2.9 lash adjustment 1987 Ranger

[wingzam]

You will have to excuse me for running all these threads.I've just determined that i'm going to get this darn thing fixed one way or the other(pipe bomb?),but am working half blind and confused because of lack of info,conflicting info,and refering to a factory manual where many test procedures had been superceded and I could not find the supercedings anywhere.
The reason for this thread is a good case in point.To make a long repair story short will only focus on the valves here.
Had normal readings on the vac gage with only a slight slow wavering of 1Hg,there was one clicking valve and a hesitation problem at steady speeds.
Chiltons says there was no adjustment for the valves,Haynes says to turn them down 1.5 turns or 2mm,a "knowledgible" mechanic told me 1/4 turn down,and now I find in the factory manual it's 4.5 turns down or 2mm.
1.5 turns is substantially short of 2mm and at that point I got another clicking lifter and more exhaust suck back,althought the hesitation softened.Additionally it was getting pretty hard to turn those adjustment nuts down that far.
I'm going to measure out how many threads 2mm actually is but 4.5 turns looks like a fairly close approximation.Given the results so far i'm not real hopeful of the outcome.
Before I proceed i'd like to get some input from you guys.What can you tell me?

 

[IMenriched]

You will have to excuse me for running all these threads.I've just determined that i'm going to get this darn thing fixed one way or the other(pipe bomb?),but am working half blind and confused because of lack of info,conflicting info,and refering to a factory manual where many test procedures had been superceded and I could not find the supercedings anywhere.
The reason for this thread is a good case in point.To make a long repair story short will only focus on the valves here.
Had normal readings on the vac gage with only a slight slow wavering of 1Hg,there was one clicking valve and a hesitation problem at steady speeds.
Chiltons says there was no adjustment for the valves,Haynes says to turn them down 1.5 turns or 2mm,a "knowledgible" mechanic told me 1/4 turn down,and now I find in the factory manual it's 4.5 turns down or 2mm.
1.5 turns is substantially short of 2mm and at that point I got another clicking lifter and more exhaust suck back,althought the hesitation softened.Additionally it was getting pretty hard to turn those adjustment nuts down that far.
I'm going to measure out how many threads 2mm actually is but 4.5 turns looks like a fairly close approximation.Given the results so far i'm not real hopeful of the outcome.
Before I proceed i'd like to get some input from you guys.What can you tell me?

I'd stay away from the 4.5 turns...that seems way excessive. at that point you maybe compromising the lifter ability to do it job & maybe bend a push rod

basically any where from the 1/4 turn to the 1 1/2 turns is enough...you just don't want the push rods to fall out, & there needs to be a little tension on them.

as for the tick you may have a lifter that is leaking down or rather not keeping enough residue pressure to adsorb the shock of the valve closing

 

[wingzam]

I've been running 5W-30 in it with a quart of trans fluid to see if perhaps the ticking lifter was clogged and flush it out.Will change back to 10W-30 and see what that does.
Ya,4.5 turns scared me a little!Still,2mm is called for in both the Haynes and the factory manual.Think i'll just leave it at 1.5 turns for now.Maybe put the vac gage on it just to run off some nervous energy...

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Being that the 2.9 has hydraulic lifters, lash adjustment is sort of redundant, it's no big deal at all... The ticking is a lifter problem, NOT lash adjustment... Happens to 99% of the 2.9's...

 

[wingzam]

Glad to know i'm in good company on that! Now if my truck ran 99% better...i'd probably wet my pants i'd be so happy!

 

[wingzam]

Changing back to the 10W-30 quieted the lifters.Nice!