Issue with ticking from rebuilt 3.0

[pjtoledo]

if the cylinder holds compression the valve isn't bent. testing for being hung requires working the valve by hand.
a cheap test would be to remove the other 5 plugs and manually turn the engine over via the crank bolt.
may switch to another cylinder for comparison.

how much difference between the stem heights?


you can check the valve out after removing the retainer & spring.
I run the piston up kind of close to top dead center then stuff at least 2 feet of rope in thru the plug hole then finish pushing the piston up.
the rope will keep both valves from dropping, then remove the retainer & spring. slowly drop the piston a small amount and work the valve to
check free movement. rotate it too.

while a 3.0 is on an engine stand, looking in the plug hole you can see the valves. if you're a contortionist it may be possible while the engine is in the truck.
a bore scope easily gets in there.

lash caps are sold to correct stem height issues, hopefully the valve & seat are OK.
caps depend on if enough stem is above the retainers for the cap to seat on.
being a 2000 you should have 7mm stems.

check the cam lobe too.
make sure the cup in the lifter is up against the retaining clip.

the danger of a loose pushrod is it may jump off the rocker or lifter, very bad as things tend to get stuck between parts.

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[JHAMMER]

if the cylinder holds compression the valve isn't bent. testing for being hung requires working the valve by hand.
a cheap test would be to remove the other 5 plugs and manually turn the engine over via the crank bolt.
may switch to another cylinder for comparison.

how much difference between the stem heights?


you can check the valve out after removing the retainer & spring.
I run the piston up kind of close to top dead center then stuff at least 2 feet of rope in thru the plug hole then finish pushing the piston up.
the rope will keep both valves from dropping, then remove the retainer & spring. slowly drop the piston a small amount and work the valve to
check free movement. rotate it too.

while a 3.0 is on an engine stand, looking in the plug hole you can see the valves. if you're a contortionist it may be possible while the engine is in the truck.
a bore scope easily gets in there.

lash caps are sold to correct stem height issues, hopefully the valve & seat are OK.
caps depend on if enough stem is above the retainers for the cap to seat on.
being a 2000 you should have 7mm stems.

check the cam lobe too.
make sure the cup in the lifter is up against the retaining clip.

the danger of a loose pushrod is it may jump off the rocker or lifter, very bad as things tend to get stuck between parts.

Free Shipping on Orders Over $109 at Summit Racing

So this morning I put my inspection camera in #3 cylinder and checked for damage or marks from a valve kissing the piston. There are no marks at all on the piston, I tried using my compression tester on the same cylinder and for some reasonnI can't get the fitting for the tester to screw into the spark plug hole. So for now a compression test or filling the cylinder with compressed air is out the window. I'm going to try the rope method next but don't have a spring compressor.

 

[pjtoledo]

the 3.0 cylinder heads need an adapter for some compression testers.
I needed one, the hose would not attach by itself.

most auto parts stores rent tools, many are refundable on return.

 

[JHAMMER]

So I just got done and took her for a drive. I still have a heavy ticking noise, I replaced the valve seal on the cylinder that had the hung exhaust valve. I did like you said and put rope in the sparkplug hole and the valve after a full inspection was not bent. I changed the rocker arm bolt out and was able to get tension on the rod through 2 full rotations of the motor by hand. I think that the treads in the head were the rocker arm bolt goes in is stripped and as soon as the RPMs go up the bolt loses its grip and loosens up. I really hate this motor it has been nothing but a huge pain in my ass. At this point I'm not sure of the fix for the issue. I think that I would have to drill out the rocker arm hole and tape it one size higher. You would think that cast iron heads wouldn't strip out but that's obviously not the case. I might be able to find 2 used heads and just replace the heads but I'm not even entertaining that idea. Ford and all their intelligence (AKA dumb@#$) decided to put the upper intake where I can't remove the driverside valve cover without removing the entire upper which makes for a great time.

