The infamous OHV 4.0 rattle, tap, tap, is indeed the lifters!

Kyle0614 · January 18, 2008

hi all just letting everyone know that i took my truck to the mechanic today and the infamous rattle tap tap top engine noise is indeed the lifters..

i'm going to be replacing my lifters, rocker arms, and pushrods whenever i gather up some moohah...

anyways hopes this helps all the OHV's on this site...

Happy Explorations!

and BTW Happy New Year 2008'

BTW ...if any of you know how to change these items...all info/detailed work involved is much appreciated

i'm only basic tool knowledge/how to so SLOW english please lol

have a good day...Kyle

drake437 · January 18, 2008

Kyle,

First of all, upper valve train noise does not necessarily mean a problem exists. My 1992 ohv (in the 10 years I owned it) had EXTREME use…. Because of work it would idle 2-3 days at a time, averaging this type of service every two weeks. I can guarantee the amount of engine hours this vehicle saw will rival >500k miles of driving. The valve train was “noisy” but from what I witnessed this is inherent to the engine. My motor never burned oil or had any leaks. I would suggest getting a second opinion. Hydraulic lifters are by nature “noisy”.
Good luck. The ohv is one extremely tough and long lasting engine.

Drake

Willard · January 19, 2008

The tap usually does mean worn lifters, but it's not a huge deal. Mine has done it for a couple years, hasn't gotten worse, doesn't make a difference on anything. Just annoying, that's all. Say, I gotta ask, why did you have to idle for 2-3 days at a time for?

hunterdan · January 19, 2008

I was able to quiet mine down using 5w-20 synthetic oil. So far its been about 2000 miles since the oil change and its still quiet.

Dan

drake437 · January 19, 2008

devilboy222 said:
The tap usually does mean worn lifters, but it's not a huge deal. Mine has done it for a couple years, hasn't gotten worse, doesn't make a difference on anything. Just annoying, that's all. Say, I gotta ask, why did you have to idle for 2-3 days at a time for?

Agreed lifter noise is normal. Geologist…when out on the drilling rig, my truck is my home (I sleep in it) and it NEVER shuts off, winter, summer it does not matter. It is common practice and FORDS rule the American oil field…..period :us:

Willard · January 19, 2008

drake437 said:
Agreed lifter noise is normal. Geologist…when out on the drilling rig, my truck is my home (I sleep in it) and it NEVER shuts off, winter, summer it does not matter. It is common practice and FORDS rule the American oil field…..period

Man that's gotta be rough on the gas bill

drake437 · January 19, 2008

Yes, but actually a day worth of idling will burn about a ¼+- tank of gas. Plus I’m not paying for it.

Willard · January 19, 2008

drake437 said:
Yes, but actually a day worth of idling will burn about a ¼+- tank of gas. Plus I’m not paying for it.

Not as bad as I thought it would have been, helps when your not paying though.

Alright, I'm done

[/hijack]

Kyle0614 · January 19, 2008

ok let me be more elaborate, 95.9% of the time it's usually going to be worn lifters...

is this just and can this cause un-angled incorrect arms and a couple of bent pushrods?? i'm going to replace all three hoping this sound will just dissapear lol it is really driving me bonkers but got to get some moohah first

found a rebuilt set of lifters on ebay for $90 dang thats good deal but i have no cash to spend shucks

Dre · January 19, 2008

when I bought my Limited, well, about 9 or 10 years ago lifters made noise - I took it to the dealer and they told me it's OK - some trucks will do that... so I kept on driving and now after 100,000 miles it still makes that same noise - lifters tap tap... especially when cold.

some things we just have to get used to...

Maniak · January 19, 2008

After looking at two motors that I've taken apart recently I have noticed that the rocker arms seem to take the most abuse, not the lifters. I re-used the lifters from my old motor (355k+ miles) and put on new rocker arm assemblies and pushrods from DeltaCam.

