Valve train noise 383

[Thunder69]

Just bought my first mopar, 69 charger. Had to have the motor rebuilt this winter. My car friends helped me assembly the motor and break it in. Iam still having valve train noise, everything is brand new in the motor. But I did decide to use the old ductile iron rocker arms and shaft. My friends keep readjusting the rockers and still have the ticking noise. Where do I go from here? I used break in comp cam additive with the oil. I checked the new dipstick to make sure it wasn't interferring with anything by removing it while started. The block is a 66 year not a 69. I did buy everything for that year (66). Was wondering if the geometry between the pushrods, lifters or rockers are off some how?

[kiwiDan]

did you deck the block? Mill the heads? then you may need shorter push rods, or use adjustable rockers.
Not sure how you can adjust the old press steel rocker.....

[FC7RT]

Hi,start with the basics,put an oil pressure gauge on it,i once had an engine with low pressure that gave me noisy valve train..

[Thunder69]

I dont see anywhere on the build sheet were he had done mill work or decking. The rockers are adjustable. And I have had them set at 3/4 , 1, and back to 1/2 turn. The oil pressure gage says 55 psi while warming up and down to 35 psi after its warm.

[kiwiDan]

Originally Posted by Thunder69

I dont see anywhere on the build sheet were he had done mill work or decking. The rockers are adjustable. And I have had them set at 3/4 , 1, and back to 1/2 turn. The oil pressure gage says 55 psi while warming up and down to 35 psi after its warm.

sorry mate I assumed the rockers were std old press things, I have the same prob as you as well as other engine probs, anyway I have 440 source rollers, all adjusted up etc and have a ticking noise at revs, Idle nothing. I have higher Oil pressure. Ive been think about getting rid or changing brands of the rollers as Ive heard They can cause ticking...hope fully some one has an answer for this one..

[Thunder69]

My rocker arms are ductile iron adjustables made by crane. My mechanic friend said my advanced timing isn't working right either, plus things still need fine tuned. Didn't know if I was going to probably have to put money into new rocker arms and shafts, but wanted to try anything first to get rid of the tick. Had a mopar guy say I didn't use the correct oil for break in (Brad Penn) and that is the any oil I should be using in it. Is that correct? I used a Valoline 10w-40 with comp cam break in additive. And I put the same back into it after my break in period of 30 minutes.

[aarracer]

Sounds like another wiped out cam! sigh!

[John Kunkel]

Does the valve train noise sound like just one tapping lifter or multiple tapping?

It's not all that uncommon to have a lifter come out of the box bad, especially nowadays with lifter source/quality unknown.

[passing you]

I bought some pioneer lifters one time and 1 of them needed to be removed and taken apart, cleaned and reassembled periodically.
The same lifter over and over......

[Thunder69]

The ticking is hard to place where it is exactly coming from. Sometimes it sounds as if the pass. side is more noisey. Going to adjust to zero lash tommorrow and see how that goes. Engine builder still things it needs adjusted better. He has worked really well with me thru this problem, has actly called and asked about the problem and how its going. I couldn't have asked for a better person to work with on this motor. If it doesn't get better then, it was suggested that we take the intake off and the vally pan and look at things from that angle. Hopefully something didn't happen to the cam during breakin. I followed everything to a T.

[Thunder69]

Its hard to work on a problem when you don't know where its exactly coming from. How do you know you wiped out a cam lobe, how does it sound or act? and does it sound like multipule lifters ticking?

[Cudafever]

Get your self a pry bar. a piece of pipe......even a piece of wood would work.

place it along the valve cover, in different spots, then wrap you other hand over the top of the....what every you choose and lay your ear on it.

Its a crude Stethacope, BUT it works. When you have the sound more isolated you can concentrate on which valve cover to pull and were on that head to look for problems.

[Thunder69]

I'll try that method of figuring out where the noise is coming from. Thanks

[rampage_82]

so you were talking about going to "0" lash... My first question... is this a solid or hyd cam we're talking about.. I'm assuming hyd, if that's the case "0" lash will help you rev higher, however will make them make noise. The way I've always ran them was going to no lash then 3/4 turn, they still rev fine, and they aren't noisy... that is until the freakin cam wipes... lol

[pjmopar]

Did you look inside the valve covers? I had the same problem when I first cranked up my 383. The adj. screw on the rockers were hitting the valve covers. Fixed the problem when I put on taller covers.

[bulldog426]

this might be a dumb question but do you have the right pushrods for the rocker arms you are using??? i'd pull the intake and make sure all the lifters were fine.. had a racecar making a ticking one time, had a broke lifter.... if it's hydraulic lifters did you prime them right????

[aarracer]

Mopar Tech , says NO to priming lifters now! We used to always do it!

[bulldog426]

Originally Posted by aarracer

Mopar Tech , says NO to priming lifters now! We used to always do it!

i don't see what it can hurt, i honestly think it's better to prime the lifters while building the engine.

[John Kunkel]

Priming the lifters before installation can bend a valve if the lifter doesn't leak down. Priming the lifters while priming the oil system by turning the pump assures the lifter won't over-extend.

[BigBlockDude]

My 440 with crane iron rockers makes a slight ticking all the time. I have a Hughes cam and thats just the way it is.
Is it very loud? And what cam do you have?