My wife and I are praying to soon be able to rebuild our truck’s 2.9 Liter engine. Not because it is giving us any major problems, but the oil pan gasket is starting to leak and if we’re going to be pulling the engine anyway we like to go ahead and rebuild, maybe put a Custom Camcraft cam in and fix some of the mistakes of Ford. Anyways, I found this question while reading through some of the older posts in the forum and I was wondering of there is any truth in this idea. The question was originally asked by Marc51 on , but the answer given is a black space.



I am rebuilding my sons 2.9 and can't remember where the spacers for the thrust plate go. I have three large and two small ones. Any help appreciated. Should I rotate the plate 180 degrees to increase the upper end oiling? Thanks



What is the answer to this question?

 

Now that's good question, and one I hadn't heard yet. Hopefully someone will pop in with an answer if I don't find it first.

When I did the top end on my 2,9 I never got into the front cover, and the upper end of these motors can certainly use all the help they can get. I'll look into this further...

 

Has anyone found any information on this yet?

 

I haven't been able to find a thing on this. I even found the original post you referred to and there's no apparent reason why the answer wasn't in the post...the user must have posted it that way.

At this point I'm still hoping someone will pop in here with the answer for you. I'd like to know myself as I found the upper end oiling problem to be very discouraging on my 2.9 and was a large part of why I pulled the motor and swapped it out.

 

I am rebuilding my sons 2.9 and can't remember where the spacers for the thrust plate go. I have three large and two small ones. Any help appreciated. Should I rotate the plate 180 degrees to increase the upper end oiling? Thanks

still no answer to this question

 

Alright, I think I found an answer to my own question. Rotating the cam thrust plat is suppose to forbid oil from draining back down through the timing chain and gear area, problem you may face though is that you are then restricting oil to the chain. I can't say I would follow through with this idea. That could change though if I hear different.

 

So where did you finally find the info? (Or do I not want to know?)

Me, I think I'd try just about anything to get rid of the annoying 2.9 lifter ticking. I'll bet the chain still gets enough lubrication, though there may be other ways to get more oil to it.

 

Well, actually I found it while do some research through a few of the older topics on the Ranger Sports Forum.

No one says directly what the root cause is of the ticking problem. What’s strange is that some engines never tick at all. Using a process of elimination and deductive reasoning one can guess the problem must be in all 2.9 Liter engine, but yet some are not effect for one reason or another. There are some many variables in this quest for an answer. It’s true that a lifter can go bad; it’s true that an engine can accumulate an overpowering amount of sludge; it’s true that an oil pump can could bad mainly due to the previous reason or foreign matter in the oil system. All f these problems seem to point to bad maintenance or bad workmanship. I am not an engineer and not knowing any supportive evidence to the contrary as of now I have to go along with the notation the oiling system of the 2.9 Liter is badly design. Having said that I would support the idea that for the 2.9 Liter’s oiling system to function properly everything in it should be working properly and of superior design for the system. Something I have come across a few times in the forums is the assertion that the cam bearings are of a poor design and should be replaced with the improved version (a superior design for the system). The difference in the improved version is that there is a grove on the outside diameter of the bearings that permit excellent oiling of the bearing itself but also greater efficiency in delivery of oil to the valve train. If this is indeed the fix needed this may also explain why some 2.9 Liters have never ticked. They could have been so stringently maintained that the cam bearings never really wore to a bad point. These are just my thoughts though. It would be interesting to have a poll of those who have rebuilt their engines using the improved bearings and seeing if it had any effect.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

 

So what are your thoughts on this TigerDan?

 

In my case, when I had the engine apart to replace the heads I also drpped the pan and replaced the rod bearings and drilled out ands chamfered the oil pump passages, and replaced the lifters. Of course, I never had the front cover off or the cam out so I have no idea what condition the cam bearings were in, but the rest of the engine was surprisingly clean inside, no sludge buildup.

But when it was all done it still ticked, though sometimes it woukld go away for a while, other times it do it so badly that it lost power. I pulled a valve cover at one point after I had been driving it like that for several months and found it almost dry up there, not much evidence of sufficient oil to the top end. I've never torn it down to try to figure it out, I solved the problem by pulling the motor and stuffing a 5.0 in there so the 2.9 is just sitting.

It's always bugged me though and one of these days when I have a little more time I'd like to pull it apart and see what there is to see. What I've heard over the last few years is that the 2.9 lifter oiling system is indeed a bad design. They didn't really change anything from the original solid lifter 2.8 and while the oil supply was sufficient fore that, it isn't for the hydraulic lifter 2.9 and thus we have the characteristic lifter tic.

Some folks claim to have this problem solved, but I've nver seen anything I felt was truly definitive. It would seem that you want to take on this challenge yourself, and lay to rest once and for all the constant speculation as to this problem.
Perhaps the results of a poll would prove interesting...if you want to, then go for it. In fact, perhaps you could turn the results of your study into an article...

 

I would very much like to write an article about it, it is my plan to take as many pictures as possible when my friend and I do our engine rebuild. I would like nothing better then for it to be a bad designed cam bearing that would help make my entire life a satisfying venture and certainly a find of this magnitude would warrant praise to God for only He knows the answer to this great engine mystery. My reasoning without the first hand knowledge of a rebuild (a perspective looking from the outside) just says that it has to be something can fail when not maintained annually. I’ve never started a poll on this site can you do it for us?

 

I never have either...but I'm sure I can figure it out! What poll choices would you like to include? Make me a list if you would...

 

Check your rocker armshafts it might be plugged up with sludge, restricting oil flow to the valve train. Cam bearings is not the root of the problem!!! It's
poor oil flow that is the cause of the ticking. Got a spare 2.9 rocker armshaft from
a ticking motor? Punch a hole in one end and try sticking in a 1/8 rod in and see for yourself.
TigerDan you said that your rocker arms were dry, did you check your rockershafts?

 

When I put the WP heads on it they came with rocker shafts. I got them used, but they only had a few thousand miles on them and were still nice and clean. I slid a couple rockers to the side after I'd been running them with the tic for a while and found evidence of wear and galling on the shaft, so I don't believe there was much oil even getting to the top end and the shafts themselves were still clean, and should have been clean inside as well.