Hey Y'all,

I have an 86 F150 with the 300. odo reads 97k, but it's more likely 197k. and If any of you are familiar with my latest post, I recently swapped it over from feedback to the HEI ignition system. All has been working well, up until a week ago.
The engine has developed a knock/tick, which I doubt is due to the HEI system (unless my timing is too advanced causing pinging) prior to this, the engine had never made a noise of this severity. The noise is intermittent, (bear with me) it'll go "tick tick tick tick tick pause pause tick tic tick tick pause pause pause tick tick" and so forth. almost as its relying on oil pressure to lubricate itself. If I hold the rpm at like around 1k, sometimes it'll hold the tick, or it'll go away suddently. Ive been scouting forums and groups and all points towards bad lifters which are not being lubricated properly. Any insight? How hard is it to replace the lifters on these engines? What the procedure?

 

I think before I went replacing lifters or other parts I would want to know just what is making the noise.

I would install a oil pressure gauge if for nothing other then for testing.
Low oil psi will make lifters tick.
This brings up something the oil level is full?
Clean or dirty and what brand oil filter you running?
What weight oil you running and dose this noise happen when the motor is cold, hot or both?

If the oil is due for a change get a good filter DO NOT get a Frame filter as I have had issues with them and low PSI.
Not knowing where home is but now that it is getting warmer I think I would look into a 15w - 40 weight oil.
Now what I do just before I change the oil is I pour in 1 qt of ATF and let it idle while I get the tools together.
The ATF is a good cleaner but I only let it idle I dont drive with it in the motor.
If you have a lifter that maybe a little dirty the ATF may help clean it out.

You may also want to pull the valve cover and check the rockers for a loose one.
It could be loose from a lifter not pumping up or the rocker pivot could be worn down.

Now we are talking oil psi and livers / rockers that could be the cause but what about and exhaust leak?
A exh manifold leak just starting and come & go and sound just like a lifter tick.
I would check all the manifold bolts to make sure they are tight and give a good look for any black streaks that would be a sign of a leak.

That should give you somethings to check
Dave ----

 

Rislone is a good product that has been on the market many years, and is known to be good for making noisy lifters quiet. Pour it in and give it a few weeks and see if that makes the noise go away.

If you just got this truck, and are now making regular oil changes where the previous owner didn't, the detergents in the new oil may have knocked some gunk loose in the engine.

 

Oh if you do find the lifter are bad they should not be to hard to replace.
They are behind that side cover but you will need to loosen all the rockers to get the push rods out of the way to get them out of the block.

If there is a lot of varnish and will not come out a lot of carb cleaner sprayed on them and vise grips to work them out.

You will need to coat the new ones with break in lube and run a break in oil and break in the cam / lifters or you will wipe them out in short order!
Dave ----

 

I just did the oil change yesterday, and used 6 qts Rotella T6 15-40 with a Motorcraft FL-1A filter. The sound is stronger when cold, but once it gets up to temperature and has been revved some, it quiets down and comes and goes. I'll definitely check for an exhaust leak.

 

That said, I would think lifter for sure. I do not think an exhaust leak would quiet down after the engine warms up.

 

is it okay to just replace one? what's the procedure to break them in? ive heard you need "break in" lube, can regular assembly lube do the job?

 

When metal gets hot it expands. So cold you could have an opening and a leak and as it heats up closes and stops.

If you replace 1 or all of them you HAVE TO do a cam break in, so I would just replace them all.
Besides if 1 or 2 went bad the others have the same amount of wear / run time on them.
I would put assembly lube on the lifters when I installed them as it cant hurt.

You have to drain the oil and filter and fill back up with break in oil, it has a lot of zinc and a good filter.
I am sure you can find on line how to break in a cam but in short the motor has to be ready to run from the first turn of the key,not a lot of cranking,
When if fires up bring the RPM up to 2000 for 5 min then up to 2500 RPM for 5 min then back to 2000 and back up to 2500.
Do this for 20 to 25 min.

Cam break in on a motor with open headers (race motor) is fun ......... not as you **** everyone off
Dave ----

 

In regards to the break in oil, can I use some Lucas break in additive for the oil? I've heard some say that 15-40 rotella diesel oil is a good alternative due to the high zinc content. I don't have break in oil readily avaliable. I dont have enough greenbacks for all 12, so for the meanwhile I'll only do 1(sorry). any insight?

 

Based on what ive been reading on this thread and on other threads, this is the procedure ive learnt so far (correct me if im wrong)
-Bring engine to TDC
-Remove fuel line, valve cover, and throttle cables.
-Remove rockers
-remove push rods
-remove lifter by working it up/down
-replace with new lifter and coat with assembly lube before placing in block.
-reverse and reassemble
-drain oil
-refill with break in oil and new filter?
-start up and begin new break in procedure by fluctuating between 2000-2500 rpm for 15-20 minutes
and that's it? I should be fine?

 

You now have to check the Rotella oil as some of it is for the newer diesels that run cats and it is the zinc that hurts the cat's.
I would see if the Rotella has more zinc than car oil and if so use it and add 2 or 3 cans / bottles of the break in additive.
In my book you cany have enough zinc.

I dont know if you need to bring to TDC as you will need to turn the motor over to pop the lifter up so you can grab it.
I also cant see the need to pull the dist. maybe just the cap with the wires to get more room. When you pop the cap / wires back on everything should fall into place and the firing order was already good before the work.
Dave ----

 

Rosella has an approximate zinc content of around 1200ppm, as compared to regular conventional with around 700 ppm. Break in oil averages around 3000ppm. im thinking I should be fine with 5 quarts and sub 1 quart with 2 bottles of lucas break in additive. according to Lucas, 1 bottle will treat up to 4.5 quarts with a level of 5000ppm. ill use 2 and start the break in procedure. how can I find RPM without a tach? or do I just listen by ear and hope its correct?

 

Putting a new lifter against a old camshaft will always be a gamble. 99% of the time it will work if the lifters are any good. That is the problem, there have been a lot of new camshaft failures lately and it's all because of manufacturing quality. But you really have no choice. You could listen to the ticking, it will run a long long time like that.

 

You know Dave, my brain tells me the same thing but my experience has never proven that. Once an exhaust leak occurs it never seems to seal back up due to thermal expansion. Is your experience any different?

 

You can pick up a tach dwell meter to monitor rpm. Probably pretty cheap.

edit: these are no longer available for the most part. There are other remote tach meter tools available. If you have any old guys in your neighborhood see if you can borrow one. Check ebay for a cheap old one?