tickin gone!

[pickup]

My son bought a '90 2.9 recently that was SPORATICALLY ticking. So, (now this is going to show my age...read-dinosaur!) I figured we'll just pull the thing apart, put new lifters in. Well, here's where my age shows- I'm used to taking the tappit covers off old 360/390's etc and droppin lifters right thru the heads.
Not quite on a 2.9. Oh well, take the intake off, no big deal, wrong! The damn heads gotta come off! Oh boy!
But done it one afternoon, truck runs like new. Was gonna need head gaskets soon anyway. Oh well........

 

[Hardwareman]

Good job!

Did it gain any more power or just run smoother?



Allen

 

[Big Jim M]

Thats a new one om me. I've never put new lifters on an old camshaft! I have ALWAYS changed them both. If I have had a clicking noise I have either adjusted the rockers, (if they were adjustable) or put slightly longer pushrods in there.. One or the other has always stopped the clicking noise.
I'm thinking the new lifters with the rounded ends where the cam runs on them will cause rapid wear on the old camshaft.. Watch out for that wear.
Big Jim

 

[Big Jim M]

Now for my lifter tale... Back in 78 I purchased a 71 Chevy pickup from a friend at a Chevy dealer.. It had a slight miss in it and I got a real good price.. The salesman told me they thought it needed plugs or wires..
After close examination in my garage I found that SOMEONE had taken both the rockers, pushrods and lifeters from one cylinder.. Causing it to not open either of the valves. So it was running on only 7 cylinders.
I took it to the dealer and they put a new camshaft, lifters, rockers, pushrods and gave it a valve job...rather than take it back.
That little truck lasted me for many years.
Big Jim

 

[AllanD]

The lifters on 2.9's tick for one of two reasons, neither is related to wear.

1)Oil pressure issue (WAY TOO COMMON)

2)More rarely the lifters tend to collect "varnish which binds them up and
this is due to the design of the lifter.

You must first understand that unlike most lifters the 2.9 lifters if cut in half lengthwise look like a split artichoke, crap gets trapped between layers (particularly air)
and cannot escape as there are insufficient provisions for the lifters to be self-bleeding

But oil pressure problems are far more common.

As for "needing head gaskets soon anyway"? No, Never.

I have NEVER seen a "Bad" 2.9 head gasket
I have yet to hear a single credible report of one either.

2.9 heads crack.

Overheating isn't necissary for one to crack.

they NEVER crack into the combustion chambers
the cracks are always on the tops of the heads and
leak coolant into the return oil.

Did you replace the headbolts while you had it apart? because if you
didn't it WILL need headgaskets again.
(this is the one exception that proves the rule)

AD

 

[pickup]

Well the head gaskets on this one were bad. Previous owner wasnt maybe up on keeping good coolant in it, I dont know, but I've been around enough of them to know they werent going to last much longer.
As for head bolts, ya, they recommend new ones, but being a machinist, I have a few testing tools kicking around and all checked out.
Oil pressure was checked with a mechanical guage prior and looked good.
It ended up being 2 collapsed lifters bad and 1 not good.

 

[Psychopete]

Well the head gaskets on this one were bad. Previous owner wasnt maybe up on keeping good coolant in it, I dont know, but I've been around enough of them to know they werent going to last much longer.
As for head bolts, ya, they recommend new ones, but being a machinist, I have a few testing tools kicking around and all checked out.
Oil pressure was checked with a mechanical guage prior and looked good.
It ended up being 2 collapsed lifters bad and 1 not good.

But how could you tell? I can only tell if something has a blown head gasket if it actually has a blown head gasket. I've never been able to predict this.

+1 to AD, I've never heard of a blown head gasket on this engine either.

The heads are prone to crack, this is known. If you found traces of coolant in the oil, this would be most likely cause. But of coarse steps should be taken to verify if you did find coolant in your oil. (But we're not sure how you came to that conclusion)

Head bolts are ALWAYS replaced with new when removed, no exceptions. They are torque to yield, they stretch once installed, and do not unstretch when removed, thus cannot stretch again once reinstalled.

Pete