Lifter noise and shop suggestions

[1991fordrangerKobe]

Hey Guys, I have a 88 Ranger with the 2.9L in it that has 179xxx miles on it.

I have a bad lifter noise and I have every forum possible to find a solution but I wanted to take it into the shop to see if they could find anything else.

The shop I took it to has been around for 30 plus years and is fantastic and knows a lot about the older trucks.

He suggested doing a valve adjustment with new pushrods that are longer than the standard length.

Has anyone ever done that before to resolve the lifter noise issue?

 

[duffy]

Pull the valve cover on the "noisy side " and start checking valve lash. When you find the loose one change the lifter.....I've done that on a number of I-6's. If you can't determine the noisy lifter change them all.....they aren't all that expensive.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

@PetroleumJunkie412

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

@PetroleumJunkie412

We need to talk about a me getting a raise

Has anyone ever done that before to resolve the lifter noise issue?

No. Also, not a good idea. Great way to bend a pushrod and annihilate parts of your motor.


Lifter noise really only has a few causes:

Lifters out of adjustment
Bad lifters
Flat cam
Worn rockers
Worn valve tips
Poor oil flow

Start with a lifter adjustment.

Do you own a dial caliper?

 

[1991fordrangerKobe]

We need to talk about a me getting a raise





No. Also, not a good idea. Great way to bend a pushrod and annihilate parts of your motor.


Lifter noise really only has a few causes:

Lifters out of adjustment
Bad lifters
Flat cam
Worn rockers
Worn valve tips
Poor oil flow

Start with a lifter adjustment.

Do you own a dial caliper?

Yes I do have one

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Yes I do have one

May need @RonD s help in advising you, but iirc, set your valve lash, run the engine till operating temp, let cool off enough to work on it, and pull valve covers and check total lift on each rocker. Record results and post em.

I'm not sure if this works on hydraulic lifter engines, or only with solid ones. But, it will tell you if you have one failing to achieve full lift of your cam.

 

[gaz]

1991fordrangrkobe,

Before you replace anything try and adjust the rockers. The adjusting is simple as long as you understand that you are not adjusting a gap but rather the hydraulic lifter preload which is accomplished just past contact with the push rod. That mechanic may not have realised that your valve train has adjustable rockers.

It is however possible that the mechanic is correct. It "could be" possible that your valve train wear is great enough that longer push rods are now required to adjust your lifter preload. This has never happened to me with a 2.9L but even a stock replacement set will be longer than you original push rods with 170kmi wear on them. So "technically" every time I rebuilt a 2.9L, I used longer push rods, because the new stock replacement push rods were original length vs the shortened, worn old set they replaced ..)

The good news is that both the rockers and push rods are priced very economic for this engine.

 

[bcschief]

May I also suggest you pull and disassemble the rocker shafts, remove the plug from 1 end and clean the sludge from the inside of the shafts This might improve the oil flow to the lifters.

 

[duffy]

Do the Cologne V6's have rocker shafts? I thought
Ford quit using those with the FE blocks. Never mind....yes they do.