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Pulling valve covers...

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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 10:23 AM
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Default Pulling valve covers...

I just need some quick help, I'm pulling my valve covers to see where this tapping is coming from, what should I be looking for, what are some common things that go wrong, I plan on pulling all the rockers and checking the pushrods, and correct me if im wrong the rockers get torqued to 22 or 23 ft/lbs? Thanks
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 10:27 AM
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when i did my cam swap i torqued them down to 22ft/lbs.....
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 11:51 AM
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start with the pushrods... check the rockers out too when you have them off. keep rockers in their current locations when you put them back on
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 12:22 PM
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its important to keep the rockers in order? what should I be looking for on the rockers?
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 12:26 PM
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You're going to be looking for a bent pushrod, a broken spring, things like that. When you put it all back together, make sure you torque em all back to 22 ft/lbs. This is the time to check valve lash. Tighten the bolt down on the rocker until it can't be moved back and forth, then it should only take about 1.5 turns to get to 22 ft/lbs. That should let you know if there's a collapsed lifter or not.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 02:34 PM
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you have to put the pushrods back in the same order they came out correct?
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 02:42 PM
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Idealy you would like everything to go back in the same way. However, it's not going to hurt anything to mix the pushrods up...probably wouldn't hurt anything to mix the rockers and lifters up either, it's just a better idea to leave them all in order in case you notice a problem.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 03:38 PM
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I got my first valve cover off, driver side, some of the rockers on that side can move very little side to side and some dont, is that anything?
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 03:47 PM
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Your rockers shouldn't be able to move at all side to side if you haven't loosened them.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 04:18 PM
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really,its very little movement, but what does that mean? i pulled all the rockers and pushrods off and they all look ok on the one side, i still have the passenger side to go
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 04:24 PM
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Well, if the rocker has lateral movement then it was not torqued properly. If you find nothing wrong in the pushrods or rockers and reassemble it all back (torquing and measuring correct valve lash), I have a feeling the ticking will go away. The rockers should not have lateral movement when trying to move them with your fingers.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 04:26 PM
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The bolts didn't feel loose at all, they all seemed torqued down, and i acutally just rolled the pushrods on a piece of glass, and I think one or two are very slightly bent but its real hard to tell, is there a better way of doing this
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 04:28 PM
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hmm... if they're even slightly bent, i'd purchase a new set. That would explain a little bit of play in some of the rockers.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 04:36 PM
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would that explain the tapping?
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 04:56 PM
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Yes. Loose rockers will cause tapping. Save yourself some future trouble and invest in either a new set of stockers or buy some hardened ones. Either way is up to you, but if you plan on doing a cam soon, or have a cam, hardened are a must.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 05:14 PM
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ok thanks, im gonna look at the other side tomorrow.
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Old Oct 20, 2005 | 11:23 AM
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I pulled off the other side and everything looks fine, and im pretty sure I was mistaking on the other side, I think all the other pushrods are fine, so what could be causing this tapping, anyway to test lifters with the valve covers off? and I guess if its not the lifters it would have to be a bearing, but would you still have good oil pressure with a bad bearing?
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Old Nov 20, 2005 | 06:05 PM
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I have a small tick on my drivers side too, as this thread suggested, I pulled the covers and checked the rockers, 3 or 4 of the rockers moved a very tiny amount at the pivot(side to side). I made sure they were all torqued to 22ft-lbs and only one was slightly loose, but it wasn't much. I took off a few and checked the pushrods (didn't have enough time to check all of them), when I put them back together, they still moved a little at the pivot point. The value train still seems to make a little noise, I'm not sure if it is bad or not, but the loud noise seems to have gone away since I did all of this.

I'm not sure if I should just replace this rockers or not, since they move, the car has ~95K on it. Any suggestions?
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Old Nov 20, 2005 | 06:16 PM
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I doubt it is the rockers. Bent pushrod or collapsed lifter would cause the disproportional slack. You're having noise issues because you don't have the proper preload on the rockers (aka the one(s) that is/are loose).
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Old Nov 21, 2005 | 03:50 AM
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Bare with me, I just want to make sure I understand (I'm alittle new to all this engine stuff, and learning as I go.)

The preload is related to the lifters and pushrods right? So if I pull all the pushrods and replace any that are bent, and check & replace any collapsed lifters, the noise should go away, and the wiggle in the rockers?

Or is the preload something I have to adjust? When I put the rockers back on, I just made sure they were center on the value spring, and tightened them down.

Thanks
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