You could check them with the valve covers off and engine running. Look closely to see if any are slow to close compared to others. I don't know if that would be your issue or not but it's easy enough to check if you've exhausted your other ideas.

 

Ok I'll check it out.

I don't know what else it could be. I'm pretty sure the fuel system is good.

 

I took both valve covers off and fired it up. I couldn't really see anything out of the ordinary. There was oil spraying out of a couple at first but not consistently other than that it was a slow and steady stream all the way down the rockers.

On cylinder #5 the exhaust rocker arm was a little loose so I took both off that cylinder to check for wear and it didn't look too bad so I put it back together and torqued it to speck. I decided to reseal my leaking dipstick tube while I had it loose and when I finished that I went back to check the rocker arms on that same cylinder again and I could push the intake rocker in towards the lifter about a 1/4'' and the exhaust rocker was solid. I even took the push rod out of the exhaust side to make sure it wasn't bent so if any of the lifters should have been drained of oil I would have thought it would have been the exhaust not the intake.

So I'm kind of thinking lifters.

 

I put a set of new lifters in with no luck. So I took the heads off and the only thing I can find that could be wrong is one different pre-cup.

Could that be my problem?

Here's a picture. The one on the left is like all the other ones and the one on the right is the odd ball one.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/p...ctureid=151849

 

That is odd, you'd think it could be the problem, possible uneven combustion. I don't really know. Did the engine shake like that ever since it was rebuilt/installed?

And a couple of other things to toss around, how's your harmonic balancer?
And the timing fitting on the number one injection line, is it still there? If not and the line wasn't replaced with a van or 6.9 line then the factory line is too short and changes the timing for that cylinder. Don't know if it'd cause a shake like that, but something to consider.

 

Yes the engine has always shook ever since I got it from jasper.

I'm not sure about my harmonic balancer I think its ok (not loose or anything). If you put your hand up to the exhaust while its running it doesn't feel all even kind of like one cylinder has uneven combustion.

When I got the engine it had that timing adapter on the number 1 injection line but it loosened up on me all the time so I replaced it with a 6.9 line but it didn't effect the shaking.

I checked the valves also and their fine (no leaks or excessive play).

I'll see if I can find a another matching cup to see if that solves the shaking.

Thank you for your help.

 

K gotta ask...

Is Warranty up on engine? Does Jasper know you tore it down?

Oh ya...I'm same guy on both sites...damn near every site LOL

 

I was waiting for someone to ask. No jasper doesn't know I tore it down. In the beginning I thought it was an injector so I figured I would just through a new set in and be done. Boy was I wrong. The warranty is up now lol. But now I know what kind of shape this engine is in. The only person I trust to work on my vehicles is me. I don't know why I didn't just rebuild my old engine in the first place.

O'well live and learn I guess.

 

Well I got a matching pre-cup, installed it and it is flush with the head surface. I then reassembled the engine and fired it up and it still shakes the same. Needless to say I'm starting to get frustrated with this thing. I messed with injectors some more buy finding one from my spare sets I have laying around and put it in cylinder #1 and started it and still ran the same so I put the one I took from #1 and put it in #2 and so on I did that for all the cylinders and it didn't effect the shaking at all. I am pretty sure its only one cylinder that is causing this but I cant determine which one. If I loosen the injection lines one at a time they all seem to effect the engine the same way. All 3 pumps (the one that came with the engine from jasper, the used one I got from eBay and the reman from USDieselparts) make the engine shake the exact same. I seems strange that 3 pumps would have the same problem but with my luck I wouldn't be surprised. I think I'll get in touch with Conestoga Diesel and see if they will take a look at the pump I got from USDieselparts to see if they can find something wrong with it.

Other than that I have no idea what is going on.

I appreciate your help so far and if you have anymore ideas or anything please let me know. Thank You

 

if compression is good than, it may have a lobe down on the cam, cuz it can't be bent valve, bent push rod, burnt or cracked valve, lifter, injector, ip

 

Great idea!

Ill get the tools to degree the cam and see if I can find anything there. I have a dial indicator but I don't have a degree wheel. I will also double check compression to make sure it is the same as before I took the heads off.

 

if a lobe is worn down some, the valve timing for that cylinder will be late, may not miss, but might shake.

 

Well I figured I should do a update on what I found. It's about time, right?

I swapped in a 4th ip and it smoothed out considerably still a bit shaky though. So I bought a pop tester and pulled all the injectors, went through them and noticed that the leak down rates were all over and one didn't even hold pressure it popped and went back to 0 instantly with fuel just poring out the return hole. So I did some mixing and matching with the nozzles and pintles since I have a whole drawer full of them and got a whole set with the same pop pressure, very close leak down rates and spray patterns. Low and behold it runs very smooth not smooth as glass but close and I can live with that. No more sitting at a stop light bouncing up and down!

I did tare that 3rd injection pump apart for fun and to see how they work since I'v never had one apart. I didn't find much but what I did notice was one of the lobes on the cam ring was .003 less than the other seven I'm not sure if that was the cause or not but I'm sure it didn't help.

Thank you for all your help.