valves clattering?

tondog

Registered User
i have an 89 5 speed that i bought a reman motor from ford for. i took the heads off and had them ported, valve job, and double valve springs. i didnt change pushrods or valves. i bought the ford performance non adjustable roller rockers and put those on it. i made sure that all the valves were closed when i torqued them down. now when i first started the car, i could hear a valve clattering(or what sounded like a valve clattering anyway) on the drivers side. so i got the drivers side valve cover off and sure enough, one of the rocker arms was loose(third one from the rear of the motor). i took it off checked for any kind of wear or damage. there was none. i made sure the bolt hole that holds the rocker arm was clean. put it back together and retorqued it. started my car back up and the clattering was still there, but it was much quieter than before. so i took it apart again and im checking it right now and it isnt loose nor any of the others. i turned the motor and checked all of them and they are all tight. now i noticed that the rocker arms do move side to side a bit, and that makes a clattering sound. could this be what im hearing? if so why can i only hear it on the drivers side and not the passenger side? if any one has any suggestions please help!
 
Maybe its a lifter and not the rocker itself. 1 of my lifters had flat spots on the roller because the tiny needle bearings inside suddenly disentagrated (sp). Instead of the rolling on the cam, it was sliding and that caused the rocker arm bolt to loosen because it was actually rattling. Finally the valve just stayed closed and I had to get a tow. Keep in mind, it took a couple of months of driving with the ticking noise but I did remove my SC belt so I could keep driving while I waited for parts. I was really lucky because it didn't damage my cam. good luck
 
oh no, dont tell me that. i just finished building this thing. i dont want to have to tear it down already. so what caused the lifter to make the ticking noise when the roller stopped spinning? what, did the friction from the cam and the roller cause the roller to wear and then you heard the noise? i dont think my motor has been running long enough to wear the lifter out yet. of course im going to make every excuse so that i dont have to tear it apart yet.:D all well, thanks for the suggestion!
 
My engine had been strong and never had to open it. Shortly after switching to 100% synthetic oil I was driving normally, I started up a steep incline and suddenly the ticking started. I used a stethiscope to find where the noise was coming from (2 cylinder pass side) and ordered the parts needed to remove & replace the intake manifold. I kept driving because the engine was still running strong but I did remove the SC belt to stay out of boost. When I took the valve cover off, it was obvious that 1 of the rocker fulcrum bolts had come unscrewed but everything looked fine so I needed to remove the intake manifold. Once I pulled the lifter out, I could see the flat spots on the roller. I was lucky that it didn't damage my cam. To inspest the cam, I used a light and my finger to see if I could notice any difference between that lobe and the others. When I cleaned the lifter in solvent, fine peices of the needle bearings inside the roller started to fall out. The roller had stopped rolling but moves up & down about 1/8" which is why it was chattering and that cause the bolt to loosen up to the point that the valve just stayed closed and the engine stopped running. I hope that helps. good luck
 
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