lifter tap after getting off highway

[intoxicant1]

Recently bought a 90 with a 2.9 and discovered this site. I read the tech section on the 2.9 that talks about valve train noise, mine has a little around 2800 rpm. The truck only has 82000 miles on it. What is really concerning to me is a serious lifter tap after running pretty hard down the highway the other night. I read the 2.9 tech page that talks about getting your oil pressure checked if that happens. My question is, what is the next step if the oil pressure is low? does that mean an oil pump issue or cam bearing issue? The lifter tap was saturday night, didn't start it sunday, back to normal monday on my way to work. Normal is no noise when cold, when warm it has that little bit of valve train noise between about 2800 and 3100 rpm as I stated earlier.

thanks for any input, I like the truck but having some difficulty feeling comfortable about it with all this valve train noise.

 

[RustedRanger]

Sounds like it might have got a little hot running at higher rpm. Mine has 165,000 and the lifter tap has gone away after changing the oil several times and switching to 40 weight diesel oil. Some say use what the factory calls for but mine ran better right off the bat with it.

 

[intoxicant1]

i'm running 10w40 synthetic blend

 

[jhammel85]

The oil should be good but I would wonder about the PSI. Did you check it? I think you're on the right track wondering about the oil pump and everything else involved.

 

[RyanL]

i'm running 10w40 synthetic blend

Maybe try the rotella 15W40 which a bunch of people use with these 2.9s. It possibly sounds like your oil's viscosity could be getting a little low when hot. Also, maybe the previous owner didn't change the oil much (it sat a lot) or it has a load of city driving miles on it (82K sounds kind of low for such an old vehicle). You can dump a quart of ATF into the crank case and run it for a few minutes to help clean out the motor a little (some valve tapping in these motors can be because of poor oil circulation up to the heads). Also change the oil when the engine is hot to get rid of more gunk. Are you sure that the sound that you're hearing at about 3K is a valve tap? I only ask because the old bronco II which I had years ago used to ping around that RPM if it didn't like the fuel. I would try a little higher octane or some octane booster just once to see if that gets rid of that noise. The previous owner might've advanced the timing a little (pretty popular to do, but fuel costs these days makes it hard to justify the small gains from advancing the timing).

 

[RustedRanger]

I like 10W40 syn blend also but my truck has a problem with getting some,not a bunch, gas in the oil and the rotella resists fuel contamination better. Also a syn blend of full synthetic will resist heat thinning the oil much better and tends to clean the motor out better. What brand of oil filter is on it? After reading here that many people have had problems with Fram and low oil pressure I started using the Motorcraft Fl-1A.

 

[intoxicant1]

thanks, I think I'll try the rotella. I ran seafoam before I changed the oil. It does only have 82000, its in beautiful shape (grandpa's truck). I find it hard to believe that there is major engine wear. I did a leak down test and all cylinders were less than 10%. Although, all cylinders blew out intake which I found odd but have not investigated further.

As far as the 3k noise, you could be right about detonation. I cannot be sure if it sounds like that or something from the top end like I said. I find it kind of interesting to have that issue only at that RPM range. In my experience, detonation (pinging) usually only happens under load or quick throttle advance. I don't have any of that going on. I have played with the timing a little. I set it at 10 BTDC and actually retarded it pretty far from there until I didn't hear anything. I have also tried running 87 octane (i'm at 6000ft) with no change to the 3k noise.

 

[intoxicant1]

replying to Rusted Ranger, It does have a Fram tough Guard on it. I think i'll try the motorcraft along with the rotella.

thanks

 

[RustedRanger]

It seems the Motorcraft also holds more oil,when I first changed my oil using a Fram I just dumped in 5 quarts,ran it,checked it and it was a little over filled. Last week I changed it and used a gallon of 15W40 Mobil (reg oil) and a quart of Syn Lucas additive...I can tell a difference in the way it runs and mpgs.....not a huge difference but I can tell

 

[intoxicant1]

So I messed around with the timing to try and get rid of 3k noise. I warmed it up and retarded the timing until I did not hear anything when holding the throttle open. I test drove it and it was a total dog. I'm gonna reset it to 10 with the light and try to just back it down till the noise is minimal. Still think its strange to have a detonation problem at a certain rpm while not under load.

 

[90B24wd]

When setting your timing be sure to remove the spout plug. On the 90, it's a plug in type on the wire harness near the passenger side of the distributor. There is an instruction on the top of the radiator support.

 

[RyanL]

So I messed around with the timing to try and get rid of 3k noise. I warmed it up and retarded the timing until I did not hear anything when holding the throttle open. I test drove it and it was a total dog. I'm gonna reset it to 10 with the light and try to just back it down till the noise is minimal. Still think its strange to have a detonation problem at a certain rpm while not under load.

Sorry, I didn't really elaborate earlier about the pinging mentioned earlier. It can be caused by multiple things. One of the things which can effect it greatly is the A/F ratio. If it runs a little on the lean side (or somewhere in the 3K range), it can cause pre-detonation as a lean cylinder is a hot cylinder. Maybe the factory maps runs lean in that region, who knows. Load does not always cause it. A bad sensor or two can make it run even leaner (air temperature sensor, MAP sensor, coolant sensor, oxygen sensor all control the A/F ratio in one way or another). Carbon build up on the piston and valve heads can also increase compression making the chances of pre-detonation much greater (it can decrease the deck height greatly). Running high octane fuel is only a bandaid type fix for the problem. Try checking into some of those sensors I mentioned (especially the temperature ones since they're easy to check) and also check to see if the vehicle is running slightly on the warm side (a coolant flush along with a new 180* thermostat might do the trick).

 

[RyanL]

I like 10W40 syn blend also but my truck has a problem with getting some,not a bunch, gas in the oil and the rotella resists fuel contamination better. Also a syn blend of full synthetic will resist heat thinning the oil much better and tends to clean the motor out better. What brand of oil filter is on it? After reading here that many people have had problems with Fram and low oil pressure I started using the Motorcraft Fl-1A.

Why does that happen with Fram filters? Do they get clogged quickly or something? I ask because I've been using them and wondering if I should switch. Where do you get Motorcraft ones, the dealer?

 

[intoxicant1]

thanks for elaborating on the pinging, RyanL. I reset the timing to 10 (with the spout connector removed), then retarded until pinging was minimal by ear. I checked the timing at that point and it was right at 0, about 10 with the spout connector plugged in. In another thread I found here, someone talks about removing the spout connector and setting the timing to 0 for all EFI Fords. I don't know about that, but it's ironic that I'm there by trial and error. I am running a 180 t-stat already. The pinging does seem to be a bit better at this point, however, it is still there. I will try looking into some of the sensors as you pointed out.

Does anyone know the location of the diagnostic link and the points to connect, to read the codes on a 90?

 

[RustedRanger]

Some have had the media inside the fram oil filters collapse and from what they said in the threads they are more restrictive. Usually you can get the Motorcraft filters at places that have the Frams, WalMart has them and I got the last couple at Rural King,just remember the number of the filter cause some places don't have the books available...it's a FL-1A