2.9 questions

[country0001]

Do all 2.9's rattle. I've got the lifter rattle. My mechanic told me that its a common problem. It bothers me a little bit, but if there is a way to fix it, I'd like to know. Also, what type and weight of oil do ya'll run in ur 2.9's?

 

[Psychopete]

Do all 2.9's rattle. I've got the lifter rattle. My mechanic told me that its a common problem. It bothers me a little bit, but if there is a way to fix it, I'd like to know. Also, what type and weight of oil do ya'll run in ur 2.9's?

Depends on what you'd define as a rattle. If you have good warm oil pressure, I wouldn't be as worried about it. There's a lot of stuff that can cause poor valve train oiling - like worn bearings, plugged oil passages, etc. I always ran Motorcraft Synblend 10w-30 with a Motorcraft oil filter. I am also a fan of Mobil-1.

Pete

 

[hopster]

It is a common problem. If you would like to try and fix it temporarily you can pull the valve cover and tighten down down the adjuters, but until you have more than one lifter tickin i wouldn't bother. I always run 10-30 motorcraft.

 

[Psychopete]

Even though the rockers are adjustable, hydraulic lifters need no adjustments like solid lifters. It's likely they will still tick, or worse he may tighten his valve too tight. Getting them adjusted regardless is a PITA. I spent a least a few hours setting mine when I installed a base circle ground cam (.050").

Pete

 

[geoffthepoolguy]

My 1990 B2 with a 2.9L also "ticks" On this forum I have heard the best way to fix it is drop in a 4.0L. I have found that turning the volume knob to the right fixes many engine noises.

 

[country0001]

Yeah, That right knob fixes alot. A 4.0 is in the plan, But the tranny on my Ranger blew a seal and it leaks pretty good. I took the BII to Dallas and it did well, so no major complaints. It doesn't leak or use any fluids andgets decent mileage.

 

[holyford86]

lifter tick is a common problem with the 2.9, the cam bearings wear and starve the valvetrain for oil. You can drive a 2.9 for quite a while with ticking lifters before it becomes a problem. if it has ticked for years and it never gets any worse then I would leave it alone.

 

[koolmilds]

dont mistaken a fuel injector pulse for a lifter tick, both sound similar. while perusing the junkyards, ive seen many 2.9s and 4.0s with extremely worn rocker arms(as much as .125" deep groove), from either being set too tight at the factory or a shadetree mechanic attempting to make the tick go away.

my rebuilt 2.9 ticks, buts its the fuel injector kind of tick. its soon to be replaced with a 4.0, which is awaiting my wallet to fatten up or the tree to sprout green.

 

[sjr53]

Thicker oil may quiet the clatter for you. I put in Lucas oil additive and now it gets quiet after a minute, but will get noisey after 1/2 hour of diving. I have a spare quiet engine that I hope to swap in soon. I've parked it for now until I decide if I will canabalize it for my other BII & Falcon, or fix it & sell it.

 

[cocoasranger]

On the old ford 312 V8's they sold a kit to eliminate tapping. It consisted of a line tapped into an oil gallery and running up to the rocker arm cross shaft. Maybe something like that would work with the 2.9L? Mine does not tap so it don't confront me none.

 

[Beastly88]

Mine comes and goes when it wants to but when it starts its ungodly .. people have told me they can here me comin down the road quite a ways.

 

[cckc135r]

cocoasranger, I have heard of the same fix and implemented my own idea to help fix the problem with noisey rockers on the 2.9. To start with I removed the oil sending unit and put in a short piece of straight brass tubing to a 90 then another short piece of tubing to a T fitting....long story short I ran oil capillary lines to the rocker shafts. Then removed the plugs at either end of the rocker shafts in favor of aluminum plugs. Two that are solid and two that have been drilled and tapped to accept the correct fittings to connect the capillary lines and all four plugs have also been cotter pinned in place. The engine has just been put back in the truck and has been run for a few minutes and the rocker shafts now pressurize quite nicely. Oh yeah, I also dis-assembled the rocker units and chamferred both upper and lower oil supply holes. My idea seems to work quite well and it does seems to ooze more from around the rockers.

I have just rebuilt the engine and got it installed but have not been able to drive it just yet. While in the process of rebuilding I also switched out the rearend for an 8.8 and now I need to change the end piece on the drive shaft so that it will mate up to the mounting flange on the 8.8. I run 15W-40 Rotella-T in with the Lucas oil stabilizer and have run the engine long enough to warm it up and it still carries about 48psi warm at idle and goes to 60psi or just under it when at 2000 rpm. Seems to be a good fix that wasn't too hard to do, so we'll see how the longevity of it works out in time. Hope this helps some of you guys out.

 

[cocoasranger]

cckc135r, Sounds like a great mod. On the V-8 they used copper tubing about the diameter of brake line, and they tapped an external oil gallery in the block (which you could see as a bulge in the block) and ran it up to a hollow valve cover stud which ran down through the cover and into a rocker shaft support.

If you find you are getting too much oil collecting in the valve covers you may want to do the rocker shaft aluminum tube mod in the TECH section which is said to greatly reduce this.

 

[cckc135r]

cocoasranger, That's what I did. I ran copper capillary lines to the rocker shafts. It's the same copper lines that would otherwise run to an oil pressure gauge. Only real difference is that I had to go through the top of the valve cover and use a grommet to seal it up. I'm hoping to be out on the road next week after the rebuild so I'll report back on how well......or how bad it worked out. If the 2.9 goes south again I'm done with it and think I'll just try and find a 4.0 or maybe even a v-8 conversion.