Big jim, I need your advice.

[fourwheelford]

Anyone can throw in input but I know big jim has a very high level of knowlage about how heads on these things work.

Ok for the whole time I have owned the truck it has ticked or tapped or whatever you want to call it at the very least it sounds like clicking. I have posted about it in my own threads and other peoples threads and up till now I have been stumped but I think I stumbled on it, stick with me this is gonna be kinda long.

Ok I was trying again to find the origin of the clicking, scoping the entire motor everything from the oil pan sounded good and then I brushed the cat with the scope rod and heard it, the infamous ticking. I scooted out and reached through the wheel well and scoped the exhaust on the passanger side and could still hear it, I ran to the back and could hear it in the exhaust pipe. I went over to the drivers side and couldn't hear it so I drove over to walmart and drove along the backside(only building around with a long flat wall) and the sound is more pronounced on the passanger side. I could hear it from the drivers side but I can tell thats not where its coming from.

So with all of that said i know its in the head somewhere, I found some rebuilt heads on craigslist for 300 but I think I can get them cheaper im gonna offer 200 and see if he bites. I welcome all input on this and hopefully it will help others who have the same noise I do. Thanks in advance everyone.

 

[Nich]

Not sure i would know anything about the noise but if you get new heads I picked up a set off reman heads with one year warranty for 179 including shipping from J&C enterprise off of ebay. Nice heads and fast shipping.

 

[Big Jim M]

The part of the heads that get rebuilt isn't the parts that CLICK! So why spend the money to replace parts you already have that are good?
The parts that click are on top of the heads.. usually. If the heads wear they burn valves...but they do it quietly..no clicking.
So what we have is some wear that has opened up a small divide between working parts. As the parts start working that small open part slams together and makes the click.
So we must find the worn place.. It could be the camshaft or the bottom of the lifter that is worn.. In modern engines this wear is RARE! It is unlikely that your wear is in the camshaft lobes or the lifter...not impossible but very rare.
Then we come to the pushrod.. One end fits into the lifter and can get some wear..the other end fits into the rocker arm. Some wear can occur there. Then we have the rocker arm and rocker ball.. This is an ideal location for wear. In fact the rocker arm to ball is built expressly to wear slowly.
The backside of the rocker arm rests on the valve stem. Both are hardned and the wear here is minimal... EXCEPT when a head shop gets their hands on a head... Many times the headguy will grind the valve stems a little to make them LOOK correct.. This is wear also.
The only adjustment to these heads is to install a slightly LONGER pushrod. This extra length should take the "play" out of anywhere in this system. The extra length will compensate for wear in the rocker balls or rocker pushrod socket or even valve stem wear.
These extra length pushrods come in three different lengths..(I think 3 anyway). If your clicking has already started you could most likely use the longest pushrods.
However when taking the rockers off to insert the new pushrods it is a good idea to examine the rocker socket and balls to find the amount of wear they have.
A couple of weeks past I pulled my sons 3.0 heads off to replace a head gasket. He has 140K on that engine and the rocker and the balls are in pristine shape.. I didn't even install longer pushrods as There was so little wear on that system.
If you can get your hands on a stethescope for engines (I have a lectric one) you can find zackly which assembly is clicking.
It sure is a lot of trouble for just one little click..
Big JIm

 

[stmitch]

I agree with Big Jim. I'd start with the rockers. I know that mine have always caused a "clicking" noise. If it is indeed the rockers, you could get longer pushrods like Jim mentioned, or you could upgrade to roller rockers for about the same price, and get a perfomance boost at the same time. I plan on doing the roller rockers.

 

[fourwheelford]

Well explained jim, thank you. I have a mechanics stethoscope thats how I found out where it was its nothing fancy just one I got from napa but it gets the job done. I want to get rid of the noise because im looking to sell the truck and with it tapping like that its going to be hard to get what I need out of it. I need at least 5500 for it and with all the maintanence I have done the fairly low mileage(106,000) the new tires and how straight the body and interior are I can probably get it but not with the motor making noise. Bottom line is that this thing has been a constant thorn in my side since the second week I had it and im tired of busting my knuckles on it every weekend just to keep it on the road and now the tranny is starting to slip around corners. The fluid is fresh and so is the filter I did it myself and the fluid is at a good level, its like the truck is cursed.

Thanks again jim and everyone else that posted, I will investigate into the pushrods and see what I come up with.

Stmitch, where would I go about finding the correct roller rockers?

 

[stmitch]

Tom Morana sells three different ratios. About halfway down this page: http://www.moranav6racing.com/category.html?CategoryID=36

The 1.7's would be a nice upgrade without being radical.

 

[triumphrider-1]

Wouldn't the clicking from a rocker or push-rod also be audible from the top-side of the motor?

 

[fourwheelford]

See thats what I thought, all I can hear is the injectors gently clicking and putting a stethoscope to the valve cover does nothing. Thats why this has been so hard to diagnose. I read in another article about lifters that you are supposed to sit in the cab of the truck and listen for noise, and listening from the engine compartment is not the proper way to diagnose such a noise. That doesn't really sound right to me but it is audible in the cab if you really listen so I guess there could be some truth to it. At any rate I hate it and now there is some gunk on the dipstick for my tranny fluid. Its grey and is suspended in the fluid. The fluid is red and smells fine and only has about 5000 miles on the fresh fluid and filter so...... yay for one more thing. Does anyone else have constant ongoing problems or is it just my crappy luck?

 

[4x4TILL_I_DIE]

My buddys f-150 did that it turned out his exhaust manifold was cracked and was causing the ticking he just turned the radio up until he got some new ones.

 

[289-tiger-]

Anyone can throw in input but I know big jim has a very high level of knowlage about how heads on these things work.

Ok for the whole time I have owned the truck it has ticked or tapped or whatever you want to call it at the very least it sounds like clicking. I have posted about it in my own threads and other peoples threads and up till now I have been stumped but I think I stumbled on it, stick with me this is gonna be kinda long.

Ok I was trying again to find the origin of the clicking, scoping the entire motor everything from the oil pan sounded good and then I brushed the cat with the scope rod and heard it, the infamous ticking. I scooted out and reached through the wheel well and scoped the exhaust on the passanger side and could still hear it, I ran to the back and could hear it in the exhaust pipe. I went over to the drivers side and couldn't hear it so I drove over to walmart and drove along the backside(only building around with a long flat wall) and the sound is more pronounced on the passanger side. I could hear it from the drivers side but I can tell thats not where its coming from.

So with all of that said i know its in the head somewhere, I found some rebuilt heads on craigslist for 300 but I think I can get them cheaper im gonna offer 200 and see if he bites. I welcome all input on this and hopefully it will help others who have the same noise I do. Thanks in advance everyone.

How much bait did you have on that hook??

Good luck

 

[fourwheelford]

I called him and he said he would do 200 if I gave him my old ones as a core. I will investigate the manifold though, come to think of it when I first got the truck I had to change the oil pan gasket so I took it out to have me y step dad help me and on my way home at about 65 I heard a really loud bang from the passanger side. It scared the hell out of me but the truck was running fine and no smoke or anything and when I pulled over it was still running fine and nothing was leaking and it never happened again. I was the only one on the road right then so I knew it came from my truck, maybe I ran over something and it threw it up and hit the manifold and cracked it.

Never gave it a second thought up until right now that was almost a year ago. With my lift I think I can get the manifold off without much trouble.

 

[289-tiger-]

Good luck with it, let us know how the repair goes