for the past few weeks my truck would start some times, others it wouldnt. i went ahead and changed the cps just in case, but that didnt fix it. checked the gpr and it checked out fine. so i pulled the valve covers today to check the glow plugs and discovered another problem..... a valve rotator on the number two cylinder has broken and the rocker arm has put a decent sized dent in the valve cover. that wouldnt cause it not to start, but im glad i found it before it did serious damage.

 

Dunno what a valve rotator is but I assume you mean a valve spring?..... And if you broke a rocker arm you have some serious issues going on. I recommend not driving or starting the truck til it is fixed. Any pics? They would help....

Cowboy Steve

 

no, its not the valve spring. its the round disc that sits on top of the valve spring. if you have a haynes diesel tech book its on page 3-44. it didnt break the rocker arm, it just opened a valve waaaaay farther than it should have and the rocker arm hit the valve cover. its a pretty simple fix, i just wasnt expecting it to be broken.

this is just a picture from the internet, but its the part thats laying beside of the valve spring.
http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/imag..._Retainers.jpg

 

Can you still see the valve stem coming up from the head? If not you have much bigger issues. Is the push rod damaged?

 

yeah, i can still see the valve stem. i havent pulled the rocker arm off yet, but im thinking the push rod might be bent. i can spin all the other pushrods easily, but the one im concerned about will only rotate about a tenth of an inch in each direction before it stops. once i get the rocker arm and valve spring off ill be checking the valve to see if its bent.

 

Well if the retainer broke then there is a good chance you might have had some valve slap, not good. I think your gonna need to dig a little deeper into this little situation and make sure the valve is still good and not bent or destroyed for that matter. I would also worry about the valve guides if there was some contact. They are not inserts unfourtunately so if they're wrecked then you might have to do a little head work. Its an endless list of possibilites from here.....

Can you still see the valve? Is the spring wrecked? Is the pushrod or rocker arm bent? Your gonna have to find a tool to pull the valve up to get a spring and new retainer and clip on it, otherwise your gonna have to yank the heads off. Keep me posted

Cowboy Steve

 

pictures of your dilema would be great. from the description it sounds like either the keeper came apart, but then you said the valve stem is up higher than normal which means the face of the valve should be broke off....

 

the spring is still in good shape and luckily the only part of the retainer that broke was the outer ring. so the retainer itself is still in place. ive always called them a retainer, but my tech book called it a rotator for some reason. i figured they were different than a normal retainer. i wont be able to do much to it until i can either make or buy an air tool to hold the valve in place so i can remove the spring.

the thing thats driving me crazy is that the dent on the valve cover was started above the valve spring and pushed upwards towards the valley. short of ripping the valve loose from the stem and bending the push rod in half i dont see how the valve spring side of the rocker arm could be pushed in that direction. unless the exhaust valve stayed open too long and the piston drove it up like that.

 

well, the stem isnt sticking up higher than the others. i can just see the stem, which means it hasnt fallen down into the cylinder. i took a few pictures of it, but ive got to figure out how to post them on here.

 

ok, so if the spring isnt attached to the valve but the valve isnt dropped into the cylinder then i am betting that the valve was hit by the piston and is bent. the more you are posting the worse this is sounding.

 

the spring is still right where it should be and the center part of the retainer is still in place. so the valve is still being held in place by the retainer and keepers. ive never posted pictures on here or put any in a photo album, but im working on getting a few on here.

 

ok, so part of the retainer came apart? that may not be as bad. you can check the valve by removing the glow plug and airing up the cylinder with the piston on top dead center.

 

i posted a few pics in my gallery. www.ford-trucks.com/forums/album.php?albumid=590

 

oh my, thats not good. there is a possibility that you had piston contact when it broke but not nearly as likely as i thought before. order your new spring assembly and air up the cylinder to make sure the valve is seating properly. you have a fairly good chance that you are ok.

 

the dent in the valve cover is shaped just like the valve spring, but i dont see how the spring could hit the cover without the rocker arm going all the way through it. it had the dent in the valve cover when i bought it a year ago and ive driven it close to 30k miles since then. its not had a miss or anything that would cause me to pull the covers off. my wife did recommend that if i have to pull the head i should go ahead and order a set of stage 1's......so now my bigger concern is what shes wanting me to buy for her lol.