I have a 1999 7.3L diesel in a F350. I put a valve spring retainer and a rocker arm on one of the exhaust valves six months ago. The spring retainer had come apart but was still holding on to the valve ok. The rocker arm had cracked down the middle. Put it back together and it ran fine for about 10k.
Today it comes in again missing. The pushrod was out of place and is not bent. The lifter has now come apart. The little spring clip is missing and the top of the lifter (where the pushrod normally sits) is missing.
No here is the question. Is there any way to sneak the lifter out without pulling the head? I will probably find that the exhaust valve is sticking anyway but I would like to put the lifter in first. It has 224033 on the odometer. Thanks!

 

Sorry I am no help but just wanted to say welcome to FTE and good luck with the engine.

 

Lifter or Valve stuck? Causing everything else to bend and break ? Everything is ok with the rocker arm mounting , anything else broke?

Heads have to come off to change lifters. Man that sucks. Sorry to hear about this

 

Welcome to FTE! I don't know of any way to do it w/o pulling the head, but I'm not the know all. Good luck and keep us posted on your findings.

 

I just found a peice of a valve stem retainer when changing my oil. Other than that there's been no indication of anything wrong. Hopefully I caught it before it did any damage