Just pulled off the valve covers to my engine. Some rockers were loose and some of the pushrods had enough room to spin. I know they are not supposed to spin when first installed and the rocker nuts are tightened...Do they naturally loosen and adapt to the camshaft? Is it normal that some of my rockers and pushrods were quite loose?

Thanks

 

no its not normal...


It could be that they were either not lashed properly to begin with or that the nuts have backed off or the studs are pulling out of the heads.

 

Okay, great. I was trying to find out where a constant clicking noise was coming from when the engine was running, and perhaps the pushrods and rockers being so loose might have been cause for the noise.

 

definately going to be the cause of some top end chatter!

 

Well it would click constantly, whether I was idling or revving the engine. And the clicking would get faster or slower as the RPM's went higher or lower.

 

Yes misadjusted rockers will tick.

Did you adjust them yet?

That's the first thing you should do. Forget about the "twisting with your fingers" crap, or whether they're "supposed to spin" or not, that's all nothing but the short road to a PITA. Just crank the motor up, back each one off one at a time until it ticks, and re-tighten it slowly until it quits; do all 16 like that as quick as you can; then shut it down and add your desired preload (I'd recommend ½ turn).

Then if they still make noise, maybe it's time to ask what's causing it.

 

are you running solid or hydro.???

 

They're solid. I'll get to finding out whether the rockers truly caused the clicking, but for now I'm replacing the head gaskets so It'll be a week or so before I put everything all back together and readjust the rockers.

 

You sure?

What cam is in it?

 

uhh yea, usually people don't use a solid cam unless they really know what they're doing, and are very familiar with adjusting lash (or else they will quickly become familiar with it...)

I'm guessing it's a hydraulic lifter setup right? If it's a stock cam it's a hydraulic lifter, follow sofa's advice, and go from there.