Hi all -

My turn in the head scratch department -

I did a top end job on my Evo, including new cam (EV27), steal breather, new tappet rollers (HD), S&S adjustable push rods, new inner and outer cam bearing, new gaskets everywhere. (also included new valve guides, springs, rocker arms/boxes, wiseco pistons, etc.)

First problem is it my lifters are ticking.. I make adjustments to push rods, things seem quieter on start-up, and then after some time the noise gets louder, not quieter. My guess here is that the push rods are tapping the sides of the push rod tubes. only a guess. why would this happen with heat/time/pressure?

The second problem is a clue - After about 10 minutes of riding, oil is leaking out of the top of the tappet blocks -at the base of the push tubes.

Theory on leak - somehow the o rings are toast - many adjustments to push rods making taking their toll.

THEORY on noise and leak - these s&s push rods are junk, and are not pushing oil through them, but rather oil is going around them. Could be clogged of course. Oil piling up inside the tubes. The 2nd part of this is that these fat push rods for some reason are rattling against the push rod tubes, loosing the seal at the bottom, and the oil is seeping out. This would explain the racket, too. Front AND rear tappet blocks start doing this at the same time.

This make sense?

It seems no matter what, those push rods are coming out since I have o rings to replace. Was thinking of replacing them with Rivera Tapered EZ ones. Hopefully the tappered ones don't hit the tubes, maybe this fixes 2 problems at once.

Questions are - what else could cause this situation? Bad tappets (BRAND NEW)? bad or misaligned oil breather gear (NEW S&S breather with proper shim - made sure it was aligned), something else? I replaced the filter screen on the oil pump too, so I can't imagine that got clogged. Bad tappet blocks (I used the OLD ones again, on 80K bike maybe oil is somehow not flowing around them properly?).

My build is oh so close to being right...these last little things are making me nutso!!!

 

Some comments:

An aftermarket cam will make more lifter noise. Just how it is. Even my EV1 cam makes more noise than the stock cam did, and it's pretty mild.
S&S knows HD parts. Probably more about Evos than the MoCo does today. I doubt they would sell junk pushrods.
Sounds like your O rings are not seating at the bottom.
I have heard people complain of noise from adjustable pushrods hitting the tubes at the top. People trim the tops and that solves it. Make sure that is the source of your noise. Try a mechanic's stethoscope.
You put new HD lifters in, right?
Lifter blocks are aligned? I've heard it makes a difference, but I've never got too serious about it.

 

i did place new HD lifters in there. I used an alignment tool to set the lifter blocks in place. even if I used the tool, maybe they are OUT of alignment because I used it wrong? i guess that possible.

I had the bike fairly quiet. It got louder with time, and nothing came loose on the adjusters. it IS too noisy.

 

This happened to me. You have one or more bent pushrods (or more likely they were not brazed together perfrectly straight). Remove the pushrods from the leaking positions and either mount them between centers on a lathe or roll them carefully on two straightedges and watch for wobble. Adjustable pushrods are thicker than the stock rods, and if they're not perfectly straight, they will rub on the pushrod tubes, and as they rotate in service, they can rock the pushrod tubes enough to cause an intermittant leak as you describe.

This is especially a problem with the front exhaust position, as it operates at the greatest angle. Make sure you place the "straightest" pushrod here.

I'm using SE adjustable push rods, and after I discovered this, the dealer was kind enough to let me sort through two sets to cherry pick the four straightest pushrods.

As far as the noise, I suspect that the cam gear on the EV27 is a bit smaller that the stock cam gear. This could explain the nosie getting worse as the engine warms up.

 

Don't forget the spacer on the bottom "O" ring. I had mine all together and just happen to pick up one of the old "O"rings and noticed the spacer was stuck to it. Had to take out the pushrods again to put them in. I did use Harley adjustable pushrods in mine, and have had no noise problems. But I am also running the stock cam. All I did was to change out the cam brg. to a Torrington.

 

Bent rotating pushrod makes a lot of sense. the front and rear exhaust is where the situation is. I don't even know if I have the stock cam around anymore to press out the gear and replace. I'd rather not worry about that, and just get some new pushrods in. Will go for tapered this go around.

 

You may be hearing gear clatter due to excess backlash, it will sound just like a loose lifter. If your original cam gear was quiet, you should install it onto your new cam.

I do not think the problem is bent pushrods.

The adjustable pushrods don`t make it any easier to get the valve train to run quiet...they are heavier than the original parts, and they always seem to be rubbing the inside of the pushrod tubes.

 

Bring the motor up to operating temperature, then adjust the push rods.

 

I am going to take it to my friendly neighborhood indy -let him take a crack at the adjustables. then test ride, and return it after 30 minutes to have him listen.

I do think lash issue is a definite maybe...but i cannot find my old cam for the life of me. maybe i can grab a stock cam, press the gear on and go.

I agree with the heavy adjustables, hence the idea to go with taperlites should a cam gear gear or other item require the old push rods to be cut out.

as far as adjusting the push rods hot, that goes against everything i have heard.

 

Sorry, spoke out my a$$.
Pull the plugs. Make sure motor is cold. 2 size pushrods. Long ones go to exhaust. Roll engine until lifter is at it's lowest position. Install pushrod and take out all slack. Roll to the next one, making sure each lifter is at it's lowest point before installing pushrod. After you get all installed, rotate again checking each one. On this round, when all slack is out, tighten 4 turns and lock down the locknut.