Valve adjustment 89 2.9

[coulrophobian]

Does anyone know the specifics for valve lash adjustment on an 89 2.9L? I've just finished the break-in period after a top-end rebuild and seem to remember that it was 1 full turn after zero lash, but my Haynes says 4.5 after zero... THERE'S NO WAY THIS IS CORRECT!!! Please help.

 

[59flatbedford]

i think its half to three quarters of a turn after zero. there is an article in the tech section under head jobs that details it.

 

[coulrophobian]

Ah ok. I thought I had read it there but couldn't find it earlier. Thanks.

 

[Big Jim M]

One turn seems a lot. I always adjust 1/2 to 3/4 turn. It has worked out well for me.
Big JIm

 

[coulrophobian]

Just read it and it says 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 turns after zero. Not only have I finished the break-in period after rebuilding the top end, I hear a "knock" (not a "ping") at higher RPM and suspect that I might have one that is a bit loose. It's quite sporadic, so we'll see if this does the trick. Also, what do I re-torque the head bolts to after the break-in period??

 

[kimcrwbr1]

In my chiltons cold adjust it turn the screw out till you feel lash the back to touching then in 1-1/2 turns

 

[coulrophobian]

How about re-torquing the head bolts while I have the valve covers off? Hayne's says 22 ft. lbs., 55 ft. lbs. then an additional 90 degrees for rebuild, but just to re-torque after break-in. RE-TORQUE TO WHAT, HAYNE'S!!???

 

[kimcrwbr1]

I believe you just need to retorque the intake manifold after the warmup the teck library under 2.9 V-6 dont specify a retorque on the heads just the manifold.

 

[Psychopete]

1-1.5 turns after 0-lash is what I remember...

I did the same procedure as what's in the tech library for head bolts on mine and never had any problems, just be sure you are using new head bolts:

Sounds like that manual would be useful to start a bon-fire with...

 

[coulrophobian]

Thanks Pete, I'll take your advice... especially the bonfire part!

 

[coulrophobian]

UPDATE... I go all the adjustments done, but when I started it up a very pronounced "clank" had developed full time. While adjusting, I did notice that one of the valves on the #5 cylinder was different than all the rest. It was different in the way that you could get it to zero lash to get ready to tighten 1.75 turns, but when at "zero lash" I could push down on the push rod side and the push rod would actually sink a bit, causing it to not truly be at zero lash. Has this happened to anyone else? Maybe a bad lifter?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

definately sounds like a bad lifter do you have good oil pressure and compression I am not sure but if the engine is in otherwise good shape possibly you can put in a new set of lifters without pulling the heads. Might as well change all of them to make it even and check the pushrods and rockers for wear also from oil not getting all the way up there. I have been reading on the floating rockers as a possible upgrade for my 2.8 it would be something to look into GL

 

[coulrophobian]

Possibly a lifter going bad, but I readjusted the exhaust valve on the #5 cylinder (the problematic one) and it sounds great. Thanks for all the info and help everyone.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Cool if you hook it up to a vacuum guage it will tell you the overal health of the engine it should be around 21 inches mercury and holding steady at an idle. You might want to do that to confirm your ok not sure if you can do that at the part store or not.

 

[dernst]

You should never have to adjust the valves or retorque the heads after a rebuild on a 2.9 L. If it's done right in the first place, the valves will be adjusted correcty for the life of the motor.

As for the head bolts, they are torque to yield bolts (TTY). They use this type of bolt so that they don't have to be retorqued. They are a one time use bolt and must be replaced every time they are removed. Do you think Ford retorqued the head bolts or adjusted the valves when the truck came from the factory? The upper manifold/plenum is a different story, it does need to be retorqued once the motor is warm and I would bet that the factory did retorque these botls.