WS6moneypit

I bought a built up Trans Am and with a few mods got 460rwhp. The other night the oil pressure dropped to 20 and started ticking like a machine gun. Pulled the valve covers off and everything was perfect except one rocker could be rocked by hand enough for the pushrod to fall off. I'm not finding exactly this problem in the forums. Please help!

td1168

iTrader: (2)

Are you saying the needle bearings came apart in your rocker?

WS6moneypit

No the rocker is perfect, the pushrod isn't bent, but I could move the rocker up and down as if the rod was too short

Beeler422

iTrader: (3)

Is the bolt just loose on it?

WS6moneypit

All bolts torqued. Somethings up with either the valve or the roller/cam.

Decadence75

iTrader: (17)

Collapsed lifter?

ckpitt55

iTrader: (4)

^^ came in to post this. pull the head and check that lifter out.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Pull the pushrod, look into lifter and see if plunger is up against the clip. If it is, then you may need to start dis-assembly. However, its hard to believe that a cam lobe would go bad quickly with no indications. I would suspect lifter roller if this happened suddenly. If the lifter won't come out easily from the top, don't force it. Remove cam and remove lifter from the bottom.

WS6moneypit

I didn't realize a lifter could break like that. I'll start digging into it. Thanks for the guidance.

vettenuts

iTrader: (4)

Figure out as much as you can from the top first to avoid taking it apart for nothing. For example, is that rocker even moving when the motor turns over?

Z28Dave

iTrader: (10)

Do you have the stock ls1 lifters? If so I can almost guarantee that is the problem. They aren't the strongest for a big cam which is why most people use LS7 lifters