I HAVE A 1990 F350 WITH A 7.3 IDI THAT HAS A TICKING NOISE IN THE TOP END, AND HAS BEEN GETTING LOUDER... IT SOUNDS LIKE ROCKER ARMS SO I'M GOINT TO REPLACE ALL OF THEM ALONG WITH THE PUSH RODS... WHAT ELSE SHOULD I BE LOOKING FOR? WHAT IS THE PROPER WAY TO INSTALL NEW ROCKER ARMS? SHOULD I REPLACE THE GLOW PLUGS AT THE SAME TIME? THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP....

 

On the glow plugs, if you have quality Motorcraft or Bosch glow plugs test them with a test light. Remove the GP connector and connect one test lead to the spade connector on the GP and the other lead to the positive battery terminal. If the bulb lights the GP is good. I test when I think I have starting issues and replace only the bad ones. If you don't have quality GPs you should consider replacing any aftermarket off brand GPs.

 

I have the same ticking.
i observed more wear on the rocker tip/valve stem surface than the other rockers.
The rest of the rockers were showing some wear, so I replaced all 16 rockers and all 16 lifters with NOS i got on Ebay. It took me a month to round them up from several sellers.
I assumed it was a faulty lifter causing the excess clearance, thus the tip wear.
Put it all back together and it was nice and quiet for about 200 miles.
I had changed the oil with Lucas added at the same time, and I feel the thicker oil masked the problem until it thinned out some.
I did notice at start up, the lifters at the rear of the engine took about 10 seconds before they began to recieve oil upon start after sitting for awhile.
This leads me to believe that those lifters, and that one in particular being the worst, aren't getting enough oil to pump up properly.
Engine has 39 pst cold, 36 psi hot oil pressure measured at the oil pressure sender port on top rear of the block. I used a grease gun extension tube to screw a guage directly to it, then it was flexable enough to reach back and screw into the port.
All the pushrods are perfect, and I even tried swapping them, but problem stayed at that location.
I had to cut the vacuum reservoir portion off the heater unit in order to get pushrod out. Used a Dremel with a 2" cutoff wheel. Reservoir replaced with a canister style i got from old Ford at PYP.
It was either that or jack up engine or remove heater to get the pushrod out.
I glad you've posted this problem because I'm hoping someone on here with experience can tell us both how to fix this.
Thinking of a valve stem Lash Cap as a fix, but don't know about that.
Concerned engine might not be getting oiled properly. It runs very well and doesn't burn much oil.
Quite clean under the covers, don't think it is plugged up with crud.
I'll be tied up for the next 5 or 6 days, so i might not be able to reply to this thread for a while.

 

I've replaced all of the rockers and push rods, checked valve springs and they are good... I still have the ticking noise... The motor runs smoth and there's absolutly no blow by... Next step is to run some Seafoam or Marvel Mystery Oil through the motor, hoping that if I have a lifter not pumping up will release... Fresh oil will get a quart of Lucas... This is just a stab in the dark... I just can't think of anything else, I doubt seriously that it could be a wrist pin, wrist pins will quiet down when the motor gets warm...

 

The Hydraulic Valve Lifters from the 1983 6.9 all the way up to the 6.7 Diesel as I remember is the same Lifters.
Some GM cars use the same Lifters.
Last July/Aug. I replaced the IP and Injectors. read where a guy had the clips on the lifters come apart and bend
a couple Push Rods. Think I had 348K at the time. Not that much more work to replace them. Found a set off
E-Bay from a Ford Dealer, $75 off MSRP and free shipping.
Got a set of American made push Rods. Removed a set of 7.3 Rockers off a 93 at PNP to replace the early 6.9
style.

While working on things, soaked the new Lifters in a container of oil for a week.
You can very carefully remove the old Valley Pan and reuse it.
If working on a 6.9, drain the block of coolant, once the Manifold is removed, coolant will run out of some small holes
in the head into the valley and down into the oil pan. Be sure to change the oil after wards.
My VP was rusty, cleaned it up and threw on some POR to get more life out of it..
Also good time to clean out the VP Drain hole.
The metal bracket that hold the Lifters down, make sure the bumps are facing up.


I bought a set of 4 gaskets from a guy on line. One sets between the VP and Head, other one between VP and Manifold.
Maybe don`t need them but for me a bit of added security of leaks.

Once you get everything torqued down. I threw on the new IP, Injectors and GP`s. be sure to throw on some Anti Seiz one
the threads.
Set the IP timing and Zoom=====Zoom and off you go.

Just rolled 365? miles and still zoomin.


Charlie

 

I'd replace the lifters at the same time if I was doing pushrods and rocker arms. I've read that the 7.3ls had better rocker arms than the 6.9ls. The problem you'd run into is wether or not the cam would need replaced at the same time. There isn't any debris or glitter in your oil, is there?

 

Ok, that didn't work, I still have the ticking noise... It's not a steady ticking, like there's something slapping... I'm baffeled!!!

 

Listen to exhaust and intake at idle when warmed up.
Do you hear a a "soft missfire"?
If so, it's most likely valve-related.
In my case, I get soft miss and can hear it in intake, feel it if I let out the clutch gradually. I think lifter isn't getting enough oil to pump up fully and open valve fully. This is despite new lifters and rocker arms.

 

Started truck this morning and while warming up I aquired a dead miss... The miss wasn't gradually, it came on all of a sudden... Cracked the injectors and #2 is mis-fireing, and I can now hear a steady loud hiss through the air cleaner... Bad lifter? Broken spring?

 

Removed #2 injector and bench tested... It dribbles at low pressure and sprays around 1000 psi... BAD injector, so my question is should I replace all of them? 245K miles on engine...

 

What is the best brand of injector for this motor?

 

Fuel injectors should be replaced approx every 100k miles. They are a medium ware item for our engine. I used to buy new Stanadyne G turbo injectors, until they stop making them. Now I buy remans from AccurateDiesel.

A word of caution, the injection pump should be changed at the same time. Fresh injectors can stress a worn IP and cause it to stop working.

 

There are only a few reputable places to get injectors these days. I want to say R&D - https://idiperformance.com/, and Conestoga Diesel are the two I can recall at the moment. Stay FAR away from Pensecola down in Florida, or whatever its called, they tend to send out crap worse than whats you currently have.

as FORDF250HDXLT said, the injector pump may be on its way out soon too. The same mentioned places carry those as well.

 

Thanks for your help.... I did find a place to buy NOS Stanadyne injectors... At the same time I'm going to take a compression test... What values should I be looking for? I get scattered information from the internet... Thanks Again...

 

Another question... Should I use never seize on the injectors?