i got thru doing my head gaskets and she's running like absolute ****. NOW, i did cut the exhaust to install new long tubes, and i installed 2 new o2's as well. with the open headers, i have them mounted right inside the collectors temporarily. they're kind of rigged to "float" right behind the collector, not welded in. keep that in mind.
i also found a bad lifter (as usual) when i was doing the gaskets, so i had to make an emergency run down to autozone and buy a new one. this one was not pumped up, but i soaked it in oil for a few min and installed it, and set the lash on that one a little less than the others, figuring it would pump up and be good. i could compress it fully using the push rod before i installed it. anyhow, the truck is running horribile, making your eyes burn from the gas, it's literally blowing a cloud of gas out the headers. do you think i adjusted the lifters wrong, ie. too tight, causing the valves not to close all the way, once they get pumped up? when i start it in the morning, it ran fine for ....5-10 min, then started dumping fuel really bad and running really rough.

i need to fix this TOMORROW because at 9am, i'm getting cats installed, and the fuel will ruin them, then i'm out 180.00. i can't hear the lifters (if they're making noise) because it's too damn loud. ANY advice would really help me at this point, i was very careful putting it all back together.

ps. i set the lash using the balancer pully arrow. starting at 12-o-clock, with both valves on #1 totally closed, i set the lash on the intake and exhaust, then bumped it to 3-o-clock, set cylinder #8, both valves, etc. did i do this incorrect? i did it another way before, but i always get confused doing it like that. i absolutely need to fix them tomorrow, so anyone that knows a better way, please link me to it, or explain it for me , cause i am a retard.. thanks!

 

I'm not sure about your problem, but here is a good place to check to see if you did your valve lash setting correctly:

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#adjust_valves

I'm actually going to be using method 3 this weekend to do mine.
Brian

 

Sound like the car runs fine in open loop, then crap in closed loop when it can't detect the A/F ratio accurately. If the O2 sensors are just hanging over the header they will be reading lean due to being surrounded by excess air.
HTH

 

Even if you have the O2's just stuffed up in the header, they will not read right that closely to the end of the pipe. You will get to much of a fresh air reading and it will cause them to read rich. You can actually damage them this way to. I would get some exhaust on there and that should fix your problem. If you still have the problem, you might have damaged your O2's. I did the same thing when I put my Longtubes on. I drove around a couple days on straight headers till I got the Y-pipe made. It ran like crap and did damage the O2's. But the 93's dont have heated O2's either, so that made it even worse. The O2's have to come up to a certain temp to get proper readings.

 

that sounds good then, i'm going to get my exhaust on right now, soo i'll let you all know how she runs this afternoon, thanks!

 

well, it's still doing it. i guess i'll try and set my lash again next weekend when i have time, and also install my wideband to monitor that as well. if it's still rich after that, i'll try new o2's AGAIN even though these are brand new.

another question. now that it's quieter, the motor sound changes when i step on the brake. it runs rougher for some reason... WTF..... i hope it's that i set my preload too much and if i back it off it will go away. i have no idea what's going on. i just want to drive it..sheesh...

 

If your balancer isn't perfectly in time with the bottom end then you can't use it as a reference. Did whoever put your balancer on install the arrow up at 12 oclock when #1 cylinder is at TDC?

 

Sounds like you might have a bad vacuum leak. Running rich and motor sound change when applying the brakes......

Or I could see it being the rockers set too tight, and not allowing the intake valve to close. When setting valve lash, the harmonic arrow is not always the best way to tell when the lifter is on the base of the cam. The balancer on the LT1 is not keyed, so the arrow could be off.

Find TDC on #1 by watching the valves and putting something inside the #1 spark plug hole (like a straw). Once you have #1 at TDC, check the balancer arrow. If it is off, just make a new mark (with a sharpie or something) on the balancer and use it.

Thomas.

 

Just use the EOIC method with somebody rotating the motor with a breaker bar.

 

i know for a fact no vac leak i double checked and sealed every surface

i thought the balencer was keyed!!! i bet you anything that my adjustments are all f'd up then. if i have time tomorrow and there's good wether, i'll redo them, thanks, i'll keep you all updated

 

that's how i did it before and it had very few problems, (just blowing the lifter caps off, prolly from over-reving) i will resort back to that method

 

If its in a truck, you probably have some room to work. Yank the covers off and do it with it running. Easiest way for sure. This is how I did my valves.

 

If the lifters were Comp R's then it's no surprise the lifter cups broke. Pieces of ****.

 

originally they were, lol, i didn;t know about all the problems, AND the FREE replacement they offered, so now i'm running stockers. seriously considering doing a solid lifter cam swap, due to all these problems. i'm just broke now.

i'd hat to get oil all over the place doing it with the valve cover off. i may try it though.

 

I would also recommend doing it with the covers off. You won't get oil all over the place. At idle, oil will be just coming up the pushrod and drain over the rockers. It won't spray out beyond the valve cover mating surface (unless you rev the engine up).

Thomas.