lifter pushrod question.....
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6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2008
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lifter pushrod question.....
Hey All,
I just completed the ever so popular cylinder base gasket fix on my evo. I buttoned up the rockers and installed some screaming eagle ez-install pushrods. I followed the book - 2.5 turns after the slack was taken up finger tight.
Plugs out - I turned the motor over via the rear wheel in 5th.
Heard nothing.
Plugs out - I turned the motor over via the starter.
Heard nothing but a fine spinning motor.
Plugs in - At idle I hear what sounds like a lil lifter tick. So I shut it down right quick and reset the front pushrods as it sounded as if one of the two was the culprit. Still hear it.
Question is: Should I let it idle longer to allow the lifter to build oil pressure?
Any help/advice/opinions much appreciated.
I just completed the ever so popular cylinder base gasket fix on my evo. I buttoned up the rockers and installed some screaming eagle ez-install pushrods. I followed the book - 2.5 turns after the slack was taken up finger tight.
Plugs out - I turned the motor over via the rear wheel in 5th.
Heard nothing.
Plugs out - I turned the motor over via the starter.
Heard nothing but a fine spinning motor.
Plugs in - At idle I hear what sounds like a lil lifter tick. So I shut it down right quick and reset the front pushrods as it sounded as if one of the two was the culprit. Still hear it.
Question is: Should I let it idle longer to allow the lifter to build oil pressure?
Any help/advice/opinions much appreciated.
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,854
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From: Eagle River WI
Are you doing one lifter at a time say front exhaust first cam at bottom adjust pushrod till all play is gone then turn 21/2 more Next do the same procedure to the front intake and so on ? Is this a stock cam ?
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6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2008
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Hey sqdealgeorge,
Yes I am proceeding as you have said. Front exhaust then intake wait 20 minutes then the rears.
Stock cam?
No. It is an after market cam.
I see where you are going here and I had considered it. Let me ask you this - if when turning it over without the plugs I didn't hear anything abnormal, could I assume if I heard something at idle the pushrods are adjusted short?
Yes I am proceeding as you have said. Front exhaust then intake wait 20 minutes then the rears.
Stock cam?
No. It is an after market cam.
I see where you are going here and I had considered it. Let me ask you this - if when turning it over without the plugs I didn't hear anything abnormal, could I assume if I heard something at idle the pushrods are adjusted short?
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6th Gear
Joined: Aug 2008
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I suppose it's worth noting that they aren't stock springs/valves or lifters either.
So maybe the question to ask is....
Is there away slick way to identify which is the culprit?
Would I feel it through the lifter block[s] or cover[s] in any one of them more than the other?
So maybe the question to ask is....
Is there away slick way to identify which is the culprit?
Would I feel it through the lifter block[s] or cover[s] in any one of them more than the other?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,195
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From: NW AR
Did you change anything else besides the base gaskets and new SE adjustable pushrods? Is any of this other stuff (cam, springs, etc.) new with this adventure? Did you just buy the SE pushrods or were they already in there?
Diagnosing funny noises over teh intr4w3bz, y0, is tough. You can get a mechanic's sthethoscope at HF for about $5 and that will help ID where it's coming from. Or you can use a long extension and hold it against your ear and stick the other end around your lifter blocks, and the head near the push rod tubes, etc. to find where the noise is coming from.
Diagnosing funny noises over teh intr4w3bz, y0, is tough. You can get a mechanic's sthethoscope at HF for about $5 and that will help ID where it's coming from. Or you can use a long extension and hold it against your ear and stick the other end around your lifter blocks, and the head near the push rod tubes, etc. to find where the noise is coming from.
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6th Gear
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Ha! This adventure started as simply chasing the bubbling gaskets. All of the other components mentioned, outside of the pushrods, were installed some years back.
I only installed the pushrods as I thought I may have tweaked one when torquing the rockers on. The front exhaust when spun kind of wobbled a bit. But when I pulled it the issue seemed to be more in the tip and rocker arm from wear than an actual bent rod. As I rolled it and it seems fine.
A steth would be ideal I just may have to go that route.
Thanks Dr.
I only installed the pushrods as I thought I may have tweaked one when torquing the rockers on. The front exhaust when spun kind of wobbled a bit. But when I pulled it the issue seemed to be more in the tip and rocker arm from wear than an actual bent rod. As I rolled it and it seems fine.
A steth would be ideal I just may have to go that route.
Thanks Dr.
HDF Community Team
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,375
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From: NC USA
The Evo "tick" can be elusive and difficult, most often impossible, to pinpoint. Sometimes simply changing rocker box gaskets will start the noise and it may or may not ever go away. (right Greg?) Many of us have gone crazy looking to make one quiet. (that's one of my excuses for being looney anyway) I've personally replaced every piece of my valve train one piece at a time and once replaced it all brand new only to change the tick, but it never went away other than ocassionally. I'm talking cam, pinion gear, lifters, tappet guides, rockers and shafts, rocker boxes, valve covers, valves and springs, pushrod covers and pushrods. And yes, even the compensator assembly which can transmit noises thru the flywheels to the pinion/cam gears and right up the pushrods to the rockers.
The lifters are very forgiving with .2" travel so adjusting them constantly won't help. When you remove the rocker boxes, no matter how exact you are replacing them, the rockers can be ever so slightly "not where they were" and contact the valve stems differently for one thing. Also, you've got new pieces in there that haven't run against the old pieces. If you're confident the lifters/rods are adjusted correctly, I suggest you go ride it a couple thousand miles and let all the parts get re-aquainted and see if it quiets down.
I just now saw your last post so I'll underline one statement... and if it wobbled bad from oddly worn socket in rocker arm, you might consider replacing it (or all)
The lifters are very forgiving with .2" travel so adjusting them constantly won't help. When you remove the rocker boxes, no matter how exact you are replacing them, the rockers can be ever so slightly "not where they were" and contact the valve stems differently for one thing. Also, you've got new pieces in there that haven't run against the old pieces. If you're confident the lifters/rods are adjusted correctly, I suggest you go ride it a couple thousand miles and let all the parts get re-aquainted and see if it quiets down.
I just now saw your last post so I'll underline one statement... and if it wobbled bad from oddly worn socket in rocker arm, you might consider replacing it (or all)
Last edited by t150vej; May 11, 2010 at 12:25 PM.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2009
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From: Farmington ,MS
When I installed a new cam and pushrods, they made a lot of racket at first...quiet as a mouse now.
Last edited by Tom84FXST; May 11, 2010 at 05:15 PM.
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 328
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From: Trabuco Canyon, California
Yep, same here...I had a tic after my cam and pushrod change too, but it has quieted down...probably 1k on it since I made the change...it got quieter after a couple hundred miles...and I don't think I even hear it at all anymore.