so I am finally going to get around to replacing all my rocker arms.

ordered all the parts that everyone said was needed....so I have two complete rocker arm assemblies which consist of the long base that has 8 bolts to accomidate 4 rocker units per side. a rocker unit has a base the bolts to the long unit , the plastic clips, the bearings, the rocker arms, etc.

I also have new push rods, new fuel lines, and orings which I guess are for the injectors.

the parts assume that the rockers will be replaced as an assembly .

So to avoid removing all the fuel lines, why can't I just replace just the rocker units which consist of the small base that holds the bearing, plastic clip, and rocker arms. I do not think there is any value in removing and replacing the long base unit that all 4 sets of rocker arm units bolt to.

so the question...can I just replace the rocker arms...with out having to remove and replace fuel lines?

 

actually started the prep work two weeks ago (break body bushing bolts loose, test body lift jacks, etc).

today I pulled the drivers side valve cover which had indications of being the worst of the two sides.

found all the tips worn down to bear metal. also found 1 rocker arm on the bottom of the valve body area. so that means there is a rocker arm ball somewhere in the engine.


so the main indications to cuase me to order a full set of rocker arms and all the associate one time use lines is the infamous intake deep tone thomp. the thomp is non metalic sounding . metalic sounding valve train noises would be indications of a lifter and possibly a worn down cam lobe.

there was plenty of oil within the vavle cover cavity and no sludge.

so this is what happens when you buy a 6.4 with 84K miles and 3000hrs of engine run time. probally exseccive idle time.

my approach to this is to take my time. plan on doing rocker arms on both sides of engine . I am debating on pulling injectors and looking for problems....

I also need to drop the trans mission to check my flex plate which I think has the infamous c crack.

so far no special tools. a complete 400 dollar tool set, a pair of body screw plyiers and a body screw screw driver and a two foot broom stick was all that I used so far. and a set of 4 jacks that are jacks and jack stands.

you need to lift the body 2 inches on the drivers side to get the valve cover off. fuel cooler had to come off as well as the elbo that connects the 1st and 2nd turbo. both batteries, degaus bottle and I pulled both wheel well liners so I could get to the engine drom the sides. dont forget to remove the bolt on the steering drive shaft so that the shaft can extend as the body goes up.

on the pax side, which I will start next saturday, probally 6 inches on the body lift to get to all the bolts.

I bought a new set of stock rocker arms as well as a set of stage 1 after market rocker arms. The stock ones have a ball on each end which I think helps with oil pressure..but they are thinner and prone to bending. the aftermarket ones are moly chrome and thicker...but they do not have the ball on each end. so I am debating which I want to go with. the stock ones last 87k miles and may just got with the new stock set. still debating.
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Been Hawking this fritz. What and how did you go with. My wife's truck is a 6.4. I'm 7.3 guy all day long, but her truck is quieter but I hear the slight tinging of a 69 big block ford with a bad lifter (If you know what I mean). Drives, runs great but that peculiar pialated woodpecker is imbedded.

Update us please.

Denny

 

right now the covers are off and next steps is to pull the fuel system, then the existing rockers.

I have the new rockers and the new rockers appear different so ford / international know something is up. tips are now made of a darker material.

new push rods are shorter

the new saddles have a flat cliff cut into them which I think is to collect oil....rather than having a curved one where the oil can run off. what I dont like about the old or the new saddle is the mystery of how the valve rod tips while capped with the saddle get oil. Im thinking of dirlling the same type of oil holes into the saddle that the rockers have.

Im also thinking of buying another PAX side valve cover and installing it on the drivers side. I want to put a plate where the oil fill assembly goes and set that up with a nozzle to squirt some oil on the drivers side.

lifters all check out right now.

but I am going to probe all the holes with a telescopic 15lb magnet to try to find the ball that dropped as part of the rocker that dropped.

it seems that the worn rocker tips is a very common problem and my thoughts are thats mainly on high ilde and high stop and go vehicles. you guys that are highway cruisers with very low engine hours are probally good to go. I have 3000 hrs on 87K miles. my drivers side rockers are worn to the metal and my pax side are worn but not to the metal. thinking the oil spray from the turbo sucking in air from the case vent at the base of the oil fill assy is lubing the tips on the pax side.

I do plan on converting my egr system from coolant based to oil based. doing so in my opinon will heat up the oil and help vaporize fuel contamination in oil since I am a city stop and go driver and in the 3K miles I have owned my truck I think very little hours have been spent at max operating temps. I also think converting to oil will eliminate the possibility of egr related coolant contamination in oil. if the egr thats oil based leaks...its just going to leak oil into the oil system.

I got a new take of cat and dpf and want to do a dual exhuast with dual cats and dual dpf's since my local does emmissions. I think that dual dpfs will help with back pressure while at the same time increasing time between regens due to greater dpf capacity.

not in a rush to get this all done....working mainly on the week ends.

going to send out my new saddles this weekend to have the holes drilled. that should take two weeks.

not sure which push rods I will use. I have new stock ones and new rivercity ones. the rivercity folks say they have sold thousands of them and everyone is happy with them. they can handle double the HP of stock rods and 2K more max rpms.

the sound you are hearing of a bad lifter could just be a badly worn rocker tip. especially if it is on the driver side...theres less oil pressure on that side.