ASAP pls! Nasty noise, happened out of town, Broken rocker?

[bloopbloob]

hey all.... my bad day just seems to be getting worse..... left home today, drove about 3 1/2 hours to get to my buddies house, just as i'm pulling into town, i start hearing a nasty clacking sound from my engine. not sure, but my guess is a broken rocker or something? does this happen? it's very loud, sounds like something's hitting the valve cover, and clacking sound increases with rpms... am i right in my guess or anything else it might be? i'm out of town, no tools, need to get back to school monday morning..... if i can't fix it, what can be wrecked by continuing to drive it? thanks for any help

 

[BK_CAULEY]

doubt its broke? well is it after market? if it is then its prolly broke but if it aint the bolt could be loose. it could cause a great deal of damage. if its on an exhaust valve the engine will keep running till to much exhaust gas builds up in the cylinder and it will blow the head gasket. if its on the intake side it will jsut fill the runner up with gas and that could cause a nasty back fire.

if you can isolate it to a certain cylinder unplug that cylinders injector and you should be ok to limp it home. but its gonna run like crap. i dont advise this but i have done it. just watch the cars temp caue its gonna go up.

 

[5.0Droptop]

If its the rocker it could cause some other issues in cluding lifter damage. Borrow some tools and find out.

I have broken 2 rocker studs, the noise you described sounds like same thing.

 

[lang williams]

if you pull the injector to limp home, try an pull the valve cover an pull the push rod out of the broken rockers bore. you might be able to borrow tools at an auto zone or something like that.

 

[5.0Droptop]

Its still hard on the lifters. Not having tension on them from the rod and rocker they try to float and then knick the cam and roller.

 

[mustangfan1990]

yeah sounds like a broken rocker arm to me or a bent pushrod. I have had 5 broken rocker arms studs on my AFRs because my pushrods are too long for my setup but I wouldnt drive it till its fixed if I was you. Have it tow and pay the bill. It will be cheaper to tow than drive it and fix the motor after some serious engine damage

 

[bloopbloob]

aww man.... SO not what i wanted to hear, hopin' for a temp. fix or something, since i'm 400km from home right now, with a car FULL of my necessary belongings........ **** i hate life right now. a tow would be insane $$$$, but i need to get back to school by monday at 10 am..... can the Drivers side valve cover come off without taking off the intake manifold? and if so, could i possibly do a temp. fix with limited resources? options and time frame are VERY limited right now....... i'd even take it to a shop on mon, but i doubt i'd even get in, and even if i could, they charge like 125/h... ****! did i mention i hate life?........

 

[BlooDReigN]

aww man.... SO not what i wanted to hear, hopin' for a temp. fix or something, since i'm 400km from home right now, with a car FULL of my necessary belongings........ **** i hate life right now. a tow would be insane $$$$, but i need to get back to school by monday at 10 am..... can the Drivers side valve cover come off without taking off the intake manifold? and if so, could i possibly do a temp. fix with limited resources? options and time frame are VERY limited right now....... i'd even take it to a shop on mon, but i doubt i'd even get in, and even if i could, they charge like 125/h... ****! did i mention i hate life?........

The upper intake pretty much has to come off in order for the valve covers to come off if I recall. You should be able to get a new intake gasket and valve cover gasket (if needed) on sunday and have it back together. I'm not sure what they have for junkyards in town, but once you get the valve cover off and if you find a broken lifter, it might be worth while looking through the junk yard for a rocker arm to put in there.

If you have stock rocker arms however, it's quite uncommon for them to break. Theres so many things that could cause a knocking noise that sounds like its coming from the valve cover. Anyway, if you manage to get it back to Calgary, I may be able to help you out with it.

 

[bloopbloob]

i have ported heads, but still with stock rockers..... but it's sunday tomorrow (well technically today), and i'm fairly worried about getting access to whatever i may need....... not really in the position to fix this right now, with no tools, no time, no patience, and no money....

