I left a friends house and took off hard in first and then just kept going in second and third. Then I let off for a turn and then just went back to normal driving for the last three miles home and noticed it had lost a little bit of pep and sounded a little funny. Once I got home I popped the hood and could hear a clicking under the driver side valve cover.

Once I removed the valve cover I saw the #1 intake rocker arm had slipped off of the valve and was just wedged against the valve spring. The rockers are 1.6 pro mag self aligining and beehive springs. This motor has been together for about 30K hard miles and never had a problem. The poly lock was still tight and the pushrod wasn't bent. I am not sure what has happened here. Any input will be appreciated.

Another thing is that there has always been an issue with slight valve float that I just have learned to shift a little early, but it did it this time. I will get some pics up tomorrow, just looking for some help. Thanks, Matt.

 

bump pics added

 

I recently read another post where the OP experience much the same thing; damaged his rocker arm too.

I'm thinking it's probably why CompCams recommends NON self-aligning rocker arms in performance applications; because of the increased possiblity of this happening.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

 

What retainers were you using? Those almost look like they shouldn't be used with self-aligning rockers. Is ther enough valve tip for the rockers to align?

 

My Pro Magnum 1.6 slipped off and jammed onto the retainer which dropped the valve. I was cruising home after some hard runs earlier in the day. I was revving around 2200 rpm when it dropped. I was about 100 yards from the apartment...

 

You floated the rocker off the valve tip, simple as that. Learn from the mistake and try and put to gether a truely function valvetrain this time.

 

Get some guide plates.

 

I had a rocker do that (SA Crane Golds), bending the push rod. I replaced the push rod, everything seemed fine, got on it and it slipped off again. It turned out to be a collapsed lifter. Replaced the lifter and all is fine. What lifters? How many miles? Just my 2 cents

 

my buddy has a 93 chevy step side with a 355 in it and the exact same thing happened, only on the exhaust side of the #1 cylinder. valve float at its finest

 

He'd need NON-self aligning rocker arms too since you can't run SA rockers and guide plates at the same time.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

 

Thanks for the replies. I figured that the valve float finally caught up with me, but I just wanted to share it with you guys and get some opinions. I am going the non self aligning route with guide plates. A friend has a set of Crane golds that I am going to use. I think I might also put new springs, seals, and lifters in while I am in there. They are comp lifters and everything has around 30,000 miles on them.

Please keep the opinions coming so that I can get my valvetrain setup properly and prevent this problem from happening again.

 

I unfortunately grenaded an engine about 5 years ago because one of my Crower SS SA RR came off, beat the retainer to death, dropped a valve and sent debris through out the engine. No more SA RRs for me!