Ok so I'm driving the other day when all of a sudden I hear that ever-familiar "tska tska tska tska" coming from the engine compartment - I figure its a rocker come a little loose to I head home. By the time I got home (a mere 3 miles later), the engine was dying and sounded like it was about to come apart! So I go okay, just fix the rocker right, it won't take long, no problem.

So after it cools down, I pull the valve cover off and wiggle the rocker arms to see how tight they are - I get to the exhaust port on the # 5 cylinder and about **** my pants - it was about 1/2" loose off the pushrod!!!!! So I'm like, ok...narrowly missed disaster. So I take the nut off, bang it a little sideways to make it tight on the bolt, then try to put it back on - but the threads on the head bolt are screwed up! AHHHHHHHH! Simple fix becomes expensive fix immediatedly! Anyways, thought you guys might like to hear the story but here's the question

It seemed as though the rocker stud was sticking out further than the other ones, like it had been pulled out or slipped out of its hole. I really don't believe this could happen that easily, but since I don't know anything about it personally I thought I'd ask - these are the stock '92 L98 heads, is it possible that the stud pulled out a little bit or not? If not, what would cause a nut to back off so far in so little time? Not loose at all to crazy loose in a matter of 3 miles??? Thanks for reading.....

 

That's why we call those "pull-out" studs. Their official name might be "press-in" studs, but what presses in pulls back out.... what happened to you is not at all unusual. I would describe it as a normal failure mode, rather like the plastic teeth getting stripped off the chinesium cam gear; it's just one of those things that happens.

You can buy "repair" studs that have a threaded section where it goes into the head. That will give you a short-term fix. It's quite easy to pull them all out to replace them, just use a nut and a stack of used rocker *****, tighten the nut and keep adding rocker ***** as the stud pulls out. You'd be surprised hpw easy they come out. The long-term answer, especially if you plan to modify the motor, is to have the heads fitted with screw-in studs and guide plates.

When you put the new stud(s) in, use some non-hardening sealer such as Loctite PST or Permatex 300 on the threads. The studs go directly into a water passage, and will leak coolant into the oil if not properly sealed.

 

Damn....so what do I do if I can't afford to have the heads worked on - it only seemed to come out a little bit of the head (in fact I'm not completely sure that it wasn't that way to begin with - do they all have to be flush with each other?) - is it safe to just bolt on the rocker arm again properly and see if it happens again before commiting to spending that kinda cash?

 

You can't drive the car like it is. Putting the rocker back on won't work, the stud is loosened, and is no longer part of the engine, so it is not safe to just tighten it up and hope that the problem goes away, because it won't. It WILL pull the rest of the way out, and it WILL spew coolant into the oil, and that WILL destroy the engine completely in a very short time. Then you really will have an expensive problem on your hands, which you don't now. You have a very simple, easy, cheap problem that doesn't require "having the car worked on", it's something you should handle by yourself.

If you can't afford to "commit to spend that kind of cash" - $50 or so - for 16 studs, a drill bit, a tap, and a set of valve cover gaskets to go with the hand tools you already have that you used to take the valve cover off, you need to park the car or sell it.

 

agreed, you MUST repair that problem or you will be rebulding that engine. something i'm trying to avoid right since money is tight (damn LT1@!~@#$%^). well good luck. we all need it.

 

JB2,

Seriously consider RB's suggestion. You can perform a permanent repair of the pulling stud for less than $50 total. Check this article:

Screwed Rocker Stud Installation

You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open/print the file.

 

Thanks guys, will do.

BTW - Vader, I just checked out your guide there and it's awesome! Is there a website or something where I can get all the guides you've made? They really are top notch and I'd like to see them all!

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH again! - so I figured you guys are right so I go into town to get the studs and everything - the studs won't be in til next week!! No place in town has the studs or anything comparable. Its a disgrace! Does this sort of crap happen in bigger cities? I don't generally have trouble here in OKC, but you'd think this part wouldn't be terribly hard to find - not even the performance shops had it! Ugh...

 

If you're in a bind and need the car, have the parts shipped overnite from Summit, but that will cost an extra $20.

 

Not over the weekend tho, right?

 

Since the studs are somewhat universal (for SBC Chevrolets and many Fords) I'm a little surprised that no one has a set in stock. Did you try the REAL parts stores or just the chains, like Ought-Tow-Zone and Chuckers. Certainly there has to be a speed shop or two in Oklahoma City. There are at least four of them where I'm at, and there are only 200,000 people in the whole county.

Yes, overnight shipping won't get you much on Sundays, except a bigger freight bill.

 

I went to a few speed shops in addition to the chains, I simply couldn't believe a standard SB chevy head stud could not be found.

Oh BTW, did you see my ? about all your guides Vader?

 

There is no web page. I store the .pdf files on a web directory that is shared with a business. I suppose I could put together a page with the links, but there aren't that many articles and I just keep posting the links.

Technical writing is tedious work, adn I run out of gas from time to time.

 

I think it would be a great idea (and fairly simple) to make a sticky that listed the links to your pdf guides! Or something like that, but I for one would love to have them and would have a little trouble searching them all out on the boards! Thanks..