I have a question for the more mechanical minded folks out there. My 65, 283 has had a slight tap sound since I bought it earlier this year. This sound would develop only after the engine was warmed up, and only at idle. I just figured it was a weak hydraulic lifter and was planning on dealing with it next winter. I have been using the truck more then I planned and now there is another sound, a bit louder then before and only when I pick up the rpm's above idle. This just started yesterday. Could this be a lifter, or maybe a sticking valve? How can one tell the difference? The engine seems to have good oil pressure, runs very smooth, no exhaust smoke, no blow by, starts and runs fine other then this noise coming from the upper engine. Any ideas of what I should do first. Part of me wants to just replace everything, the heads, all the lifters etc, but money does matter too so want to go about it smart. Thanks for any help you can give.. Dave
It "sounds" like a bad lifter, OR,, a valve that came out of adjustment. Take the valve cover off and re-adjust the valves. It could save you a bent pushrod or worse if you don't wait in getting to the bottom of it. Val
if it sounds like its coming from the bottom it may be a rod. i bought a 88 chevy van for the motor (saposta be good) made a ticking noise at idel then got worse after driving it 6 blocks to my dads shop it was a rod. i said fk-it and sold it to another guy he wanted the heads and a good block to build for his race car.
Thanks Val, I am going to wait till tuesday for the parts store to open to get a new valve cover gasket set and do what you suggest. I have the shop manual and in it it says 2 different ways to set the valves. One says to "normalize" the engine (I assume that means warm it up) and then find #1 and get it to top dead and adjust slowly until there is no lash and then tighten another turn slowly. The other way sounds like when you have replaced the head you can do it with the engine off and cold, the difference is you only turn it 3/4 turn past no lash. Does this sound right? I have only ever set the valves on an old Dodge slant 6 with mechanical lifters. That was with feeler guage and oil going everywhere while at idle.. Any guidance will be much appreciated! Dave
Oh that sounds not so good! I am thinking however that it is coming from the valve cover. I held up a plastic pipe and seemed to be able to hear it from the front of the left hand cover. God I hope so! This engine runs so so smooth I would hate to have her go.. Dave
Been working on the 283 the past couple days.. The battle does not go well. I first tried to adjust the valve lash according to what the shop manual said but the knocking still wouldn't go away. I decided it was probably a lifter so decided to just replace all 16 with new ones as the price seemed reasonable when compared to the labor of replacing them. One thing to note, I am a ways out in the sticks and I am having all my parts flown out to me by small plane from Juneau AK. I got all the lifters and gasket sets yesterday and I got the engine put back together today. Here is my problem. When I set the valves according to the book the truck has no compression. When I back the rocker nuts off I can get the compression but the engine runs very rough. I can pull 3 plug wires off and the engine doesn't slow down at idle. Good news is the knocking has gone away, the bad news is it runs like dog ****! Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? I am near certain I got the intake manifold on true and the gaskets lined up just right. I can spin the push rods and they seem straight. The lifters looked a little different from the originals but were an exact fit. Desperate...
you can try cutting a section out of an old valve cover (please, a generic corporate style raised rib about 2 in. wide in center, not a script one~) to use on each side as you set the lash with the engine running...and not make such a mess with splashing oil. For hydraulics,Back em off (one by one) till it stumbles and clacks, run it down till it smooths out and stops pecking. Maybe this method would have worked better before you pulled the topend apart and replaced tappets. Did you pump them up in a can of oil first before you installed them? They may not have had a chance to 'pump up' before you set them and could be too tight to start off with. My truck came stock with a mechanical cam, and some noise was just the norm for it. Sometimes a lobe can go flat quickly with a new 'partner' riding on it, the new parts being harder than the cam, not sure without being there but I've seen it before. The fix here is a new cam and timing set. Speaking of that, have you checked the cam gear? After 40 odd years the nylon on the teeth of a 'silent' gear can wear off and skip, causing even bigger problems. Even worse, could the ticking have been coming from a broken exhaust manifold? These rams horns are notorious for cracking at the "Y" and driving us crazy. I know this is a lot to ponder but I'm trying to help troubleshoot long distance! Good luck and let us know what you find!
Thanks for the suggestions. With help from a neighbor I got it running well again, but the tapping came back once the engine warmed up. Turns out it is the fuel pump that is making all the racket! Gads... I tried locating the noise with a piece of hose but never could really hear it. Today when I held a piece of pipe near the fuel pump the noise is coming from there, plain as can be.. I guess I just had a mindset about it being a lifter.. I am just happy I have it running again..
I feel your pain. Shipping on some body parts cost more than the part itself. But after the Salmon season is over I'm moving to Florida.
AARRRGGHH! I've been there too... happened to an old camaro I had, but it started after replaceing the pump with a cheapo one from autozone. It didn't keep enough fuel pumping and made a ticking noise as well, and I put an electric on it...I think the lobe was shot on the cam. Live and learn! Glad you are back on the road!
Thanks Bobcat77, she is running great now and no tapping. The new pump did the trick. Last night I came up from Juneau to Haines (on the ferry boat most of the way) where I am building a house and hauled probably close to 3000 lbs of pre cast concrete footings in my Chevy. It handled the weight very well, but coming off a few hills I was down into second to keep my brakes cool as to not have a runaway truck on my hands. What a workhorse. Not too bad for a 43 year old pickup! Dave
glad here you got it fixed,the fuel pump might be the one that came on there newdidnt you say here while back that the motor only had only 30,000 miles on it?
Dave, I gotta hand it to you. Alaska looks pretty but I can't imagine living there~ you go for it! I"ll stick to Texas and the lower 48!
Yeah, the guy I bought it from says the odometer was right and had only 38k on it. Who knows, maybe the speedometer cable broke at some point, maybe it has 138k. If it does, chances are this engine isn't the original, but can't find any signs of that, plus the truck is in too good of shape, everything original and working etc. Then again, it was a farm/ranch truck in Delta Jct, Alaska since 65 according to the original registrations so I keep thinking it worked hard pulling some hay wagon around or something, but didn't rack up a lot of miles on the odometer. Also on my first load of footings over a week ago I had to climb some hills that put quite a load on the engine (I was down into second some) and after that the tapping was much louder. My theory is maybe the fuel filter between the gas tank and the pump was starting to become marginally clogged which when working the engine hard with the heavy load did something to the pump. I changed out the filter with the new pump. Anyway, it runs strong now so am happy.
I suppose it helps me tolerate the adverse conditions to have been born here in AK. I tried living in the "states" a few times when work here became tight, but each time after 6 months or so stalled out in heavy freeway traffic I had to withdraw back to the wilderness.. What to do...
