Rocker Arms Pissing Me Off!

[BigC3416]

I am coming to the end of a head and cam swap, and right now I am tightening down the rockers. But, everytime I get them "tight" and move on to the next they get loose! I am tightening them until no lash then tightening another 3/4 of a turn. Do the new valvesprings have anything to do with it? The heads and rockers are brand new from Trick Flow. Thanks for any help.

Chris

 

[1105]

After you tighten the rocker down and it opens and closes the valve, it should be loose.

 

[mustang20010]

yeah if there's no spring pressure on the rocker you will have some play in it.

 

[BigC3416]

Ok thank, that was starting to freak me out. Why is that exactly? That just didnt seem right them being able to wiggle around like that. Is that because the lifters compress or something? Thanks.

Chris

 

[1105]

Not real sure why they did that.. I was confused myself. I tightened the rockers down to where they wouldnt move and my car wouldnt run at all (no compression) and I got lucky I didnt bend a valve or anything when I tried to start up the car.

 

[rockin_rick]

Hey Chris,

What method are you using to adjust these? I'm assuming that they are stud mount? How loose are they?

Rick

 

[VibrantRedGT]

For Pedestal (bolt down) rockers, with the intake off you can see the lifters compress down when the valve closes. What I do is just tighten them down to 18 ft. lbs and move onto the next in firing order. I found that when I did the zero lash, 3/4 turn method I would have one or two noisey ones out of the group. When all of them are the same the consitency is there. Did it on Rogers car recently and no noise. Now with stud mounts I can't help ya cuz I've never had them on my car. In the FAQ sheet it has stud mount directions.

 

[BigC3416]

They are stud mounted trick flow rockers that I'm putting on a new set of trick flow tw heads. I'm just tightening them down to zero lash then going 3/4 turn after that. I guess zero lash is just when the push rod starts to push down on the lifter.

Chris

 

[rockin_rick]

When during the cam events are you adjusting these? If you are not on the heel when adjusting, then when you get to the heel (valve closed), the rocker would be loose. Also, when the lifters are not pumped up, it may seem that the rocker is looser than it is since the lifter is compressing.

Rick

 

[BigC3416]

I"m doing the adjustment when that cylinder is on the compression stroke so that both lifters are down and the valves are closed. What do you mean by being "pumped up"? Are you talking about not having oil in them?

Chris

 

[1105]

Also, when the lifters are not pumped up, it may seem that the rocker is looser than it is since the lifter is compressing.

Rick

what he said... Make sure your lifters are primed before you tighten down your rockers or else you'll have to do it all over again! What I did is pushed down on the pushrod, if it didnt move I put the rocker on and tightened it down, but if I could push it down (like pushing on a spring) I had to prime the lifter with oil. A parts store will sell an oil primer thing for your car, or you can be cheap like me, disconect the coil and pull the fuel pump fuse and let the car crank over a few times, check the lifter again and it should be hard.

 

[RIO5.0]

If the dizzy is out, take a couple of extensions...use a 1/4" socket I believe, put that in your extension, this will go over oilpump shaft....chuck that set-up in a drill...using reverse on the drill, a rachet will work also, drill is quicker, stick it on the oilpump shaft and let it rip.....youll see the oil coming out your pushrods...this will prime the lifters....adjust 1/2 the motor...reprime again...do the other side...I would loosen all your rockers so as to let them fill up with oil...tight ones wont fill correctly to me...
You really wanna have em pumped up to get a better adjustment....it'll still be noisy when you start it up...and the lifters WILL be loud...give em a few minutes and they'll pump up and quiet down...

 

[rockin_rick]

Perhaps you could try the Ed Curtis method.

Go to http://www.flowtechinduction.com/

Choose TECH INFO on the left

Choose VALVE ADJUST PROCEDURE

It seems pretty tried and true.

Rick

 

[BigC3416]

Alright, thanks for all the help guys. So I guess I just need to prime the oil pump then do Ed Curtis's method.

Chris

 

[HoofnIt]

I 'adjusted' my rockers without the lifters being primed and it wouldn't even run. Sounded like a serious timing issue. I tore it down and removed the coil wire and fuel relay fuse and turned the motor over several times via the starter. After the readjusting the car started, just doesn't want to run very well.

 

[1105]

Is your distributer back in the right position?

 

[HoofnIt]

I think I had the dist. off one tooth. I took it out and moved it back and finally got the car to start and run. I turned the idle speed up and finally got it to run long enough to put a timing light on it. I had to get a screwdriver to get the spout out and it flew out, now it's gone. I set the base timing to around 30 and took it for a spin. I'm getting a new spout today.