 

[mustangfan1990]

I know I spun a rod bearing one time and it was a clacking that sounds like it was coming from underneath the valve cover. As far as getting the valve cover off without taking the intake off. I can but I dont remember if you can or not on a stock intake but with the BBK intake you can. Why dont you just find a ride home call a family member or something to come get you and fix your car later

 

[BlooDReigN]

Make any progress?

 

[bloopbloob]

Make any progress?

not much i can do on a sunday, so the biggest update on my progress is that we have finished off a bottle of rye and some beers so far today........ many worries takes many drinks!

i think i'm going to drive it half way home tomorrow though, and leave it at a friends house, if it can make it there..... at about 3000 rpms it doesn't make noise, so i'm trying to keep it there and hopefully not do too much more damage.... i know it's stupid to drive it, but i'm not leaving it in this terrible neighborhood, and i'm not paying $1500-$2000 or whatever for a shop to fix it, if i could even get into one.... just hopin for the best and not to screw much more up.....

 

[BlooDReigN]

Well, theres a 5.0 H.O for sale locally for $500 if you **** that one up

 

[fiveohlxhatch]

GL with your trip back. Sorry to hear about the tight spot you're in. I live in Calgary too if you need help, PM me.

 

[bloopbloob]

UPDATE! Just made it home! But now my question is... what did i screw up by driving it like this? Almost 400km, drove fine except for the noise (like the halfbreed child of a Peterbuilt and a sewing machine), sounds the same as before the drive.... i'll try and get a video with sound up tomorrow if i can.... but other than the noise, it seems ok..... ideas?
i won't be able to work on it for a bit, but should i just order some 1.7 rockers and hope thats what it is? what else could be wrecked? i'd like to have parts before i tear into it...

 

[vristang]

UPDATE! Just made it home! But now my question is... what did i screw up by driving it like this? Almost 400km, drove fine except for the noise (like the halfbreed child of a Peterbuilt and a sewing machine), sounds the same as before the drive.... i'll try and get a video with sound up tomorrow if i can.... but other than the noise, it seems ok..... ideas?
i won't be able to work on it for a bit, but should i just order some 1.7 rockers and hope thats what it is? what else could be wrecked? i'd like to have parts before i tear into it...

If cash is tight, then don't order anything until you KNOW what is wrong...


Pull the valve cover...

 

[bloopbloob]

If cash is tight, then don't order anything until you KNOW what is wrong...


Pull the valve cover...

i know i know, but i'm on a really tight time frame here, need to move out by the end of the month but still need to fix this, and have a pile of final exams comin, startin tomorrow morning.... i'm sure something is smacking the valve cover, so a rocker is my best guess. and i figure even if i'm wrong with my guess of a broken rocker arm, going from stockers to 1.7's while i have it apart wouldn't hurt anything, right? might as well if i'm in there... it's my only set of wheels, but i take the bus to school. so it can be down for a bit, but not too long, only a couple days. so i just want to be prepared, and ordering parts off the interwebs saves me like 50% over getting them from a local parts store..... but still interested in any additional input before i do this, not lookin to waste money thats for sure.

oh, and a special thanks to the local guys offering to help out. not many canadians on here, let alone from Calgary! pretty surprised actually. i try to learn how to do most of my mods and repairs on my own, but nothing like this so far, so some experience would be much appreciated if i run into troubles, so you may be finding a pm in the days to come! but definitely thanks for the offers!

 

[BlooDReigN]

No point in buying the parts until you find out what the problem is, like was already said. And it's not like you have some strange engine that you need to wait 2 weeks for the parts to come in for. You can go down to Mopac or any parts store and they will have any performance part you could need for a 5.0 on their shelf.


Find the problem first.

 

[fiveohlxhatch]

+1 Tear into it then buy the parts.

Get finished with school first then worry about the car.

GL with your exams!

 

[86bluecobra]

After reading this post all I want to know is what is the problem? Have you taken it apart yet? Any updates?