Ok I was driving the other day and went to shift into third. Somehow the throttle got stuck and the engine revved and started to bounce off the rev limiter. After about 3-4 seconds, I shut the car off. I went to start it again and everything was fine so I drove back home. A few hours later, I was driving to class and at a red light, the engine started to stumble and then stalled. I went to restart it and it was idling extremely rough and a loud knocking noise was coming from the motor. I was able to limp it into a parking lot and parked it. At first I thought I had spun a bearing but quickly ruled that out due to the very rough/erratic idle. I then thought that I had bent a pushrod or had collapsed a lifter. Today I went to pull the valve covers and discovered the rocker over the #3 intake valve on the passenger side was loose. I pulled the pushrod out and it was fine. I then noticed that the valve spring was compressed and the intake valve was stuck in the open position. Ok so I found the problem. Bent/stuck valve. Now I'm trying to find the best route out of this. I could take the head off and just replace the one valve. I don't want to do that because I feel that it is a completely half *** way to do it. I was planning on replacing the heads with some aluminum ones (AFR, Canfield, Trick Flow, etc.) sometime in the future so I want to do this job once and do it right. I may end up having to take out a student loan to do this the way I want. I hate to go through the pain in the *** job of pulling the TPI intake off and pulling the head off, etc. and then just slapping the stock ****(with 110,000 miles) back on there. Give me some advice on the best route to take. Thanks in advance.

Stephen

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1991 Z28 - 350 TPI, T56, McLeod street clutch, LT4 pressure plate, Pro 5.0 shifter, ported plenum & runners, AFPR, Hooker shorty headers w/o AIR, Flowmaster muffler, homeade ram-air, SSM subframe connectors, Kenny Brown STB, Global West steering box brace, Steve Spohn adjustable torque arm and T56 crossmember

 

If it was bent, it should have stuck when it over-rev'd. Perhaps you broke the spring. Check that first, since that can be fixed without removing the head. If so, all of your springs should be considered suspect.

It is possible that you bent the valve, but again, that should have been evident right away, not a few hours later.

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R4 (restalled TC). Ported World 305 heads, Crane PowerMax cam. ZZ4 intake, oil pump, pan & baffle. Accel HEI SuperCoil & module. Hooker 2055 headers, 3" Catco cat & 3" catback w/dual-opposite Flowmaster. 2.93 limited slip, Spohn SFCs. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily year-round driver. Best ET, speed TBD...
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. '66 396, 9.7 CR forged TRWs, Weiand Action+, Holley 750VS w/4150 conversion, GK 270 cam, Magnum rockers, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" Hedders & 3" Warlocks, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & Trans-Scat shift kit, MegaShifter, 3.08 8.2" 10-bolt w/Powertrax, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Idles smooth @ 700 RPM in D. Best 15.02/95.06 @ 5800' Bandimere (corrected 13.93/102.4 @ sea level).

 

Bounced off the limiter huh? Well, considering the stock PROM has the limiter set to 10,000 RPM.......

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1987 GTA L98 MD8
355, TFS Heads, LT4 Hot Cam
My GTA

The Minnesota F-body Club

 

Well cosidering I have a Holley Annihilator ignition box with the limiter set to 6000, yes I bounced off the limiter.

 

I think you already decided what you want to do, you're just wanting someone else to agree with you. well, here goes....Go buy some aftermarkets and be done with it. Just research and figure out what head's gonna work best for you. Aluminum is always the best route if you are willing to spend the extra. What are your longterm plans? Nitrous? Blower? stroker? this will determine which heads, runner size, chamber size and portwork. with the mods you have now, a set of edelbrocks or trickflows will do plenty. If you're wanting to go wilder, step up to some AFR's or Brodix heads. If you want to run castiron, Canfield and Dart make some real nice affordable heads.

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Kyle Osterholt
Okarche, Oklahoma
ASE Master Certified
86 T/A 383 TPI
89 TTA #1002 T-top/Leather
89 TTA #1358 Hardtop/Leather
80 T/A Pace Car
73 Opel GT
73 bronco
2000 Ducati 996 Monoposto

 

Gonna have to pull the head and check out he piston and rod and bearing then check your wallet and go from there..... Good luck

 

Yep the heads will be coming off this weekend. I'm thinking it's possible that When the throttle stuck, I floated the valves and that intake valve may have hit the piston. Let me know if you think this is a possibility. Thanks.

 

Well, I've already said it once, but I'll repeat.

You may have kissed the valve, but if so, it should have stuck open immediately, not a couple of hours later.

Check your springs.

 

Well, since you have a limiter set to 6000 rpm, I would lean against the floating the valves theory as it usually takes more than 6000 rpm, even with stock springs and valves, to float the valves. I am with five7kid on this one, sounds a lot like a valve spring would be the more likely cause than floating a valve and bouncing it off a piston.... Never know 'til ya get it apart though....

Good luck...

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1987 GTA L98 MD8
355, TFS Heads, LT4 Hot Cam
My GTA

The Minnesota F-body Club