 

[JHAMMER]

So I removed the vavle cover and got a 8m Helicoil kit for the repair. I drilled out the hole and put the helicoil in and was able to get its torqued down properly. Unfortunately I still have the same noise but I had previously found a lose lifter on the other head. I'm going to remove the drivers side vavle cover this weekend only because it requires removing the upper intake and a few more items. Hopefully it takes care of he issue and I can get all the rockers and lifters quite.

 

[JHAMMER]

Update: I went back in, tightened all the lifters, and rechecked the ones I did last time. The ticking is still there and at this point, my only thought is that one or more rod bearings have spun or have failed. I pulled the spark plugs on bank 1 and found cylinder 2 had a bent strap to the point where there was no gap. I then pulled the head of Bank 1 to inspect but found no witness marks on any pistons. I guess as
pjtoledo stated when I primed the motor by pressing the accelerator to the floor and rotated the motor for 10 seconds 3 times it didn't prime my oil system properly. I put ass tons of assembly oil on every bearing and part that required oil, so I still am not sure if oil starvation is the culprit but the rod bearings are the next on my checklist.

 

[fij]

Update, I was in the process of installing my new rods and lifter when I came to the exhaust valve for #3. I was tightening each rocker till I came to zero lash, but on this rocker I had to tightening the screw all the way down but the rocker was still loose. So I swapped the rocker with another with the same result. I measured the valve steam to another exhaust valve completely closed and there is a difference is height. So at this point is this a bent valve, or a hung valve has anyone encountered this issue before?

I"m not sure what you book says for adjusting valves. and rockers arms. I didn't see anywhere that there was an adjustment for rocker to push rod. There is just a toque spec for the rocker arms. two should be slightly loose even after torquing. I had a slight knock after head gasket replacement. I manually dropped some oil on top of rockers and rods. I attempted to prime the oil system but I didn't get any oil shooting out. I didn't have a operaable battery so I didn't have a way to build up any pressure. If you didn't toque down your rockers I would say that is where the tapping is coming from.

 

[fij]

Also it is really easy to not get the push rods sitting correctly on the lifters. I had to double check mine twice and turn the engine over to see that all the lifters were operating properly. make sure to double check the rods are square on the lifter.

 

[JHAMMER]

Also it is really easy to not get the push rods sitting correctly on the lifters. I had to double check mine twice and turn the engine over to see that all the lifters were operating properly. make sure to double check the rods are square on the lifter.

Yeah, that is the exact spec I have I found in the guide online and used it. It was a 2 part torque spec and I did it to all of the rockers. So over the weekend I removed the oil pan and installed all new rod bearings fearing I had rod knock due to oil starvation or improper installation. I found 2 con rods that had a significant amount of play in them so I changed the whole set of bearings which are not old and have probably less than 200 miles on them and looked good. I figured I was in there anyway mine as well replace them and retorque them to be safe. I'm glad I dropped the oil pan because I found a tooth from either the Crank gear or the timing gear. I think the issue with my ticking and lifter noise is due to missing that tooth, the timing of the motor might have jumped or could be jumping while driving. I would also say that it's highly probable that some of the noise I'm hearing could be due to a slack timing change. If anyone has any idea if those symptoms seem plausible I would appreciate any input, also how the hell would one tooth break off in the first place? Maybe I got a defective gear but I feel like a true failure would have been more than just one tooth.

 

[pjtoledo]

can you post a pic of the tooth?
did you check the bearing clearances?

plastigauge kit - Search (bing.com)

 

[JHAMMER]

here are some photos

 

[JHAMMER]

Any input on my assumption that this is either from the crank or timing gear?

 

[JHAMMER]

Well I have an update, I changed the timing chain and both gears. I believe I have found the cause of my loud lifter noise. So when I rebuilt the motor I had to get pistons and rings as usual however, the positions I got were 30 over and the ones I took out were 40 over. So needless to say I have been hunting down an issue that will be a major pain in the rear to solve.