Hello all !
The saga continues.
The '74 360 in my '78 F350 is still ticking on the right side.
It has gone from ticking sometimes to just ticking.
(New lifters on present cam in rebuilt engine of unknown history).
I took the valve cover off, and the rocker girdle is still tight.
Is it time for Rislone or Marvel's, or....?
Thanks,
Mike

 

I would add the marvel mistery oil and run it for a bit, dump the oil and and run it again with marvel , alittle longer this time and see if that helps . Are you sure it isnt an exhaust leak?

 

Very sure it's not an exhaust leak.
I used my handy dandy auto stethoscope and found the clacking valve on #3.
Off to Wally World for the Magic then...
What a pain.
Thanks,
mike

 

I have the same thing in my 75 F150 4X4. Bought it from a guy who had it barned for the two years he owned it, and it was an farmers feed truck before that. I assumed it was just dirty, sticky lifters. Changed the oil with a quart of Risolone (sp?). Ran that for about 300 miles (don't really drive the truck much) over the course of a year, and it took longer trips before the ticking began, but driven long enough, the tick would appear and move (starts on right/passenger side, eventually moves over to left, too), sometimes even disappear. Changed oil after a good soaking with 87 octane (a little incident with fuel being forced through carb and into crankcase via pressure build up in tank), this time used Motoraft filter and 6 quarts Motorcraft 10W-40 with a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Have only driven 50 miles or so since, and lifter tick continues to improve. I'm hopeful that the tick will greatly lessen or even disappear, but am NOT expecting miracles.

With about 25,000 miles on the 390 in my other truck, I ran 5 quarts Motorcraft 10W-40 with a quart of MMO, just to clean out anything that might have built up. Ran that for 6 months (I only drove about 2500 miles in that time, so I wasn't being grossly neglegent). I didn't add the MMO when I changed again, since it didn't have any problems before, and will run it though every couple of oil changes just to "keep it clean".

Good luck to you.

Matt

 

New lifters on a used camshaft. I'd pull the pushrods for that cylinder and check to see if one of them is bent. Sometimes you can fish the lifter out without tearing the engine down. If you can do that look at the bottom of the lifter and the sides for scoring or unusual wear. Consider replacing the lifters on that cylinder. You can buy lifters four to a box. Is the lifter shaft in good condition? With the valve cover off and engine idling can you slide a 0.010 feeler gage between the top of the valve stem and the rocker?