I'm somewhat new to diagnosing internal engine problems so bear with me......

I have a '66 F100 with (I think) a 352 V8. One lifter on the front cylinder passenger side is sticking. It is clicking pretty bad. I tried the Marvel Mystery Oil out yesterday, but after 15 minutes of idling, it is still sticking. I took off the valve covers to see if others had problems too. I noticed a lack of oil on that passenger side. I'm wondering if maybe the oil passage has gotten plugged or something, and the problems are related, or if they are just coincidental? The drivers side was noticibly wet from oil, but this also could have been from me pouring in the MMO earlier. I couldn't feel any noticable play in any of the other push rods. I've been told I need to pull off the rocker assembly and check the push rod for straightness, any other suggestions would be appreciated. Would running some oil down the push rod onto the top of the lifter do anything?

Some background on the motor...... I just got the truck and the engine is either a replacement, or been rebuilt due to it being blue and having liquid gasket material. I assume it is a 352. I know it is FE.

Thanks,
Joel

 

FE's oil through the rocker arm shaft, not thru the pushrod. I would give the MMO considerably more than 15 minute of idling to work, I mean MMO is good but it ain't that good.

I think I would measure the valve lash before getting carried away. I like to loop a piece of wire coat hanger around the rocker then use my seal remover (it's the lever type) to slowly compress the lifter. With the lifter fully compressed measure between the valve stem and rocker arm with a feeler gauge. 0.1 to 0.2 inch is allowable with .1 to .15 desired. With #1 on TDC compression measure #1-I, #1-E, #3-I,#$-E,#7-I,#5-E,#8-I,#8E. Then rotate crank 360 deg and measure the remainder. If all the lash meas. are in spec you can go after sticky lifters or lack of oil.
The next thing I would do is pull the rocker shafts, follow the right procedure here or you can damage things. With the shaft off inspect the springs that hold the rockers apart carefully, if they are broken they can cause 'lifter' noise. I would take them apart and clean everything in parts dip then re-assmeble making sure the oil holes are in the right place and there is no play in the rockers or stands. This is a good time to check the pushrods for strightness as well, roll them on a flat surface (I use a 12"x12" mirror tile) if it's bent you can see it.
Assuming everything so far has checked out or been replaced, reinstall the rocker shafts making sure the bolt with a smaller shaft goes in the big hole in the head - this is where the oil comes from. On the passenger side it's second from the back, on driver's side it's second from the front. Also make sure you put the right shaft on the right side, the notch goes down and forward on the passenger side and down and aft on the driver's side.
It's just me but I would check the valve lash again at this point.
If you still have noise at this point, fire it up with a valve cover off and watch for oil at pushrod end of the rockers, if no oil here you either have very low oil pressure or a restriction in the oil gallery or both. If the rockers oil OK the lifter(s) are sticky, you can either replace it/them or run the MMO for a while to see what happens - there's a good chance it will clear up.

Just so you know, it is possible too chenge lifters on an FE without pulling the intake. You need a lifter removal tool, it's a standard item. You put the tool thru a pushrod hole and 'catch' the snap ring in the lifter then pull it out of the bore. On the end holes you have to drop it in valley then move over to the nearest big hole to fish it out. It's a little tricky and time consuming but it beats the hell out of pulling that heavy, heavy manifold off.

Sorry for the length but there's no short way to describe it.

 

just a thought, i all so have a 66 f 100 that had a 352. it had been rebuilt by a friend of mine before i got it. i drove for awhile but i was on the gas the whole time. one day i felt the truck bog down and start tapping. i pulled the vavle covers and noticed a sticky lifter. the problem was the cam was to big, and the the rocker shaft had not been shimed up. the lifter was pressed up against the cam so hard that it took a lobe right of the cam. this caused the lifter to mushroom at the bottom causing it to stick. needless to say, i now run a 390, the 352 was no more. think about it.

 

Thanks for the response. I pulled the rocker arm assembly and cleaned it up somewhat. The springs look good, as well as the rocker arms. The pushrod above the "sticky lifter" will need to be replaced. (It's ball end is now kind of pointed.) That probably means the rocker arm socket is worn too. I put it back together and it appears that the rocker arm assembly is getting oil to the top of the pushrods. So, I believe my problem is the lifter. I drove the truck around the neighborhood last night, but it's still ticking.

70fordguy, if those lash measurements are out of spec., that means buying longer pushrods right?

Thanks,
Joel

 

Yep, that's how you adjust it. You can get pushrods in .030, .060, and .090 over and under so be careful what you ask for. All the components for the rockers are commonly available too.

 

Thanks for your help. I hope to dive into it this weekend, so I'll report back my findings.

Joel

 

Well, I couldn't find a lifter puller at any of the parts shops around. I decided to switch my bad push rod with another one. I ran the engine without the valve cover. The ticking disapeared. I ran it for 15 minutes or so. I noticed all of the push rods were getting oil at the top, except the one where the bad rod was (the sticky lifter). So, I pulled the rocker arm assembly completely apart. The rocker arm mounting rod is worn somewhat at each rocker location, and worn pretty bad where that bad push rod was. I haven't mic-ed it yet because they are at work. I'm guessing this wear will create a pressure drop and keep the oil from reaching the top of the push rod. What do you guys think?

Joel

 

It sounds like you've found your problem. The oil path is out of the shaft, around the rocker bore and out to the pushrod and the top of the rocker which runs downhill to oil the valve stem.

New shafts are only $20-$30 and rockers run in the $15 range.

OBTW. max OD on the shaft is .840", min is .839.
Shaft to rocker clearance .002-.005".
Rocker arm bore .842 - .844".
If you're gonna get the mic's out you may as well have all the right numbers - That Ford shop manual is some of the best $$ I ever spent.