hi all back to ask another stupid question.

i have a 71 250 2wd with a 390fe in it. right now my compression reads a little lower than it should on some and a little higher on others all of them are with in the range of acceptable for just a clunker *mine is atm*

i will be rebuilding / upgrading the engine i would list all the ideal parts but the list would be long. any way one on the list is to get some of them edlebrock heads to match to edlebrock carb with you guessed it edlebrock exhaust. the logic is that the flow would be much smoother since they are built to be a complete system and should all match up better than hooker edlebrock holley etc combos. hi perfomance isn't the goal.

any way i have a lifter acting up on my passengers side would replacing the head fix this or would i still have to fix the lifter problem seperatly. cuz if it would fix the lifter problem then i will just save up for new heads and be done with it check one off the list and move on.

 

No, a tapping in the valve train is usually caused by a lifter that's gotten gummed up inside with varnish from age and oil dirt. It's a very common problem with old engines.

If you're going to pull of the intake manifold and the heads, you should automatically service the lifters at the same time. With the manifold off they're right there in front of you. The easy thing is to buy a new set of lifters. They're not very expensive. Or, you can take them apart and clean the gunk out of them. If the varnish buildup is heavy, they can be frustrating to get apart.

If you have the lifters out, or you're putting in new ones, it's VERY IMPORTANT to clean the bottom face carefully and put a dab of Cam Lube on it as you put it back in. Cam Lube is a special grease that's made for that purpose, and is available in any auto parts store. If you don't use the Cam Lube, there's a risk that you can wipe out the camshaft in the first few seconds after you fire up your newly-reassembled engine. Which causes intense loud profanity.


"If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day. If you teach him to fish he will be fed for life"
"If you teach him how to convince others to fish for him in exchange for a small wage, and how to sell the fish in a marketplace, then he will become wealthy and well fed for life"

 

little bit of background on the truck don't know if it changes any thing or not.

a few years ago i had my oil pump go out on me. and it was about 2 - 3 days till i actually was able to stop using it. it was the end of the job and no money till pay day. suprisingly every thing survived but ever since then i have had a lifter that is touchy about the oil level. it will start taping when ever the oil level drops by as much as 1/4 of a quart. and ever since that idiot mechanic got his hands on my truck it has leaked like a sive about 1 quart a week outa the tranny 1 quart a month engine oil. so as you can guess there is alot of tapping going on.

i know i need to pull the engine and give it a good working over. however i don't have the down time to do this and money just got extra tight since wife bought her new frontier *family truck* / her ride to work. so if it is just one part i might be able to put a rush on it but if it is like you said a basic breaking down of the engine then i will just have to keep suffering till it breaks or till i can scrape all the parts together to do it right once.

 

If you are going to clean and reuse the old lifters, make sure you keep track of which bore each came out of and put them back in the same hole.

 

well the general idea is to replace sorry long list comming:
crank
pistons
rings
rods
camshaft
lifters
tappets
heads
valves
valvesprings
carb
intake
exhaust
all gaskets
timing gears instead of chain
water pump
alternator
transmission
rear end
front brakes
hoses
paint
rims
tires
oil pan
oil pick up
heater for inside cab
vent ducts
instriment cluster
upholstry
window tint

in short the truck is going down for a frame off restore / customization as soon as it can be spared to do so. i don't mind ripping deep into the block to do something if i am gonna not need to do it again when i start the restore. but from the sounds of it and from what i remembered tapping lifters are a semi invasive job. i guess the question should have been.

can i fix a tapping lifter with out pulling the engine and really tearing into it.

 

Ha you need to seat down with a motor Manual and read many times over to the point you really under stand what your doing b4 you drop 15 to 20 grand into old iron classic.
These old classic need a lot of rebuilding and welding and cutting rusted out stuff.
You can't just build the top end of a tried old motor and thing you'll get yrs of driving service miles from it. You'll find out real quick once you start taking stuff a part that old age has rusted more parts that you can see.. Not trying to knot you but you don't know what your doing for one thing. This you need to learn. You know new shoe strings don't
make old shoes last any longer when there holes in the bottom..We all have big ideas about doing stuff until we learn THE how too's and do it the right way the first time. Just my 2 cent kid~o Good Luck thou..
Orich

 

bah i learn by doing i have one book and no fear. i wasn't talking about just rebuilding the top end. there is no rust on my truck and i have kept it running so far.

these things were made by some one to start with so being remade by some one should be ok. i have a speed shop *suprisingly the most cost efficient shop* who is going to give the block a once over and make sure nothing is wrong with the block. he knows his stuff.

the worst that can happen is i screw it up then i have to have the pro fix it.

like i said i phrased the question wrong. but yes this is my first build nothing fancy just rip out the old put in the new and drive it to and from work and pick up and drop of kids.

no way am i actually gonna drop 20 - 30 grand into the engine rebuild since i am basically gonna use stock parts no fancy scat stroker stuff.

