440 head noise. Perpetual problems. Problem solved

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Gwywnc

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So my 440 has developed a head noise on the passenger side. I took off the valve cover and noting looked out of place or loose. I started it without the cover on and the noise is still there it's just louder with the cover on. The noise all but goes away when I put the car in drive or reverse. It's like a loud rattling sounds. Hard to describe. Any help would be greatly appreciated
 
Maybe try isolating the noise to a specific area/cylinder with a stethoscope stick. Also removing a plug wire one at a time can help isolate.
 
It sounds like it's coming from the middle. I read other places that it might be a bad lifter. How do I check the lifters. It sounds like a metal can with a hand full of rocks in it being tumbled around but when I put it in drive or reverse it all but stops. We have a road run here and would love to take it out but no way would I drive it like this.
 
Check the simple things first. Loose torque converter bolts, cracked flex plate. Then as mentioned,while running short each cylinder out on that side to see if that shows which cylinder. Rotate the engine till each valve is closed and press the push rod down by hand to see if you have a collapsed lifter. With the engine off!
 
The more detail you provide the more folks can help.
What exactly are you working with?
Has anything been done to this engine recently?
 
Flex plate is good. What would happen if I short out each cylinder, what am I looking for with that? I have a Plymouth duster with the three 440.
I was blowing the doors off a 302 mustang last week and after I heard this loud ticking but it stopped. I'm not sure what the problem is
 
Maybe a heat butterfly?
From the description it sounds like that, converter bolts or a cracked flex plate.

The sound could all but go away with any of those.
 
So I let the car cool down and started it. For the first minute it has no bad sounds then it slowly started makeing a bad sound and it's definitely coming from under the valve cover.
 
Do you have good oil pressure? Could be a lifter. Does it misfire ? Could be a screwed valve. still need more info, we can't hear it
 
I took the valve cover off and checked each on by bumping the motor and seeing if I could push the rod down and they are all right. It has great oil pressure. The car has tons of power even with this problem. I don't know where to look next. The sound is definitely coming from the valve area. I crawled under it and even had my neighbor come and asked him and he pointed to the valve cover.
 
So I'm about to take off the valve assembly. Is it under pressure? Is there anything I should know? I have never taken on off before.
 
Wait a minute.

You haven't said what cam you have. What rockers. Don't start ripping and stripping yet.

Think it through. I ended up chasing loose torque converter bolts. Wasted a butt load of time and money when a tube of loc-tite would have done the customer a world of good.
 
Well this sound is definitely coming from the valve area. I don't know what cam is in it or anything that's been done to it. I have the valve assembly off what should I look for? Everything looks fine. Nothing cracked or bent
 
At this point I'd kill the spark to one cylinder at a time while running and see if anything changes with that sound.

Oh yea, you pulled valve equipment off already.
It'd be worth putting it back together and doing the above.
 
So the only thing I can think that has changed is that I put about a half a big bottle of Marvins mystery oil and some **** called rkr in it. Could the oil be to thin? Should I drain about half of it out and put in some thick oil?
 
Gwywnc said:
So the only thing I can think that has changed is that I put about a half a big bottle of Marvins mystery oil and some **** called rkr in it. Could the oil be to thin? Should I drain about half of it out and put in some thick oil?
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Ummmm why did you do that???

If you had the valve cover off, you should be able to tell us what rocker arms you have.

Whiskey
Tango
Hotel???

How do we know if you don't have an adjuster that backed off. Maybe you bent a pushrods? Or that oil additive you used knocked loose some garbage and its bitching with a lifter.


BTW, you say perpetual issues. WTH else is wrong??
 
There are no adjusters on the rocker arms. They look stock. I took all the push rods out and they are all straight. Nothing looks broken or cracked or out of place. I plan on draining a couple quarts of the oil out and replacing it with thicker. And I have had some on going problems like loose stearing and cooling problems and vaccum leaks but you guys helped me fix them all. This is the only one that I can't figure out. I have checked everything I been told to check and everything I can think of. The sound sounds bad and it's coming on the passenger side valve cover area. When I started it today after it completely cooled down it didn't make the noise at all until after about a couple minutes then it progressively got louder. I'm not real sure what to check next. The car sounds great out the tail pipe and has tons of power and isn't smoking but I don't know what damage I might be doing.
 
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Gwywnc said:
There are no adjusters on the rocker arms. They look stock. I took all the push rods out and they are all straight. Nothing looks broken or cracked or out of place. I plan on draining a couple quarts of the oil out and replacing it with thicker. And I have had some on going problems like loose stearing and cooling problems and vaccum leaks but you guys helped me fix them all. This is the only one that I can't figure out. I have checked everything I been told to check and everything I can think of. The sound sounds bad and it's coming on the passenger side valve cover area. When I started it today after it completely cooled down it didn't make the noise at all until after about a couple minutes then it progressively got louder. I'm not real sure what to check next. The car sounds great out the tail pipe and has tons of power and isn't smoking but I don't know what damage I might be doing.
Click to expand...
 
You check the heat riser in the exhaust manifold? Fuel pump push rod/fuel pump may be knocking. Just throwing ideas out there.
 
I will check the fuel pump and I'm not sure where the exausht manifold heat riser is, I will have to research that. And I have checked the push rods they are all straight. I'm convinced that it's something in the valve cover area. When your standing beside it that's definitely were the sound is coming from.
 
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