Setting Timing

[Large Arbor]

Scratching my head here as well.. The car had ran likely 3-5 hours before this occurred. Been to 3-4,000 rpm and still no issues. Timing was perfect today for about 5 minutes at 35-38 degrees coming in at 3,000 rpm and holding. Went for a ride around the block, and a ticking sound was bothering me. I decided to pull the valve cover and reset the rockers to see if the noise would go away. I then discovered the pushrod. Lifter looked fine. Looked like the pushrod jumped out of the lifter by the little mark on the intake. Lifter looked fine. Pic below of the little mark on the intake...

[patrickt]

Refresh my memory -- solid or hydraulic?

[Bernica]

Well as far as I know, there are only two places that can do that. At the cam or at the rocker/valve assembly.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Bernica

Well as far as I know, there are only two places that can do that. At the cam or at the rocker/valve assembly.

Well this is certainly not my area of expertise, but I would say it has to either be a collapsed lifter, a loose rocker arm, the wrong rod length, or a lost lobe.

[Shootnride]

Stock Ford FE rocker arm shafts are known to break at the unsupported ends (at least the solid lifter variety are). You may want to check those shafts closely to make sure that one isn't cracked and starting to fail. That could certainly allow a push rod to become unseated from the lifter and/or rocker arm.

Just a thought

Ted

[Shootnride]

Phil,

Check out this thread

OT: Broken parts, comments on theory?

Ted

[Large Arbor]

Hydraulic lifters. Stock rocker shaft and rockers. No adjustment for valve lash.

Phil

[Bernica]

Stuck valve then? Or a really messed up valve spring? Broken timing chain? There are plenty more knowledgeable folks here than I. And I'm just throwing out some guesses...
Sorry for your troubles.

[DanEC]

All that did was cause an engine tic? Geez.

On an engine with aftermarket heads I would not be running stock, non-adjustable Ford rockers. You really need to be able to set the lifter pre-load when running a high performance hydraulic cam and with aftermarket heads. But, I doubt the push rod wasn't properly in the lifter and rocker sockets or it would have self destructed immediately upon starting the engine - or at least you would have noticed it was only running on 7 cylinders. Same with coil bind. It also doesn't sound like this engine is radical enough for piston to valve clearance to be tight. So I suspect you have for whatever reason - a bent or stuck valve (or bent and stuck) or possibly a bad rocker. Also - what diameter are those pushrods? They look pretty small. Are they just stock Ford replacement? That's a heck of a bent pushrod - should be a keeper as a souvenir.