GRRR! Just put motor back together, bad ticking.

JadeFalcon · Jan 9, 2004

Damnit. about 6 months ago my 2.3 blew a head gasket, so Finally I get back to putting a new head on it, having it machined, valve seats and seals, a high lift cam and some followers. I thought it would be great. Well, when I fired it up cold it was great, ran quiet, then it starting tapping, tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap, getting louder and louder, when I throttle the car up it speeds up slightly and then entirely vanishes, when I'm driving the car it is quiet as can be, but when it comes down to idle it makes this tapping noise. GRR, what could this be? I hope it isnt a rod, dosent really sound like one, it gets intermittant after a while, throttle the motor up and it just vanishes entirely, come back down and it returns. It isnt something you need to lean in to hear, you can hear it with the hood shut. What could this be?? Did I forget something in the valve train? It dosent seem like its missing.

Bearded Forever · Jan 9, 2004

Lifter.

turbostang79 · Jan 9, 2004

I got the head rebuilt and machined this summer. Nothing special, but all new parts. New valves, new seats, new lifters, new followers ....
and still I have the same sound as you describe, and it had it before the rebuilt also.
I went back to the shop and the mechanic told me that it's the crankshaft or one of the pistons ? Maybe he's just trying not to blame himself, but it seemed logical at the moment.

140cilx · Jan 9, 2004

We also have very loud injectors, mine tick away loudly and you can hear them w/ the hood shut, disappears giving it any throttle at all. I've had people ask me about the ticking a number of times. Any chance of the same?

Red_LX · Jan 9, 2004

I think the engine in my Mustang has been ticking for years now....

JadeFalcon · Jan 9, 2004

this cant be a injector, if thats an injector then god damn, it must have 3 lbs of momentum in it to make that noise.

turbostang79 · Jan 9, 2004

on a carbed car it's kinda wierd to have a ticking injector
Anyway, I don't think an injector can sound like metal marbles floating around in the engine, or it would have to be one bad mofo

mr_woodster · Jan 9, 2004

im with crovax on this one, the valve train does make quite abit of noise normally, but if its as excessive as you are describing sounds like one(or more) of your lifters are not doing there job. What kind of "high lift" cam did you put in?

Cougar · Jan 9, 2004

Probably lifters, i bet they need to be shimmed. Mine tick too.

jman_b13 · Jan 9, 2004

how long have you let the car run? because if they haven't had oil pressure for a long time, it takes the lifters a good amount of time to get pumped back up to there proper height. engine basically needs to get warm and run for 30 minutes or so.

svoman2300 · Jan 9, 2004

It is most likely valvetrain noise. If it was your bottom end it would probably tick worse with a load on it. What cam are you using? If it is a regrind of somesort or the base circe is not at stock specs the lifters may need to be shimmed. Did your machine shop set up the head with the cam installed? To do it properly a modified solid lifter needs to be used for setup. 2.3 valvetrain geometry is critical, you have to have them machined by someone who knows how to properly set them up or know how to do it yourself.

JadeFalcon · Jan 9, 2004

actually to update this case study, this morning it was entirely cold, so I started it up, and it literally took 10 minutes for it to begin to tap... geez.

I honestly dont know **** about the cam, I got it from a buddy who bought the cam new, i had a box on it but I dont remember the specs, it was a ford motorsport cam for the 2.3L, it wasnt a ranger cam.

so the followers need to be shimmed? This is a 92 mustang, so it has a roller valvetrain. Can someone give me some detailed explaination of how to correctly check this? Maybe pics?

I know 5.0's inside and out but a 2.3L is foreign to me.

..lol turbostang, this isn't the 2.3L I blew up, this is another one that I had had a blown headgasket in. the carbed 5.0 is still in the distance. I've had some good offers on my vert so this might end up being a good starting ground for a turbo stroker motor in the future, but for right now, its my grocery getter, and grocery getters dont tap like a drummer!

svoman2300 · Jan 9, 2004

You should not have to shim the lifters with a Motorsport cam(probably an A237) . Valve stem height is critacal in these engines if the machinist has th height to low they will need to be shimmed. However it should tick at startup if there is a problem with valve geometry. Possible bad lifter.

JadeFalcon · Jan 9, 2004

that looks like the problem, I will be taking the motor apart tomorrow.

the followers/etc were used.

351wcoupe · Jan 9, 2004

did you assemble the head or did the machine shop?
Not sure about 2.3 stuff but I let all of 5.8 lifters soak in oil a while before installing. Maybe you have new lifters but one might not have pumped up. I realize that it should pump up after running but I've had a few that didn't.

When you did the head gasket change did you pull the motor?

svoman2300 · Jan 9, 2004

Actually with the 2.3 lash adjusters(lifters) you have to collapse them before reinstalling. You have to put them in a vice or a big c clamp a force the oil out of them. When it is ticking take off the oil filler cap and see if the noise gets louder. If it does it is valvetrain noise.

Falqon12 · Jan 10, 2004

I know it sounds a bit simple, but make sure you have enough oil. I happened to change my timing belt when it had been 3k miles on my oil, and cause it was low, there was a little ticking that went away with some throttle. Really really frustrating cause I looked everywhere thinking I had screwed something up with the timing, but just low oil.

351wcoupe · Jan 10, 2004

svoman2300 said:
Actually with the 2.3 lash adjusters(lifters) you have to collapse them before reinstalling. You have to put them in a vice or a big c clamp a force the oil out of them. When it is ticking take off the oil filler cap and see if the noise gets louder. If it does it is valvetrain noise.

Well I'll be......
Its time to do a 2.3 head before I post anymore here.

JadeFalcon · Jan 12, 2004

I couldn't really hear if it was getting louder or not, its almost ambient. Havent had the time to get it apart yet. What should I be looking for as far as the problem? how to check, etc..

and no I assembled the heads, did a valve seal job, etc..

Stinger · Jan 12, 2004

svoman2300 said:
Actually with the 2.3 lash adjusters(lifters) you have to collapse them before reinstalling. You have to put them in a vice or a big c clamp a force the oil out of them.

You don't "have" to...I've done it twice without collapsing them...Granted it's harder but not impossible by any means.

Stinger

GRRR! Just put motor back together, bad ticking.

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