88 BII, 2.9, AT, 4WD

Well all, I took a big chance and came out ok. I drove my '88 BII from Trenton, NJ to Bangor, ME and back during the big storm. Everything went OK except I experienced a very loud lifter tap and it only happened when running at 65 MPH or when I pulled off for fuel. If I let it sit at idle for a few minutes the tap would go away until I went down the hightway again. Then it would start all over. The BII didn't have a lot of power going up hills either but the 4WD work flawlessly for over 200 miles in deep snow.
Now that I'm back (1200 mile round trip )
The thing is running ok again.
The thing is, I'm not sure if it's a lifter or a wrist pin. Any ideas?
I don't think I'm going to attempt any long trips with it until I move up to Bangor at the end of Feb. Until then I am thinking about ways to fix this problem.

 

Lifter noise is common with the 2.9L, the design wasn't real good but it doesn't seem to hurt anything as long as the oil pressure is OK. I would check the oil pressure or just install a real gauge. There are ways to fix it but it's not a simple thing.

 

Free floating lifters are a way to fix it. Monty might stop in when he see's the title, he might tell you how they helped him, and Monty if you do see this, I'm curious.. how much did they cost? You know I want to do the same thing to mine, so I'm just wondering.

 

I had a 86 BII, 2.9. In 1991, I had the same problem, only I was getting ready to pull a uhaul from Arkansas to Michigan. Drive down the road and it would drop lifters, even start missing. Pull to side and it would quiet down. Oil pressure never dropped, double checked with a manual gauge. I changed the following in this order, Oil pump, Rod and Main bearings ( in truck, what a pain) Lifters, filter adapter with checkball, of course the oil and filter were changed many times in this process. Pump pickup and screen was replaced. All did nothing to change problem. Short of dynamite, I decided to pull the motor and go throught it. When I pulled the cam, I had some troubles getting it out. Seems Ford designed an oil passage groove on the front journal of the cam. With the added strain from the timing chain, the cam wore a perfect notch in the bearing surface. What would happen is at high speed the cam would lift into that groove and cut off lube to the valve train. Pressure gauge is before the faulty bearing, so everything looked good. I ran the truck with no more problems after that. Towed the 6000 lb trailer 1000 miles with no problem, plenty of power, weak on the brakes though..NYKEJ

 

well that would pretty much describe what I am going through. I will look into it. It will be a while though. Will let you guys and gals know what I find!

 

Nice tip nykej, never heard that as a cause.

 

Thanks. Kind of blew me away when I found it. The machinist was driving out the cam bearings and we noticed the front was a smooth bearing style, where the rest had an oil journal cut in them. Thats when I noticed the male matching grove in the top of the front bearing. At the time I was doing this, Ford had not released any parts for reman. All you could get was basic tuneup stuff, and valve cover gaskets from the parts stores. $$$$$ I think I paid 185.00 just for an oil pump (in 1990) Don't even ask about bearing cost. Pretty neat trick a machine shop tech told me about, can be costly if you make a mistake. I used a nail, cut off to about 3/8" to install the top side main bearings. Nail in crank journal, and Slowly rotate the crank (by hand) to install the bearing. Had to hold one hand on the bearing to keep it aligned. NOT recommended, but in a big pinch worked.