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Guest · Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:22 am Post subject: Ticking valves/stuck lifter?

I guess you could call this part 3 (hopefully the last!) of my Escort
saga for those of you who have been following. For those who haven't,
I have a 96 Ford Escort 1.9L that overheated and burnt a valve.
Replaced the head and head gasket and its running again. Only issue
now is that I have some sort of ticking going on that changes with
RPM. It's most noticeable at idle - as I rev the engine the noise of
the engine makes it harder to hear. The ticking doesn't appear to
increase in sound, only in speed.

Initially I had a very loud clanking/ticking when I first got it going
again. I pulled the valve cover and found the #3 exhaust rocker arm
had come off. The rocker bolts weren't torqued properly by the shop
that built the head. I torqued all rocker bolts down to 20 ft-lbs per
the Haynes manual. The loud clanking/ticking was gone, but now I had
a quieter ticking (still very noticeable) that changed with RPM. It
is loudest when first starting the engine, then it quiets down a
little. Once the engine is warm and I'm stopped at a light or
something, it seems to be intermittent (tick tick tick [pause] tick
tick [pause] tick tick tick etc.)

Tonight I pulled the valve cover off again and compared everything to
the old head. I found that the round clips that go over the lifters
wiggled easily, whereas those on the old head didn't. I swapped out
the clips and the bracket that holds them down. I made sure I torqued
all rocker bolts down to the right setting, rotating the crankshaft to
take the pressure off the rocker/springs (valve closed) as I tightened
each. When I restarted it, the ticking seemed to have disappeared,
but after it warmed up and I reved it a bit, it was back.

I'm kind of lost as to what to try next. I did notice that the
lifters on the old head could be pushed down and spring back up, while
those on the new head seemed solid. I would assume this is because
the ones in the old head had leaked down and lost their oil - but I'm
not too familiar with all this. I could try swapping the new and old
lifters, but thats about the last thing I can think of. Is there some
kind of oil additive to treat a condition like this, assuming it could
be stuck lifter?

Thanks,
Doug

Rodan · Guest

<kb1jec@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1194229342.921400.142210@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com...
I guess you could call this part 3 (hopefully the last!) of my Escort
saga for those of you who have been following. For those who haven't,
I have a 96 Ford Escort 1.9L that overheated and burnt a valve.
Replaced the head and head gasket and its running again. Only issue
now is that I have some sort of ticking going on that changes with
RPM. It's most noticeable at idle - as I rev the engine the noise of
the engine makes it harder to hear. The ticking doesn't appear to
increase in sound, only in speed.

Initially I had a very loud clanking/ticking when I first got it going
again. I pulled the valve cover and found the #3 exhaust rocker arm
had come off. The rocker bolts weren't torqued properly by the shop
that built the head. I torqued all rocker bolts down to 20 ft-lbs per
the Haynes manual. The loud clanking/ticking was gone, but now I had
a quieter ticking (still very noticeable) that changed with RPM. It
is loudest when first starting the engine, then it quiets down a
little. Once the engine is warm and I'm stopped at a light or
something, it seems to be intermittent (tick tick tick [pause] tick
tick [pause] tick tick tick etc.)

Tonight I pulled the valve cover off again and compared everything to
the old head. I found that the round clips that go over the lifters
wiggled easily, whereas those on the old head didn't. I swapped out
the clips and the bracket that holds them down. I made sure I torqued
all rocker bolts down to the right setting, rotating the crankshaft to
take the pressure off the rocker/springs (valve closed) as I tightened
each. When I restarted it, the ticking seemed to have disappeared,
but after it warmed up and I reved it a bit, it was back.

I'm kind of lost as to what to try next. I did notice that the
lifters on the old head could be pushed down and spring back up, while
those on the new head seemed solid. I would assume this is because
the ones in the old head had leaked down and lost their oil - but I'm
not too familiar with all this. I could try swapping the new and old
lifters, but thats about the last thing I can think of. Is there some
kind of oil additive to treat a condition like this, assuming it could
be stuck lifter? Thanks, Doug
_____________________________________________________

Check exhaust manifold flanges for bad gasket or improper tightening.

tylernt · Guest

Dyno · Guest

kb1jec@gmail.com wrote:

Guest · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:47 pm Post subject: Re: Ticking valves/stuck lifter?

Could it be possible that the lifter pumped up too far (ie. all the
way) when the rocker came loose, and when I put the rocker back on the
clearance was messed up from start? How do you bleed them down (other
than waiting a week without running the car)? The 'piston' thing in
the middle of the old lifters could be pressed down and spring back up
- on the new ones they are solid and could not be pushed down by hand.

Unforunately I had to send the old head back, as there was a core
charge. I can get a lifter from the local junkyard for $5, but I'd
like to verify which one it is first. Even if I pulled the rockers
and the lifters for a quick second and ran it, wouldn't the others
tick if they were not receiving oil? You had mentioned that pulling
one would cut off oil flow to the other lifters downstream..