95BlackTA

I posted a few days ago about this as im sure some of you will remember...On the number 5 cylinder, one of the pushrods came off the rockerarm..but the rockerarm is tightened down, so i guess it came off the lifter inside the engine. Pushrod isnt bent at all, straight as an arrow. It came off the rockerarm thats closest to the firewall(there is ofcrouse 2 per each cylinder, one intake I think, cant remember what the other one is(exhaust?)).

ANyways, what in the hell would cause this on a 95 TA with 63k miles....with only bolt ons, no internal work...Mobil 1 used almost all its life, changed at most every 3000 miles.

Could like a bad injector cause this...like it was missing and shaking alot when stumbling.

Sorry if this is a stupid question..everytime I read a post in here I learn a lil more......thanks for any help guys!

1994CamaroZ28

Sounds like you had a loose rocker arm to me.

turbo_Z

collapsed lifter probably. have you put it back together yet? id just set the pushrod back in and then reset the valve lash and see if it happens again.

the same thing happened to my car soon after a installed roller rockers. the rocker arm nut didnt back off but it was no longer tight against the pushrod so i assumed the lifter was screwed. after just setting the pushrod back in and then resetting the lash... i never had it happen again.

95BlackTA

All I did was take off the valve cover. The rockerarm nut is on there tight, but it is ofcourse loose now that the pushrod isnt pushing against it. I didnt take apart the engine yet, so I was assuming a collapsed lifter liek ppl on here told me.

Im towing my car down to ocala next weekend to have a guy install my hotcam kit for me...so he'll have it all taken apart(since he has a lift and knows what he's doing)..I dont have all the tools to install one, so im not gonna bother taking it apart now. Ill just wait a week and see what he says.

I was just wondering if there would be any correlation between this and the hesitation I was having.

Thanks for the replies!

Chris'SS #2152

Well if it was a llifter that went bad, which happened to me and then all the others went out soon after, then replace the lifters which you should be doing with a cam install I hope if not you'll be doing it soon after even with a hot cam.

just because you think the nut was tight doesn't rule that nut came loose, which if your installing the hot cam kit you'll be replaceing the rocker arm with new nuts anyway. The stock nuts on mine wore out from pulling them off a lot and it's just something that happens....they are really cheap anyways.

I would see if he can scan the car and check the opti because that's what goes out on most cars that have hesitation.

95BlackTA

Ok. So it could still be a loose rocker arm.

Well I just loosened up the rocker arm and put the pushrod back into it. Should I risk putting the pushrod back in it right(without having the engine apart), and then putting the rockerarm back on it and tightening it down. Then trying to start the car to see if that helped? IM guessing No, since if its a collapsed lifter, I have no idea what I put the pushrod back on.

95BlackTA

Should I just replace them with stock lifters, or get better ones?

95BlackTA

TTT

Will it hurt anything if I put the pushrod back on the lifter(if its collapsed), and tighten down the rocker arm and start the car? I tried this, but it seemed like it was sitting higher than all the other rocker arms.

turbo_Z

just set the pushrod back on the lifter... tighten down the rocker arm nut just so its kinda snug. what you want is to not tighten it too tight. next fire up the car with the valve cover off so you can get to that rocker arm nut b/c it should still be loose. just listen real close for that rocker to make a clack clack clack sound.. if its not already making a lot of noise then back it off till it does. now what you want to do is find zero lash.. this is the moment where the rocker arm stop clacking loudly. once that is established you will want to finish off with another 1/2 turn so the nut stays on.

95BlackTA

aight ill give that a try. I noticed that all the other rocker arms were tight enough not to really move, but if you pushed them, they would move just enough to the side...barely, but still moved a lil..I guess thats what you want?

turbo_Z

when the motor is running those lifters will be pumped full of oil which is supposed to take up all that valvetrain slack. when its not running all the oil drains out which is why they might feel a little loose. also, some of the rockers will be tighter than others b/c of where they are in the combustion process... might be at the end of the intake stroke so theres a load on that valve spring making the rocker feel real tight.

95BlackTA

Well..I just TRIED to do what you told me to...tightened it down...went to start the motor, and all it did was click a bunch of times right at first, and then stopped trying to crank it all together..also a bunch of lights on the gauge flickered on and off.

So i went back to the rocker arm, and it was a bit loose..tightened it up...tried it again and same results. Did this three times, and the third time the rocker arm didnt loosen up any..stayed on there tight.

What the heck does that mean?

turbo_Z

youll have to jumpstart your car... sounds like a low battery now.

95BlackTA

Ill hook up the charger and see what its says, but that wouldnt make sense...cause i was on vacation for 7 days last month, came home and it started right up...and its only been sitting since saturday(3 days)....

oh well, ill try that

95BlackTA

OK charged the battery and started the car.

It started clicking for a few seconds and then stopped...i think the rocker arm might be on a lil too tight? should I loosen it so it keeps clicking, and as its clicking while the motor is running, tighten it till it stops you say?