UPDATE: I didn’t put the rocket valley bolts how they are meant to be one screw is longer and it has a certain place to fit, Thank you all for the reply’s

Hello, I wanted to see if anyone would know what is going on in my situation. I have a 2bbl 390FE which I just switched to the edelbrock performer 390, but when I was taking out the pushrods both lifters from the #1 cylinder came out fully. And i all I did was push them back in. So I assembled the engine again and today I fired it up for the first time and it ran so poorly it dosent want to idle, does not accelerate, throws tons of white smoke And a loud tick noise is coming from the engine, so doing a bit of a research it says the lifters ( flat tapped ) have a certain way they go in and if not it can ruin the lifter and cam and I believe that’s what’s happening in my situation, I already put the engine at TDC and put the distributor pointing at #1 cylinder and same result it will not stay on at all. Please I’d really appreciate any help on my situation since I really don’t want to take it all apart again but at this point I’m probably going to replace the cam and lifters unfortunately due to my mistake. Thank you guys for reading have a blessed one.

 

Not familiar with that intake, or really this engine family to any great extent, but it sounds to me like there is a leak from the new installation. Hopefully others have more insight though.

Did you put them back in the same hole they came out of? If so, then that's the best you could have done.

Could still be a leak. I know you have not run it for long, but can you see any loss of coolant?

That's if you put them back on the wrong lobe. Since the lifters spin during their normal use, simply putting them back in their original bores should not have had any negative effect.

What exactly did you do? And if I'm understanding, why exactly did you do that?
If it won't run after changing the distributor's position, then put it back where it was.
What did you point at the #1 cylinder?

Well I can help there. Don't do it!
Ok, well, at least not yet. I don't see any reason you would have ruined a cam, unless it's one of those "coincidental failures" that we run into so often when working on our old rigs.
And a single cylinder being dead won't keep the engine from running. If it's more, then a new cam is in your future. But please wait.
Main reason for waiting in my mind, is that modern flat tappet cams and lifters are JUNK compared to what was put in your truck originally. Or at least a high percentage of failures have been reported for the last ten or fifteen years to be worried about it.
So rule out everything else first.

Just out of curiosity, is this truck new to you? Or have you owned it a long time? Why did you change the intake? Just to get a 4bbl carb, or was there another issue?

Good luck.

Paul

 

Just out of curiosity, is this truck new to you? Or have you owned it a long time? Why did you change the intake? Just to get a 4bbl carb, or was there another issue?

Good luck.

Paul[/QUOTE]

I am fairly new to the truck to be honest and I changed to squeeze as much hp/torque as possible without doing much engine work but what leak could it be? What truly freaks me out is the loud knocking/maybe pinging it makes when it struggles to idle for 2 seconds but when I did the distributor part I mean I cranked it by hand till #1 was at compression stroke and then aligned the rotor to #1 on the distributor cap, I do have to mention I am a rookie to these engines but I do have a drive to get my hands on them haha.

 

Check your timing advance. You'll want anywhere betwee 12-14* BTDC for it to fire off.

 

You may not have seated the push rods correctly in the lifters. Remove the valve covers and inspect the pushrods for being bent. If that is what happened hopefully you did not bend any valves. As far as white smoke that could be caused by the intake gasket leaking in the front letting water into an intake port.

 

Is a great indication of coolant in the combustion chamber.X2 on above, in any case you'll need to pull the intake to inspect for gasket leaks. #1 cylinder is next to the coolant passageway across the intake. Check oil for signs of coolant too. Coolant is not a fuel, if enough it's a dead cylinder. Might should take a look at that plug too.

 

See the OPs prior thread. There's something else wrong with that engine.

See this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post21651193

 

I'm running dual Crane valve springs in my 429.
One day coming down the interstate I could hear a ticking. Upon getting home and removing suspect valve cover, I discovered I had a broken outer spring.

Well, looks like you'll be devoting a few more hours of research and wrenching to get that 390 straightened out.
Good luck with your "findings" upon disassembly.

 

Intake manifold gasket was what I was thinking. Automatically go to the last thing you did first, and it's usually (but not always) the culprit.

Water getting into one or more cylinders in enough volume to almost hydro-lock that particular piston/cylinder. Or something else...

That's not how you time an engine's ignition. It's only right when you're lucky, and it's almost never right.
Put it back where it was, or at least half-way back to where it was. Or better yet, get a timing light and use it accurately.

So what's this other issue you had in another discussion.
When you start a new one, perhaps a link to the old one, just in case there are pertinent things that you've done for one that might effect the other. Which is often the case.

Paul

 

He couldn't get it over 2800 RPM.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post21651193

 

I'm not sure what all you have going on here, but as to your question about the lifters, no there is no positioning, they spin anyway, as long as it's not upside down you're fine. even if it's in the wrong hole any possible cam damage that could occur would not happen this fast.

I would check my firing order again, then work with the timing. just get it running and move the distributor until it runs good then you can fine tune it.

Are you sure the rocker shafts were installed as they came out? if you removed the bolts the shaft can turn and be reinstalled 180 degrees off, this would cause oiling problems and make top end noise. the boss, or notch must be on the bottom. there is also an undersized shank bolt that allows oil to reach the shaft, if that's in the wrong hole you'd have issues.

 

Sometimes the pushrods don't end up where they are supposed to when tightening down the rocker shafts.
Dis =able the ignition so the truck wont start, pull the valve covers and crank the engine over with a remote starter button and watch each rocker arm and push rod to make sure they are all moving the same.

 

lifter and pushrods should always go back in the same hole. They don't wear exactly the same and wiped lobes are all too common these days. Don't take a chance.