Valve ticking noise, what now?

[diiulio]

I have a 75 Bronco with a 302 and C4. Setup is all stock, nothing changed. Picked the EB up a few weeks ago. I bought it knowing about the lifter noise.

I have never dealt with a lifter noise, so how do I go about diagnosing the issue? Do I pull valve cover and then...

I was thinking about checking compression just to see where the engine is at and I was thinking this may also give an indication of which valve is bad if I am not getting compression in one of the cylinders.

Thanks
Jason

 

[Apogee]

I would pull the valve covers and make sure that it isn't just a loose rocker arm.

 

[blubuckaroo]

When I've run into lifter noise, I pull the valve cover where the noise is coming from for a good look. Check for backed off rocker nuts. The torque on the rocker nuts should be 20 ft lbs.
If all the springs/valve keepers, pushrods, and rockers, pass a visual, I'll start the motor and try to isolate it to the particular valve.
You're going to make a mess when you do this. I use splash guards on the rockers, but either way you'll need a sack of kitty litter.

Once you find the noisy lifter, you'll want to take a better look at that one.
Use a straight edge across all the rocker studs to make sure that one hasn't pulled out a little.
Then take off the rocker arm to examine the pushrod. If it rolls on a flat surface it's ok.
Put the pushrod back in and squirt some Chemtool or laquer thinner down inside the pushrod, then start pumping down on the pushrod. This should dissolve any varnish causing the lifter's piddle valve to stick.

Reassemble the rocker assembly with a little motor oil, leaving the rocker a bit loose. Start the motor, slowly tighten down the rocker nut and torque to 20 ft lbs.

If the noise comes back, you may need to replace that lifter, however varnish is usually the culprit. Regular oil change is important with these old motors to help avoid this stuff.

 

[laserfish]

pour in a quart of Risilone. If it is just a stuck lifter, this will free it. Have done this many times and if it is truly a sticky lifter, it will fix it in a matter of minutes.

 

[BR549]

What is your oil pressure ?

 

[DJs74]

Are you sure it's a lifter? Could possibly be an exhaust manifold leak as well, that type of ticking is very similar to lifter tick depending where the leak is

DJs74

 

[68stang73]

Pcv valve if bad will rattle like a bad lifter too.

 

[DirtDonk]

Yep, what they all said. Sometimes a lifter is at the end of it's life or just bad. But often enough to gamble on, they're just "stuck" up with junk.
Any idea how old the engine is? Original or rebuilt? How many miles?

I've always used solvent additives in oil with engines that ticked. I figured a few bucks up front and a month or three of waiting to see/hear results was not too much to pay for cheap insurance.
And if it didn't work, and all the other checks didn't pan out either, a new set of lifters was Plan-B.

With my '71 (5 years old and 58K miles) I used additives (our beloved snake-oils) and two oil changes and all the ticking went away. As did half of the oil leaks, most of the oil usage, and the engine also ran smoother and better all around.
Up to that point I used a quart every 500 miles. After that I only needed a quart about every 4000 miles.

The ticking came back about 35 thousand miles later and did not respond to chemical treatment anymore. So I just changed them out that time. But for about $20 bucks in chemicals, I put off that job for a couple of years at least.
When I sold it with 175k, it was starting to use oil again. To the tune of about a quart every 2500 miles.;D

Good luck. Hopefully you're as lucky as I think I was.

Paul

 

[jckkys]

I've dealt with ticking valves in many vehicles over 50+ years and tried many cures. Most worked eventually but blubuckaroo's method is by far the best way to get her done now.

 

[diiulio]

Thanks everyone. That is what I was looking for. I meant to get at it this weekend, but rain and other projects kept me occupied. I have another project in the garage so I can't pull the Bronco in to work on it out of the rain.
I don't think it is an exhaust leak and you can almost feel it on the valve cover when you put your hand on it. The noise doesn't go away when it warms up either.
From what I can tell the oil pressure is fine, but the gauges don't have an actual pressure on them. I was thinking of getting a set of aftermarket oil pressure and water temp and mount them down and out of the way.
I haven't tried the Risilone additive or any other before, but I would be willing to try it. I may pull the valve cover any way since I don't typically have good luck.