 

There are any number of crankcase additives that you can use that might free up a gummed lifter if that is what is causing the valve noise. They are basically penetrating oils. Marvel Mystery Oil comes to mind. But they can cause other problems like leaks and oil consumption from freeing stuck rings. Give one a try and let us know what happens.

 

actualy i used some seafoam a while back and it made the leaks worse. which is a logical outcome of useing a solvent that removes deposits .

the leak came after the new tranny was put in looks like it is from the rear of the engine i think that would mean a rear oil seal no?

the lifter is the same one that started tapping when the oil pump went out that is why i figured it was physically damaged durring that time. if it was a little bent or some other such wouldn't the oil pressure in it "pump it up" and take up the slack and eliminate the noise until the oil pressure fell off. then when the oil flow/ pressure fell of the noise would resume correct?

the reason i was talking about new heads was given the reading from the compression test where either a little high or a little low and that there is no oil deposits on the plugs. no exess heat or wear just normal plugs. there is no smoke out of the exhaust either. i figgured that the valves were worn since the springs looked *i know not best way to check springs* like they were in good shape. also i checked the gap between the push rod *i think* and the rocker arm and they all checked as fine with no play. also no damage physically seen by looking at them. so i figgured my compression reading were do to valves not functioning proper but i don't wanna pull the heads till i am ready to do the bottom end *as previously stated i knew afore to start a rebuild from the bottom end and work up* and since new heads were on the list to get and since the compression wasn't great but was above min i figgure just drive till ready to work on it.

if this lifter noise turns into a not runing problem then i will have to take the truck outa service early and put a bit more of a rush on the rebuild. but what i didn't know was if there was a way to just pop open the top replace the lifters and slap on a new head or not? that should fix the problem with the compression and the new lifters would fix the tapping no?

i was reading in the book by christ that if the part that makes contact with the cam shaft doesn't come out easy then you need to pull the camshaft. i think it is called the tappit. i know that to pull the cam shaft out you need to yank the engine. i am sure i am using the wrong words and terms and i do apologize i am just a carpenter who is trying to keep / get my truck right after several mechanics have let me down or charged way too much.

 

pour some automatic transmission fluid in the carb with the engine running it will clean out what ever may be clogging the lifter orfices.
It will also kill all of the mesquotos within a 5 block radius.

 

bout how much should i use? half a quart?

 

MarcusPBoldt,
Sorry to bust your bubble, but nothing you put down the carb will get anywheres close to the lifters. Trans fluid when mixed with some water, poured down the carb while running, may clean/blast some deposits off of the valves and piston tops, but thats it. You're right about the skeeters though.

carpenter547,
I would pour a quart of ATF into the oil, next time you need to add a quart. Some say to do this 100-200 miles before an oil change, but I have had good results running it like that with a fresh oil change all the time on old engines. It helps minimize sludge build up from blow-by caused by tired rings, etc. FYI, many times, what appears to be a rear main seal leak is actually a valve cover leaking from the rear, down the back of the block.
To give you a little info/terminology:

The part that rides up/down on the "camshaft" is the "lifter" (also sometimes called a "tappet") that pushes the "pushrod" up through the head to the "rocker arm" which pivots on the "rocker shaft" (on FE and some other engines) or a "rocker fulcrum" and the the "rocker arm" pushes down on the valve to open it.

I would think twice about upgrading the valves or heads without doing the lower end and rings, as the increased compression could very well stress tired/worn rings turning your engine into a smoker. A cheap, down a dirty freshen up would be to replace the main and rod bearings with the same size as it already has and pull the intake to replace the lifters and drive it until you can do a proper rebuild.
HTH,
Gene

 

ok thank you for that side effect of my life is a loss of vocabulary

and thanks for the tip about the rear leak i will go double check that and see if it is indeed the cause of the leak that would be great easy quick fix