2.5L ('98-'01) Ticking

[Tenper616]

I have a 1998 Mazda b2500 with the 2.5l Lima, I have been doing a lot of work trying to get everything fixed, it still runs rough and sounds like a diesel even when it warms up, I have asked and talked to people and everything I read people say it goes away when it warms up, I've replaced the dpfe egr pigtail for the dpfe valve lash adjusters and the ecu trying to get the tick to go away, and I'm all out of ideas, I am a mechanic but I'm alot more versed with old-school carb engines and I know it's not bottom end knocking but I'm at a loss

 

[franklin2]

Do you have access to a cylinder balance tester? If one of the cylinders is low, then you could concentrate on that cylinders springs/valves/lifters. I supposed a good old compression test may show something also.

 

[Tenper616]

It's got good compression, it's had a new head put on, well used but rebuilt head, valves lapped only thing that dident get done were new springs

 

[scotts90ranger]

At idle the Lima's are somewhat loud, or some of them are, if it runs ok I'd probably ignore the noise...

 

[Tenper616]

It's not just idle, it's constant and follows rpm it runs okay but I know it could be better, it feels low on power even for a Lima, and I would like it to be right, and to have the power it's supposed to

 

[franklin2]

Have you done a compression test lately or are you just assuming it should have good compression from the work that you did? A compression test can be a good troubleshooting tool, especially since you say it's down on power.

 

[sgtsandman]

My guess is two things. Valve lash is excessive due to wear or valves are seating too deeply due to worn valve seats. Being that the head is cast iron, I'm leaning more to valve lash being excessive. It's been a long time since I worked on the engine and I didn't have to do much. So, it's possible I'm chasing the wrong thing.

 

[Tenper616]

It's got maybe 4 thousand miles on it from the last time a compression test was done and the compression test was good, had 170 across the board

 

[Tenper616]

Could be valve lash excessive due to valve lapping maybe could put shims under the valve lash adjusters to take up some slack... I haven't thought of it before, and that could cause a slight power loss due to valves not opening all the way and not letting the correct amount of air in, I think that could be an issue

 

[scotts90ranger]

At one point I'd heard about putting dimes under the lash adjusters to get rid of some of the noise, I did it for my turbo 2.3L but not sure I needed to, I honestly don't remember if it made a difference...

 

[jcwhidby]

My 97 Ranger 2.3L has been ticking for the last 100k+ miles with no ill effects. Just turn up the radio...