adjustable rockers clacking?

nitrousED · Mar 28, 2004

i have adjusted these rockers 3 times and cant get them to stop clacking,everything is new,i know somebody else has to have this problem.could i be missing something or is there some setups that just wont stop clacking? thanks

tf tw heads
tfs rockers
tfs pushrods
motorsport lifters
adjusting to 3/4 turn

autoXr1 · Mar 28, 2004

3/4 turn and still clacking?

Two things come to mind. One, did you soak those lifters in oil before installing them? If not, it may be that they just need some run time to get the oil going through them. That may "tighten" things up.

Two, 3/4 turn may not be enough with some set-ups. I know, some will be nice and quiet at 1/4 turn, others may need upwards of 1 and 1/4 turns to quiet them down. You don't know until you start playing with it.

I am not sure about your adjustment sequence, but I typically just do one cylinder at a time, one valve at a time. It is a little more time consuming, but once it's done, there is no doubts that each roller rocker was adjusted correctly.

I once had a set of Steeda 1.72 shaft-mounts on a set of E7s, stock cam, etc...it took a full 1 and 1/2 turns to stop them from clacking...and they were still a little noisy. I even called the Steeda tech line about it and they said everything was OK.

Now, my current set-up is with a much "wilder" combo and stud-mount 1.6 Scorpion RRs...3/4 turn.

So, adjustments can vary significantly depending upon what parts are used.

nitrousED · Mar 28, 2004

yeah, i soaked the lifters for a few days,i do one valve at a time,i was thinking of maybe trying another 1/4 or 1/2 turn to see what happens,all i know is the past few motors i built werent this loud,ill give it a try tomorrow and see what happens ,thanks

DropTopR · Mar 28, 2004

I rum my rockers at contact, plus 1/4 turn. THey made a hell of a lot of noise when I turned them past anything more than that. Speaking of that, I need to go do that too.

QBstang87 · Mar 28, 2004

my scorpions make a ton of noise, i just adjusted them this weekend, but they're just as noisy still.

nitrousED · Mar 30, 2004

anybody else,will it be ok to keep running these things noisy,dam its annoyingly loud

autoXr1 · Mar 30, 2004

You have to ask yourself, "Why are they clacking?" Is it the design of the roller rockers? Aluminum does have a certain resonance to it and will sound differently than steel, however, loud clacking is usually a result of the the roller tip not staying in contact with the tip of the valve. Is it not?

Weak lifters, weak valve springs, and improper adjustment are usually the big three culprits as far as I know.

04sleeper · Mar 30, 2004

Are you turning the motor by hand and bringing the valves to zero lash? If you do this you can do 2 at a time. (Intake and Exhaust). Make sure the valves are at zero lash and make sure you have the (Allen Lock Bolt) out enough to tighten the nuts down all the way. I tighten the Nut down first by hand. (With a rag so your hands don't slip) then give the nut an extra 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Keeping all the rockers adjusted the same. Then tighten the Allen Lock Bolt in the center. If that does not work maybe check your valve train geometry to make sure you have the proper lenght pushrods. Also you did't mention what type of cam you are running. Some cam profiles have very steep rates that can cause the rockers to be louder than "normal".

nitrousED · Mar 30, 2004

my fault ,yeah i do 1 cyl at a time,i tighten by hand then go 3/4 turn and tighten the allen.i just cant figiure it out,ive done this a 100 times.my next step was also to check the pushrod length, the cam is a xe 282 hr.Are the tf rockers just noisy, thanks

DropTopR · Mar 31, 2004

My trick flow rockers are plenty quiet, i think. You can hear them, but not too loud. Try turning them to only a 1/4 turn. You may be hanging the valves open, and that DOES make a lot of noise.

nitrousED · Mar 31, 2004

still working on it no cure yet,thanks

Fastime331 · Apr 5, 2004

Yea I'm wondering if the steeper cam profile adds to the noise.
I too have the clacking rockers. Especially when the idle is between 1100 - 2500 rpm.

I've tried 1/4 1/2 3/4...all after zero lash and after the car warms up it begins.

I'm going to try a 20-50 oil to see if that quiets things down. I'm thinking the lifters are bleeding down excessively due to the higher spring rates of the AFR heads.

nitrousED · Apr 5, 2004

fastime,what cam are you running? i have the xe 282.Im hoping when i change the oil from break in it will quiet down,Im gonna try some thicker oil

Ray III · Apr 5, 2004

Why doesn't anybody use solid lifters? These hydraulic lash adjusters don't sound very low maintenance to me...

Michael Yount · Apr 5, 2004

The hydraulics work fine, provided the geometry and pushrod length is correct. Hardly anyone checks that stuff - they just bolt the parts on assuming all is well.

Did you check pushrod length with your combo? Sometimes the cam has a slightly smaller base circle than stock requiring slightly longer pushrods - but unless you actually measured for proper pushrod length and valve/rocker geometry, you don't find out til the rockers are noisy. MFE (regular poster) had a similar issue with -- turned out the measurements were such that 2 pushrods were a bit too short. Once he ID'd the culprits, he shortened the trunions on those two rockers - which lowered them onto the too-short pushrods. Noise gone. More than likely it's a geometry/length issue, not a problem with the rockers or lifters.

Fastime331 · Apr 6, 2004

nitrousED said:
fastime,what cam are you running? i have the xe 282.Im hoping when i change the oil from break in it will quiet down,Im gonna try some thicker oil

I have the TFS stage 2 cam and Omega rockers. The cam is very similar to yours if I'm not mistaken.

Just how loud is yours? Mine isn't too bad. You can just hear it with the hood closed at idle.

My AFR heads do have an allignment problem though. Some of them are as far as half the roller tip off of the side of valve. I imagine this adds to the noise, but hasn't caused a problem yet.

I'm going to change my oil this weekend to the 20-50. I'll let you know if it made a difference.

xplo89gt · Apr 6, 2004

My rockers also loud. I am going to attempt to adjust them again.
Before i did 1/2 turn, now I will do a 3/4 turn.

I have TFS rockers, 6.750" pushrods. I measured with an adjustable pushrod, but I just don't know if I did it correctly. It was my first time doing it.

nitrousED · Apr 6, 2004

Fastime331 said:
I have the TFS stage 2 cam and Omega rockers. The cam is very similar to yours if I'm not mistaken.

Just how loud is yours? Mine isn't too bad. You can just hear it with the hood closed at idle.

My AFR heads do have an allignment problem though. Some of them are as far as half the roller tip off of the side of valve. I imagine this adds to the noise, but hasn't caused a problem yet.

I'm going to change my oil this weekend to the 20-50. I'll let you know if it made a difference.

i can barely hear it when im cruising,but when you lift the hood it sounds almost like a solid setup,let me know if the oil helps,i used 10w30 to break in so ill try a little thicker when i change mine,thanks

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