ooops! It just appeared to me, that you got me wrong. To turn the thrust plate you don't have to do all that's in the list I attached. All in the list must be done if you want to take the camshaft out of the engine and you don't want to do that (I hope )
To just turn the thrust plate you have to remove only the things that obstruct the front cover:
fan shield
AC compressor, power steering pump and their bracing
intake rubber hose
coolant hoses
crankshaft pulley..... what else? hmmmm...
well maybe something more, not a big deal (no tearing down manifolds, covers, heads, rockers, lifters etc.!!!)
Then you unbolt the front cover, dont forget to uscrew small bolts, that fix oilpan to the front cover. then you take this mother off + pump + fan as one block. and there you are - you see the chain and the gears. piece of cake
I posted a list above just to show that the thrust plate is allready installed the right way in most cases But if you want to double check - that's not so hard to do. just keep in mind that you will need new seal for the front cover, new front cranckshaft seal and some blue Permatex sealer to add to oilpan seal before assembly. That's it

 

Cool I figured it was just taking apart the front end, but remvoing the radiator not such a bad idea for more room to work.

But I still cant see how this is going to fix it. I know the lifters are getting oil when engine is started cold, there is not noise, it just seems to happen when I rev it up and ti gets hot.

have you done this already, if so did it really fix it?

 

Hippy Chick.

It would be an exercise in futility. Remember Resistance is futile.
I have found this problem is not just flipping the plate. The problem is something that shows as a result of several items. One big item is cam bearings. The other item is slack in the valve train. Slack ie: worn rockers shafts,valve guides the works. You can lessen the noise by throwing large amounts of cash at the system but the best thing I have found is turn up the stereo and tell everyone you just put in a radical solid lifter cam and it is supposed to sound like that.

Have Fun..
T@L

 

yep, you're right. It's not a thing to do by itself. I mean I would not remove timing gear cover just to flip the plate myself, but as longas I'm there - why not?

 

The last word IMO is the 2.9 cologne is a poor design.

There is a guy responded that he fixed his by cleaning and shimming his rocker shaft. Good Luck.

If you want to take the time to go back to page one and read my post my 2.9 had the lifters colapse. I assume it is from poor oil pressure to the lifter galley. I can't tell myself that the "cleaning and shimming" would relieve that much strain on the lifters that it should solve the problem.

Further... I did take the 2.9 out of that Ranger SC and the lifters all seemed good. (ya ever TRY and collapse a lifter filled with oil?) I am going to throw that motor away and keep on the lookout for a 4.0 in a complete vehicle so I can take the wiring harness and all.

Do a swap. More power, better mileage, it all bolts together.

2 cents paid.

 

The best bang for the buck on a used engine is cleaning and installing rocker arm spacers and shims instead of the stupid springs on the rocker shaft.

 

I sold the truck problem solved! LOL



Now I did put in something called motor honey, a real super thick pasty oil, I put in two bottles, and wow it made the rattlings go away, but the ticking was still there but not near as loud, but still some girl wanted it real bad, I sold it to her for $300 this morning. I think ill just rent trucks when I need them form now on.
But thank you all for your help.

 

I figure the reason why the noise dampened a great deal after putting in the "Motor honey", and 2 bottles of it by the way, is perhaps it helped to fill the exess wear on the bearings around the drive shaft and cam.

Clue to me was the sound going away when the engine was started cold, the oil is thickest at that time.

I would say the true fix is to rebuild the motor. or run really thick oil in it, and 20w50 might do the job with 2 bottles of motor honey, but you know that stuff looses viscosity when it stays hot for long period of time, and I would bet that tapping would come back after highway driving.

And worse, you really dotn knwo what is going inside your motor, it could be full of sldge and thick weight oil might actually finish the motor off compleatly if it cant get aorudn the sludge.

I just do not want anyone thinking its ok to to do that because it worked on my motor, i have not had a chance to run it for a long period of time to know exactly what the long term effect this "motor honey" will do

besides I sold it so thanks guys I really appreciate the help.

 

Found out the cause for the ticking in my 2.9.

The valve guides were worn, and this caused the valve retainers' locks
to wobble in the valve grooves, enlarging them. This led to the valves
and the valve springs to "rebound" slightly on the return. This slack caused
the ticking.

Cheers, Jeff

 

Jeff, what did you do with the guides? How did you fix them?

 

Please explain this more detailed. You mean springs between rockers or spring washers at both ends of the shaft (ones that are fixed by a small metal tube thru a hole in shaft)

 

Basically it is a tube slid over the rocker shaft to hold the rocker arms from moving against the spring that usually holds the rocker arm in place.

For more details or to order a set go to cam craft cams and give them a call.

 

<Jeff, what did you do with the guides? How did you fix them?>

Sorry, was away with the flu!

The stock exhaust valves' drilling wore out at the exhaust ports.
This enabled the exhaust valves to move side-to-side during opening/closing.
Corresponding movement at the valve tip/ rocker arm/ retainer caused stress
at the spring retainer keepers. Also since the valve wasn't seating completely
there would be temporarily excess slack between the valve tip and rocker arm.
This slack probably caused some noise. The keepers caused more noise as
the corresponding valve keeper grooves wore lengthwise. These grooves were so messed up that removing the valves was difficult.
-- hard to explain! ---
So in went new stainless exhaust valves and bronze valve guides.
The bronze guides are the same ones used in the old Pinto 2000cc engine
that's popular in racing (Sports 2000 etc)-- easily available.

Hope this helps. Jeff

 

Lot of info here - I've heard of the cam and lower end (rod & main bearing) issue as well as the thrust plate issue. I've noticed in the past using 30w, 10w-30, and 5w-30 that I could tell when it was time to change the oil - ticking. I noticed when I 'tried' 20w-50 it ticked all the time (really loud on start-up, even!). I had been using 5w-30 along with Rislone engine treatment as well as doing regular engine flushes when I changed the oil and filter every 3k miles. I just recently started using Amsoil full synthetic and waiting to see how she fares. Will definitely keep all this info in mind when I decide to rebuild the engine....