pushrod? maybe u can help me...

[TorchRedCobra04]

k, i have not learned too much about the pushrod until i bought my first fox. Well this one i am refering to now is my second one and def. not the last one, but i recently went through a drivethru tim hortons (coffee shop) and u know how u can really hear a car when u are in an enclosed space? yeah well, i heard this tapping sound coming from the motor. and long story short it sounds like a noisy lifter. So anyway i looked into it after calming down (i thought it was the motor knocking) and learned that pushrods need this thing called a tapper adjustment? where the vavletrain needs to be adjusted for slack causing things to tap together since they have room to move apart from each other? i am brining in to a shop tomorrow since i do not have the proper tools to pop off the covers and start cranking, nor the proper knowledge. My question is how often to do u guys on here find you need to get your vavletrain adjusted? and how bad is it to drive with the vavle's not functioning properly? i mean, like how quick can this fry them on a 302? :X

 

[93Cobra#2771]

BEFORE you start spinning wrenches, find someone who knows what they are doing. Not knocking you or anything, but there is a specific way to tighten pedestal mount rockers, and that's assuming you have the correct length pushrods.

Once the valvetrain is set up properly, there is not "adjusting" the valves on 5.0's.

If you have roller rockers, some brands of them can be noisy...

 

[TorchRedCobra04]

the motor has the factory vavletrain still...
the tapping started on my way to work, can be something other then an adjustment problem in the vavletrain? i am not going about doing this myself, i am bringing it to a mechanic that has worked on my car a few times before, seems to know enough to trust him to do this. And so you are telling me the vavletrain should never go out of whack once adjusted from factory>??

 

[93Cobra#2771]

What I'm saying is there is no "adjustment" for the valves. You set them up and its all done.

Are you sure you don't have an exhaust leak? Heck, that type of noise could be anything from a broken rocker arm, to a collapsed/broken valve spring, etc.

 

[93_Snake]

My vote would be on an exhaust leak too. The throw out bearing on the clutch will sometimes make a tapping or squeaking sound when it gets old too. Could also be a bad lifter too. Does your car have high mileage?

 

[93Cobra#2771]

Does your car have high mileage?

I was going to ask that as well, and forgot...

 

[TorchRedCobra04]

well yeah it does have high miles, the car does not have an exhaust leak i am sure, because it is a tapping sound which is coming from one of the vavle covers, sounds like it is coming from the front of the engine on the drivers side vavle cover. Is it a big job ro replace a rocker arm? or a faulty spring? does the head have to come off?? the car has like 110k miles on it??

 

[93Cobra#2771]

You can replace the spring or rocker arms without removing the head...

 

[TorchRedCobra04]

ok, dude that made me feel so much better (well put it this way, i just got my rear main, intake gaskets, and oil pan replaced, preventive maintanence since i knew they were going to be the first ones to let go) and if i had to remove the head after all that, i would have ben pissed. But anyway, am i looking at a big money pit tomorrow if it is a broken spring or something??

 

[LEE93COBRA]

LOL!!!! I didn't know that 110k miles was high miles. I always considered that low miles on a 5.0 engine.

If you are positive that it is not an exhaust leak or that it could be a loose sparkplug, then my vote would lean towards a valve spring also. If it turns out that it is a valve spring, do not put OEM springs back in it. Go with at least an aftermarket spring capable of supporting a .550 lift cam. Not saying you will ever go with a cam swap but it will be a better overall spring setup.

Also replace all springs not just one

 

[TorchRedCobra04]

kk hopefully all is well tomorrow

 

['93blownCOBRA]

LOL!!!! I didn't know that 110k miles was high miles. I always considered that low miles on a 5.0 engine.

If you are positive that it is not an exhaust leak or that it could be a loose sparkplug, then my vote would lean towards a valve spring also. If it turns out that it is a valve spring, do not put OEM springs back in it. Go with at least an aftermarket spring capable of supporting a .550 lift cam. Not saying you will ever go with a cam swap but it will be a better overall spring setup.

Also replace all springs not just one

Yup. 159K miles on my '85 GT Conv 5 speed. Never had a valve cover off of it. Runs like a top!

blown...

 

[TorchRedCobra04]

yeah well i got the lifters replaced, and the f'in motor still taps...
so i woke up on the right side of the bed this morning and decided to buy a new motor...
going to get a 302 long block, vavle job, arp head bolts, forged internals, b303 cam, ford racing timing chain, and i can't remember the rest cuse i am still waking up... 2600 canadian (still negotiating)
it is going to look dumb putting a stock 302 manifold on there, but i dont think i will have enough money to get a performer or cobra intake in time for the swap, i just turned 20.
ugh...spend spend spend

 

[youngone]

Mine had a tapping noise that I thought was a pushrod till a valve spring broke.

 

[TorchRedCobra04]

yeah, well i am going to baby this motor for a few weeks, hopefully under a month, and then make it get a taste of hell for pissing me off the day i bring it in for a swap. And then.... i willl strive to be the fastest runner in town.