasn't going to fix the problem.

That said, if you can live with the tick and blow bye might be ok for now.

[optmaxx]

No doubt, it was just a little overwhelming to have that lifter tick and still have some blowby. I still have the KBs that are also .020+ that I couldn't sell no matter how low I put them haha, but those will raise my compression and the highest octane we have in SD is 91, plus I'm pretty sure we have terrible fuel here. My stroker seemed to hate ARCO even with the dished Bulltears, but seemed ok with Mobil or Shell.

However, I have been giving running those KBs some thought. If my walls end up only needing some honing, will it be possible to run these KBs? My Jeep is supposed to be my daily driver so I couldn't address my problem right away, and pinging does worry me because I've read that can cause scuffing too. Or are my Bulltears still good to use? I also have access to 4.2 con rods.

[Russ Pottenger]

I think it would be worth a try to save and reuse the pistons you are currently running.
First I would have your machine shop verify that all the clearances are correct. They should be able to do a minimal dust on the cylinder bores. The purpose isn't to eliminate all of the vertical scratches just the hi spots and to reestablish a crosshatch for ring seal.

Next we have to address the piston skirts. First the pistons need to be totally oil free. Your machine shop should have access to a glass bead cabinet. Care should be taken to protect the ring grooves and ring land area. I use duct tape.
Blasting the skirts will remove anything that's impregnated into the aluminum and improve the surface finish. Following up with Scotch-Brite will leave you with some pretty impressive results. Follow it up with a thorough cleaning. Sonic cleaning works best.

[optmaxx]

I had some time so I was able to pop out my pistons and find out the cause of the rest of the blowby. Yup, the answer was obvious, 4 pistons had one broken ring each and I had one more piston with two broken rings. It's was weird that the compression was high on that other piston with the two broken rings, and I wasn't getting rough idling after changing the rings on the #6 piston; the #6 piston rings were intact and good. The original rings that came with my rebuild kit were the thinner metrics and the new rings I used in the #6 piston were 5/64 in, but I doubt that has anything to do with it. I'm guessing it overheated early on without me realizing it because I never noticed my temp gauge showing it overheating when i was able to look at it.

On the plus side, #1 and #2 pistons and their walls showed very little wear and look very reusable (I posted pics of the pistons). I'm pretty sure that the walls can be rehoned, but I'll still have to figure out what to do about the other 4 pistons because my machinist didn't seem to want to bead blast them. Also, all of the pistons seem to rock pretty easy except for #6, it feels a little stiff, but I'm still able to pivot it on it's pin. Another plus is that the bearings looked good too.

Also, would broken rings cause and engine to be noisy? I'll be checking the camshaft since I have the engine apart.

[SilverXJ]

The original rings that came with my rebuild kit were the thinner metrics and the new rings I used in the #6 piston were 5/64 in, but I doubt that has anything to do with it.

You put metric rings on pistons that require standard rings? What pistons are you running?

[Frankenstien]

Yep wrong rings are an issue. Not checking for gap then I'm guessing too?