Noisy rocker question

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C

csx452

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I have a 68 Dart with a well built 360. I know nothing of the build as it was done by whoever was the 3rd owner back and the other 2 owners know nothing about the build either. I guess that doesn't play into my problem though. The engine runs great and doesn't smoke. It did have a lot of clickety clacity lifter noise though. I pulled it apart and replaced the lifters with a set from a comp cam package I bought a few years back for a 318 build that never happened. These lifters are brand new.This eliminated most of the noise. It was a pleasure driving without listening to the clacking. With the lifters being new, I decided to replace the rockers, rocker shafts, and pushrods. Money is tight, so I bought Sealed Power parts. I installed everything and the engine is now very clickity clackity again. I pulled the valve covers and started the engine. Both sides are very noisy. What puzzles me is that there are rockers on both banks that get minimal oiling. The drivers side gets tons of oiling compared to the passenger side, but some rockers get very little oil and others get more than enough. The shafts are installed correctly. I know about the notches. I have the factory service manual.I plan on putting the old stuff back on because the new stuff just isn't working, but there has to be a reason that some rockers have very inadequate oiling. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Frank
 
I never use the notches as a reference, because they can still be installed upside down very easily. I use the oil holes themselves. The correct orientation for the oil holes is pointing downward and toward the valve springs. It certainly sounds like they were installed incorrectly. It would not hurt a thing to double check.....although if it's making noise, the damage is done.
 
The noise is all in the rockers. No bottom end noise, so I'm sure the old stuff will quiet it down. I doubt the shafts are upside down though. If they were, wouldn't I have no oiling? I will doublecheck though. It's only 5 bolts. The valve covers are still off. If everything looks OK, then the old stuff goes back on.
 
Yeah, you'd have oiling.......just in all the wrong places. The oil pressure WILL go somewhere if the shafts are upside down.....just not the right places. Certainly sounds like that's what's happened.
 
Sounds like there isn't enough lifter preload. I'm guessing that when someone rebuilt the motor they may have ground down the valve stems to much.


Chuck
 
OK, so I didn't have time to investigate further, but I'm sure I was careful enough to install the shafts correctly. Since I know nothing of the engine build, the idea of not enough lifter preload seems like something to investigate, but my confusion lies not only in the fact that some rockers have very little oiling, but also in the fact that it is nosier now than it was before the new parts. I still say that if the shafts were installed upside down that there would be no oiling to all the rockers. I spent my afternoon and evening at my buddies shop installing a trans in an Olds Alero, and other fun things. Tomorrow after work I will pull the shafts and make sure they are installed correctly. If they are, I will reinstall the old stuff and see what happens from there. I'll post my findings afterwards. Thanks for everyone's input. I appreciate it.
 
you might want to compare the length of the old pushrod vs the new pushrods.
 
Well, I got time to check things out this afternoon. I had everything installed correctly. The last thing left to check was the pushrod length. The new ones were a bit smaller than the old ones. The old ones went back in and the engine is quiet again. Thanks for everyone's input.
Frank
 
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