Newly rebuilt 29 cold tapping.

[richard booth]

So I recently rebuilt the 2.9 in my wife's 88 Bronco 2, man it runs great, I put headers, exhaust (mostly because it sounds good) but my issue is that though I got new pushrods, cam and lifters and new heads (odessa) I didn't touch the rockers, when it first starts it has noticeable tapping for like 5 to 7 seconds.the engine ran quiet before, it had 236,000 and not much power so I didn't adjust the rockers and the pushrods seemed snug when you twist them in valve closed position. Question is can you check and adjust this rocker assembly to eliminate the cold start tapping? Thanks for your time all, Rich.

 

[dvdswan]

Did you oil soak the lifters before installing them? I'm just guessing here.

 

[RumPunch]

So I haven’t done break in of my cam/lifters yet but I did replace rockers, push rods, cam, lifters, and heads. I have started it 3 times less than 20 seconds total but sounds smooth as can be. I did not soak lifters as it can affect presetting of lash. I did not replace rocker shafts but did clean them and lubed everything with Lucas assembly lube. How did you set valve lash? Or did you just reinstall rocker with original adjustments?

 

[dvdswan]

2.9 Cylinder Head Replacement – By KTRANGER – The Ranger Station

valve lash is about halfway down the page.

 

[richard booth]

So I haven’t done break in of my cam/lifters yet but I did replace rockers, push rods, cam, lifters, and heads. I have started it 3 times less than 20 seconds total but sounds smooth as can be. I did not soak lifters as it can affect presetting of lash. I did not replace rocker shafts but did clean them and lubed everything with Lucas assembly lube. How did you set valve lash? Or did you just reinstall rocker with original adjustments?

I put new heads

 

[richard booth]

I did just clean the Rockers and replace them with 0 adjustment, I replaced the heads with new ones, had new pushrods, Cam and lifters. And the original engine before the rebuild was quiet and ran good it just had 236,000 miles. Thanks a lot!

 

[richard booth]

2.9 Cylinder Head Replacement – By KTRANGER – The Ranger Station

valve lash is about halfway down the page.

Thanks! Should have looked in the book.

 

[RumPunch]

Get the valves adjusted?

 

[rang-a-stang]

I put a set of brand new Comp Cams Hydraulic flat lifters in another engine and had the same problem. EXTREMELY long story short, 2 of the brand new lifters (all from the same box, same part number, same lot number) were assembled wrong from the factory. This allowed oil to leak past the pushrod cup and the lifter never really "pumped up". This was very hard to diagnose because oil was making it everywhere it was supposed to go, rocker adjustments were normal, but oil pressure was slightly low and the pushrod would drain out after sitting for a while.

Not saying this is your issue but might want to keep it in mind.

 

[richard booth]

So I haven’t done break in of my cam/lifters yet but I did replace rockers, push rods, cam, lifters, and heads. I have started it 3 times less than 20 seconds total but sounds smooth as can be. I did not soak lifters as it can affect presetting of lash. I did not replace rocker shafts but did clean them and lubed everything with Lucas assembly lube. How did you set valve lash? Or did you just reinstall rocker with original adjustments?

Sorry for the late reply, I just left the rockers and you could barely spin the push rods by hand and I did not properly set the lifter preload like I should have, one idiotic fail and I will have to take the valve covers and upper intake back off and do it right, lesson learned.

 

[richard booth]

Did you oil soak the lifters before installing them? I'm just guessing here.

Sorry for the late reply, I did soak them and failed to do the preload adjustment, so I have to take it back apart and do it correctly like I should have done while it was on an engine stand, thanks for asking.

 

[richard booth]

Did you oil soak the lifters before installing them? I'm just guessing here.

Yes I did, and I have learned not to.

 

[richard booth]

So I haven’t done break in of my cam/lifters yet but I did replace rockers, push rods, cam, lifters, and heads. I have started it 3 times less than 20 seconds total but sounds smooth as can be. I did not soak lifters as it can affect presetting of lash. I did not replace rocker shafts but did clean them and lubed everything with Lucas assembly lube. How did you set valve lash? Or did you just reinstall rocker with original adjustments?

Thanks for the reply, I did pre-soak the lifters and that was probably a problem but after having gone through all six cylinders checking and redoing the lifter preload by the book I found there to be soft lifters, a couple that were not keeping pressure. That'll teach me to buy a cheap o rebuild kit and I'm going to have to get the melling Cam and lifter, set break the engine down and do it all again.

 

[RumPunch]

That's a tough learning curve on that one man that sucks. Sorry to hear. Heads have to come off to extract all lifters don't they? I used the Melling cam, no complaints on break in or running(other than a miss I can't seem to win). Good luck to you!