well just when i thought i was done with the hotcam install more problems come up!! right after cam install i started car right up. started fine sounded good, no misses or any odd noises, besides the LOUD rockers. drove the car around the neighborhood and everything was perfect. well i figured the rockers were too loose so i decided to tighten them down with the car running. car started to run pretty bad, started to develop a miss. so i ended up stopping and decided to bring it to my mechanic thats within 2 min. driving distance. so i drove the car there. that was a few days ago. i talk to them today, and they are affraid to even let the car run. they think i have done some major damage just listening to the sounds. they said possibly bending my pushrods (which doesnt seem too bad) or maybe even screwed up a valve!! they have got me pretty worried now. im having the car pulled back to my house tom. what should i start to look for? im going to remove all the rockers and pushrods and see if any are bent. then i was just going to try and adjust the rockers again, this time just not going so tight. but im affraid of something being wrong otherwise which will get worse if i run the engine! can someone explain to me whats the worst that could have happened?! im lost! and depressed!

 

What lifters are you using? How far did you go past zero lash? It's obvious that you were going too far since it started to run bad as you tighted them. Rockers should be a little chatty anyway.

 

I wouldn't worry... There isnt much you could have done wrong. It sounds like you are having the same problem I had, originally ran fine etc and I had the cam dowel too long which broke a bearing in the opti! It caused misfiring, headers glowing etc and it could barely run. It sounds like you brought your car to the local gas station shop who knows nothing about head/cam cars. I was getting gas at my local shop and they heard me coming... They said they liked my car but they thought it didnt have any oil in it because it sounded "rough"! LOL

 

Hey it's Jeff. Man, I hope it all works out to be nothing but tight lifters. Did you get that pan gasket swapped out yet? I would also check plug wires to see if one got rested on a hot spot during the cam swap. It's either fuel, air, or fire. When I hear someone use the word "miss" I would look at fire first.

Rodrigues,
Who did you go with for a tune? Your mods are the same as what I am doing. Planning on PCMFORLESS, but haven't heard of anyone with this cam, ect.

See ya
Jeff D.

 

well i got to taking off the valve covers today. looks like 2 of the rocker bolts actually came off and were smashing against the valve covers! only 2 of the rockers seemed pretty tight. the rest actually had TONS of slack in them. only reason shop wouldnt work on the car is because they said it sounded like my valves hitting my pistons!

the shop told me to pull out and inspect all my pushrods. which i did. they all seem to be straight. i actually knocked a pushrod down into the intake by accident when removing a rocker! so i had to take off the manifold AGAIN!!

the shop also said to try and put the rockers back on and adjust them again and see if all the clacking and missing goes away. they say if it doesnt then to run a compression test to see if i damaged any valves!

poorman: whats going on?! looks like things arent going as smooth as i planned! i doubt i burned any plug wires yet. but that is something i will def. check out once i put the manifold back on!! UGH!!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by PoorMan
[B]
Rodrigues,
Who did you go with for a tune? Your mods are the same as what I am doing. Planning on PCMFORLESS, but haven't heard of anyone with this cam, ect.

i used bryan at PCMFORLESS.very pleased did a good job.

 

i had this problem on my truck actually. i put some scorpion billet roller tip rocker arms on the new 383 engine. one of the guys in my auto shop class thought he'd "help me out" my adjusting them all without rotating the engine each time. after installing the engine in my truck and starting for break in (i should have double checked the arms myself i know) i had lots of noise and it heated up way too fast. i redid every valve rotating the engine with the starter each time and going 1/4 turn past zero lash. started her up and she ran perfect. i really had to torque those lil allens in the center while holding the outer part with another wrench.

 

You had 2 rocker studs come out?? or just the nuts? never heard of that happening before.

Something is wrong. First you thought they were way tight then you got stuff falling out. Glad to hear the pushrods are OK. Seems pretty minor now.

Jeff D.

 

the funny thing that happens when a rocker nut falls off is your valve tends to close so no air gets in or no exhuast gets out depending on which one it was. this will naturally cause some congestion and the car wont run right. now i am far from a mechanic but even i know if a rockers gets loose, it will in no way cause a valve to get smashed by the pistons because the valve shuts instead of staying open in which case you would have some piston to valve contact. i think you need to find a new shop.

 

http://csce.uark.edu/~jgbertr/rb/4th...#adjust_valves

That is a great resource on how to properly adjust the rockers. Just so you know if you pull hte valve cover off some are going to be loose while others tight depending on where the engine is on it's stroke etc. To adjust them properly you need to do each cylinder at a time.

 

hey guys thanks for all the advice and the help! i just got home from work a few hours ago and now its 1am and i just finished adjusting all the valves again and putting everything back together on the car that i needed to.

i am going to start the car again tom. morning and pray for the best!! i really hope i didnt screw anything up! im even affraid to start the car! anything i should be aware of or look for? i just dont want to cause anymore damage than i already could have!