Bent Pushrod? 1990 302
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From: Calgary
Bent Pushrod? 1990 302
Was making a long drive home across the rockies toady. About 2 hours into my 7 hour trip, I hit a moderate sized hill and gave it all she had. I didn't lose any power at all, but when I was over the hill I heard an odd rattling noise that seemed to come from the drivers side valvetrain. I went to an auto store and bought a stethescope to poke around a little more (it also sounded like an exhaust leak.)
Anyway, from what I can tell it's something under the valve cover. It didn't seem to catastrophic so I continued to drive home. (-25 Celcius, didn't wan to try to fix it too badly.) Anyway, it drove the rest of the way home, no lack of power and the noise didn't get any worse.
Is it possible that I slightly bent a pushrod? I'm not to familiar with the workings of the valvetrain in this truck. I got it home into the garage now so i'm going to look at it in the morning, just wondering if someone could help put me on the right track.
Thanks in advance
Jason
Anyway, from what I can tell it's something under the valve cover. It didn't seem to catastrophic so I continued to drive home. (-25 Celcius, didn't wan to try to fix it too badly.) Anyway, it drove the rest of the way home, no lack of power and the noise didn't get any worse.
Is it possible that I slightly bent a pushrod? I'm not to familiar with the workings of the valvetrain in this truck. I got it home into the garage now so i'm going to look at it in the morning, just wondering if someone could help put me on the right track.
Thanks in advance
Jason
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From: Concord, New Hampshire
it could be a bad lifter, i have one in my truck that ticks a bit around 55mph but they are not adjustable so therefore nothing i can do about it, but then again i could be wrong. my motor is a 87 351 and if anyone has anything else they can say id like to know the nois is a bothersome thing, but have you pulled a valve cover to check? that would be my first step.
Tuned
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I would inspect the headers for cracks before you pull the valve cover. My 302 knocked pretty bad its entire life and the vavle train always seemed loud to me, I bought it new and it ran 160K + miles trouble free, never burned any oil either. It seemed louder than normal one day and I found the header was cracked in 2 places. I fixed that and went back to the normal sounds.
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From: Concord, New Hampshire
yeah thats a good point i didnt think of that my friends dodge has that problem, it sounds like a serious engine problem, but its just a leaky manifold gasket
not to change the topic but dose anyone know how to adjust if its even possible stock valves?
not to change the topic but dose anyone know how to adjust if its even possible stock valves?
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From: vancouver bc
lifter!
hi there, sounds like a bad lifter, not a big deal you can run it like that or change em, cost me about 50 bucks canadian for a set of em on my 351, there easy to change to, valve covers off, rockers off, pushrods out, intake off, lifters out, just get a service manual and do er up
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From: Concord, New Hampshire
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From: Central Illinois
Originally posted by ATC_250SX
do you actually have to take the intake mannifold off or can you do it without?
do you actually have to take the intake mannifold off or can you do it without?
Mine is a 302 though....not sure what your manifold looks like.
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From: Central Illinois
Originally posted by laka
Yes, it is necessary to remove the intake manifold to remove the lifters. You need to remove both upper and lower intake manifolds.
Yes, it is necessary to remove the intake manifold to remove the lifters. You need to remove both upper and lower intake manifolds.
For some reason I was thinking you could pull them with a magnetic tool...but how I proposed to squeeze them through the teeny pushrod guides on the head is beyond me! Sorry if I steered anyone the wrong way! ...although you wouldn't have to take too much time trying it to realize I'm an idiot! 
Bryan
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From: Calgary
Okay I pulled the valve cover off and looked around, inspected all the pushrods, and ran it with the cover off. Everything seemed fine. I removed the header and it is crack free and the gasket was fine also.
Is a lifter my last option? I've changed them before, but it's a crummy job to do for nothing. Can lifters just get stuck instantly like that? I'm going to run some ATF through it to see if the noise goes away.
Any other last minute ideas?
Is a lifter my last option? I've changed them before, but it's a crummy job to do for nothing. Can lifters just get stuck instantly like that? I'm going to run some ATF through it to see if the noise goes away.
Any other last minute ideas?
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From: vancouver bc
lifter
yah lifters can do that, and the sound can come and go for no reason, you could try one of those oil treatments (they work way better with an oil change) that might get rid of it temperaly, if it does you know its a bad lifter
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From: Calgary
I put 2 bottles of noise killer into the engine and the problem hasn't gone away. Are the lifters my last hope? I idles good, rev's up good and everything. And the ticking is coming from drivers side rear of engine. I guess I was just looking for a quick fix to save me some hastle. It just seemed odd to me that the lifter started making noise suddenly and hasn't stoppped since.
Thanks
Thanks