Technical 53 Chevy SBC 350 Ticking Noise - Bad Lifters?

Hi All,

I have a 53 Chevy with a 72 Chevelle motor in it with hydraulic lifters. It was rebuilt in 2009 and has low miles since (according to the previous owner). I question who did the rebuild and how good of a job was done (the previous owner had someone rebuild it) but I did see stamps on the pistons when I took one head out.

It was running on 7 cylinders probably the entire time I've owned the car and I found the driver side had a bad exhaust valve. A machine shop fixed this and I put the head back on.

I'm noticing the passenger side sounds "ticky" but the driver side doesn't At first I adjusted each rocker arm to zero lash then 1/4 turn by rotating the harmonic balancer and making sure each cylinder was at TDC. I still had the ticky noise. Then I repeated this all over and did 1/2 turn and I still have the ticking noise. It almost runs a little worse with 1/2 turn.

Someone suggested I replace rockers with roller tip. I just noticed I can push the rocker arms in a little (maybe 1/8th inch) for the intake and exhaust of #2. The rest don't do that. Is this likely from bad lifters and mostly my issue? I had replaced the exhaust manifold gasket on the passenger side as well to make sure it wasn't an exhaust leak.

Here are two videos I just took:

 

I forgot to mention. I tried adjusting with the motor running. On the passenger side I remember loosening until they clack, then tighten 1/4 turn. I tried this again with 1/2 turn and then all the ticking went away but I can't remember which valve that was on. Then I would leave it and after about 5 seconds the ticking would come back.

 

Something wrong with second rocker from the front on driver's side.

 

Hmmm, I put a new rocker and new pushrod on both the intake and exhaust of the #1 cylinder. I'm going to go look now and see if I notice anything. I know there is no noise coming from that side though, the ticking is from the passenger side.

 

I just checked and the second rocker on driver side (#1 intake) doesnt feel loose. I can spin the push rod by hand with a little extra force but nothing unusual compared to the other rocker arms.

 

Lifter may be bad on the ticking cyl. If it is worn, then most of the time it will have taken the cam lobe to.

 

From your first video. You can see the tip of the valve, it's not centered under the rocker.

 

thanks, I hope not but how should I check? Do I need to pull the intake out again? I just had gone through taking the intake out and putting it back on. What a pain.

 

Thanks, Maybe just looked like it from the angle the video was shot? Here is a photo I just took. Hmmm.

 

That's looks good but make sure it stays like that when it's running.

 

Thanks, I will look again but I did notice it seemed to stay centered when running.

 

While we are at it. I noticed before I took the cylinder head out (the first time I pulled the valve cover off) that one of the studs (the number 3 intake) doesn't have as much thread over the nut. When I set at zero lash and 1/2 turn, it also ended up with the same amount of thread. It is less than all the others.

Someone told me that could be the cam profile. Supposedly it has an RV cam in it (but I have no way of knowing).

Anyone think that is possible true? I don't think the previous owner took the rocker arms off at all so they should have been set that way by the builder.

 

Here's a shot when I first took the valve covers and intake off when I was trying to get the driver side cylinder head out. I didn't do any adjustments to the valves prior to this. I wonder if some studs have more thread leftover due to the cam profile.

 

Passenger side "tick" can be the fuel pump.

Gary

 

Thank you. I have an electric fuel pump that is external to the gas tank and located in the rear of the car. Any other ideas?

 

There were a couple of instances where I had the engine running and I loosened until I heard the clacking, then tightened until it went away and then 1/2 turn more. (I can't remember if it was the #4 exhaust or intake). Then the ticking would go away but then come back about 10 seconds later. This makes me wonder if it is related to the valve train.

 

I can push the rocker arm/push rod in about 1/8th inch for the #2 exhaust and intake. I'm wondering if the lifters are clogged? I can do that also for #3 intake but very slightly.

Would I likely have any success using some type of additive to dampen noisy lifters? It sounds unlikely but I don;t know. I had found this link:
http://www.motoractive.com.au/how-to-fix-noisy-tappetslifters

I'm wondering if I need to clear the lifters of dirt, etc but not sure.

 

I can push the #1 exhaust and #1 intake rocker arms in just a tiny bit but not as much as #2 intake and #2 exhaust. Same with #3 exhaust I can push it a tiny bit in. I wonder if I should try putting oil additive to see if I have stuck lifters?

 

It could just be the photo but the #4 intake lifter appears to sit lower in the block than any of the others. If so, the lifter, cam or both are worn. The easiest way to check for worn cam lobes is by using a dial indicator on the push rod side of the rocker arm to check the travel. All intake valves should have the same amount of travel. Same for exhaust.

 

If he had a mechanical pump it would be on the drivers side.

 

If I even had a bad cam... on a 54 chevy am I looking at taking the motor out? I'm so tired of dealing with so many issues. If that motor needs to come out I'm done. I need to fix a brake issue and I may adjust the valves the best I can and just put this thing up for sale.

 

Driver side SBC fuel pump???


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sbc press-in studs are prone to "lifting". Had the same problem until I added screw-in studs.

 

Hmmm so what should I even do at this point? I'm tempted to run the motor and adjust the valves to past 1/4 turn when the clacking goes away. I could swear it ran just a little better than when I did 1/2 turn adjustment at zero lash when setting them cold and rotating the engine to TDC for each cylinder.

Then im thinking I can put 1 pint of ATF in to the motor and see if it helps with the lifters. I can't tell if pushing the #2 intake and exhaust rocker in means a lifter that may be clogged and not holding pressure. not sure.?

 

This could be a lifter bleeding down. It's kind of the same effect you see sometimes when an engine runs quietly but after it's shut off for a few hours it may have some lifter noise when it's first restarted. If the noise comes back with the engine running it could be a sticky, gummed up or dirty lifter. A dose of detergent oil additive might be worth a try but it might take some time to clean things up.

Lay a straight edge across the tops of all the rocker studs and make sure they're nearly all running at the same height. If not you may have some studs pulling out of the heads and they never will hold adjustment.

How's your oil pressure at idle? Do you notice if the pushrods are rotating when the engine is running? I like the idea of checking the lift with a dial indicator as mentioned previously.

 

I'm at a parts store. Should I try gunk motor medic flush which requires running the motor for 5 minutes then changing the oil? I know marvel mystery oil is used for noisy lifters but that may take days. I changed the oil and filter two weekends ago and car has been started a few times but not driven. I'm a few weekends away from driving since I need to replace the master cylinder and reroute lines. As some others mentioned Maybe lifters are bleeding off. I only hear the ticking on the passenger side but I can push #2 intake and exhaust maybe 1/8th inch. Number 1 intake and exhaust a smaller amount and number 3 exhaust a little too but definitely not as much as #2

 

I wouldtry adjusting the rockersagain.Looseneach one up with it running. Then tighten till it stops clacking. Then go 1/2 turn. Wait and see if the clacking comes back if it does go another 1/4 turn and see if that gets her quieted up.

 

Thanks, I'm going to try that now. The only weird thing is that I could have sworn it sounded like it was running better with 1/4 turn vs 1/2 turn.

I also bought some Berryman B-12 Chemtool carb cleaner and was going to spray down each pushrod to see if the lifters can clear up. Is that a bad idea>

 

If you know for sure which is making noise, lightly tap the rocker stud and see if it quiets.