Loose Rocker Arms

[Pabz]

Putting my top end back together, after putting all the rockers on I noticed the rocker arms for the intake valves on cylinders 3 & 4 are very loose and they rattle?

 

WTF, i know the pushrods are in original location. However Rocker arms got mixed up at the head shop.

 

I torqued them to 18 ft.lbs and made sure the valves were suppose to be closed when i torqued them.

 

Is this normal??? All the rocker arms have Xs above where it touches the valve most have dots in all four sections of the X except for two of the rocker arms that just have an X with no dots. I noticed the pushrod was sitting low since the rod had worn where it sits on the guide.

[GutlessSupreme]

Just go through them all again when they're loose and tightened them back down to 18 ft-lbs. Maybe they were actually open when you tightened them. hope you're positive that the pushrods are in the right places... exhaust and intake rods are different lengths.

[Guest TurboSedan]

i torqued all of mine to 18 ft/lbs with the lifter on the base lobe of the camshaft (valve completely closed). some of them seemed a little loose after rotating the engine but everything turned out great for me so i wouldn't worry too much about it. as long as you didn't mix 'n match the exhaust and intake pushrods i think it will be ok.

[Canada]

Long pushrods are for the exhaust.......short are for the intake.

[Pabz]

 

I think it would be pretty hard to mix up the pushrods, considering they are worn where the sit on the guides. They wouldnt match up if the exhaust were in the intake guide since it sits a little lower.

 

Thanks for the info, as long as this can be replaced without taking the heads of i will give it a try, but one of them is really loose, i will measure the pivots and put the longest one in its place.

[Miko K]

You got hydraulic lifters, turn the engine over 10-15 times without starting it( pull the fuel pump relay) and recheck, they should be all tight.

[Pabz]

Sounds like a plan.

[Prospeeder]

HAY! you cant just pull the fuel pump relay! its got a back up relay off the Oil pump or somthing, i tried pulling it, didnt do anything, and i sure as hell wasnt gonna run the engine with the oil pump relay off if that was the case (or if there is one, it might be somthing else) but u have to go under the car, next to the gas tank on the drivers side ull see the fuel pump plug, pull it, no more fuel pump!

[Pabz]

I was thinking on pulling the fuse not the relay, I did this when i was depresurizing the fuel lines and it worked. I dont think it will be a problem since i am just turning it over.

[DaveFromColorado]

if you did get a couple of the pushrods messed up on there, just cranking the engine can cause problems too. You may want to get an oil pump primer that you hook up to your drill and spin the oil pump manually - once you get some good oil pressure across the whole motor, that should tighten up the lifters without risking major valve damage.

 

--Dave.

[Miko K]

if you did get a couple of the pushrods messed up on there, just cranking the engine can cause problems too. You may want to get an oil pump primer that you hook up to your drill and spin the oil pump manually - once you get some good oil pressure across the whole motor, that should tighten up the lifters without risking major valve damage.

 

--Dave.

That's right, I got used to the crank driven pump on my 3800, yeah, if you can spin the oil pump manually, better do that.

[Pabz]

Can I just manually drive the oil pump with the rod that comes inside. I am thinking of doing this until i see clean oil come out. Is this a good idea?

[Guest TurboSedan]

this is quoted from another thread, but here is how i did it:

 

did you pack your oil pump with grease before you installed it?

 

no. the directions that came with the pump only said to pour oil in the pickup screen while turning the shaft, so i did that before installation. however, later after i had the oil pan on i filled the engine with oil, and removed the oil pump drive and the TB & valve covers so i could spin the oil pump shaft until oil started coming out of the pushrod ends and the oil supply line. i rotated the engine a few times while i did this. i even connected the oil supply line to the turbocharger and continued to spin the oil pump driveshaft until oil came out of the turbo's oil return pipe.

 

btw i used an 8mm 1/4" drive deep socket, a 1/4"-to-3/8" drive adapter, 1 12" long extension and another 6" long extension, then a 3/8" drive-to-1/2" drive adapter with a 1/2" drive ratchet so i could spin the oil pump driveshaft. sounds goofy but hey it worked

[Pabz]

thats what i did too. I will be firing this up today, any other tips??

 

I got some seaform equivalent and will be spraying this in, i am thinking of using the old spark plugs, not that old, then replaceing them after the cleaning is done. Does this sound like an ok idea?