I also looked at a lower mileage motor (< 150k miles) and it also had wear on the rocker arms. It seems the tips of the rocker arms wear (push in) which increases the clearance.

I'd start with replacing just the rocker arm assemblies and pushrods before going after the lifters as they can be done with just removing the valve covers. To remove the lifters you have to pull the heads which is quite a bit more work..

I have a few rocker arm assemblies (at least for another couple days) from high mileage, medium mileage and very low mileage (but installed on a bad head) that I can take pics of it you need them.

~Mark

Kyle0614 · January 19, 2008

oh wow just the person i was looking for

could you by any chance explain in detail what is involved with installing the lifters, rocker arms and push rods

thank you.......Maniak

Maniak · January 20, 2008

The rocker arm assembly and pushrods are easy to do.. You only need to remove the valve covers to get to them. On the 1st gen X you need to remove the coil pack to get the passenger side valve cover off.

Once the covers are off there are 3 bolts that hold on the rocker arm assemblies.. Just take them off and once off pull out the push rods..

there really ins't anything special for removing the pushrods/rocker arms..

When installing the rocker arms it is a little tricky getting all the pushrods in the little cups of the rock arm assembly but once you have them all on you torque down the rocker arm assembly bolts to about 50ft lbs BUT DO IT IN PHASES... e.g. 15lbs on all 3, then 25lbs etc..

Now the lifters are another story.. To do this just following the instructions for pulling the heads.. Once the heads are off you can just lift out the lifters.. Its not a "hard" job to do, but you are pulling off the plenum, fuel rail, lower intake, a/c bracket, alternator + bracket and some other parts.. I've done it a few times and it takes me almost 3 hours to pull the heads. Keep in mind, I'm in Arizona and don't have inner fenderwells so pulling the exhaust from the heads is easy for me to do.. If they have never been pulled OR your in the rust belt, its gonna take longer..

Lemme know if you need any other info

~Mark

Gator Jeff · January 20, 2008

drake437 said:
Yes, but actually a day worth of idling will burn about a ¼+- tank of gas. Plus I’m not paying for it.

Good to know. I help run adventure races and if I'm manning an overnight checkpoint when it's really cold or really hot, I like to idle the whole time, too. I've done this at rest stops as well when I'm driving late at night and just need to catch an hour or two of sleep.

kturnerga · December 17, 2008

My 2000 Explorer OHV engine rattles but under the bottom passenger side the noise is most prevalent. I have an itchy feeling it's something else besides the rockers, etc.

Ideas are welcome. I WISH mine were rockers but I don't think I'll get that lucky.
KT

Cobraguy · December 18, 2008

Wow...reviving the dead! But if the noise is on the bottom of the engine, it's not valve train noise. Anything in the crankcase making noise is not a good thing...

adambodkins · December 19, 2008

mine makes a tap tap noise on start up sometimes as well mainly on colder days and is coming from the bottom passenger side. But it goes away once the engine warms up and wont do again until it had sat over night and cooled all the way down. Still don't know what is going on.

35Remmy · December 19, 2008

It's not hurting ANYTHING...my 2.9L 1988 Ranger tapped like a SOB for 100,000 miles (and it went for 273,000 miles).

My 1994 Jeep Wrangler 2.5L tapped for 70,000 miles.

Easy fix, though, if you don't want to hear it.

There's a company (?) that manufactures heat-treated pushrods (at the tips)...much more durable...the Cologne V-6's have ALWAYS had poor oiling at the tips of the pushrods, wearing them out prematurely.

Anime · December 19, 2008

I've wanted the pushrods with heat-treated tips for a long time, might go ahead and do it if the rockers and pushrods can be replaced just by pulling the valve covers. Not so much for the noise as for performance. Pretty sure the deformed tips on the rods and the wear on the rockers result in the valves not opening as much as they could.

35Remmy · December 19, 2008

Anime, I would imagine there's a lot of truth to that...the heat-treated pushrods aren't that costly, either.

The infamous OHV 4.0 rattle, tap, tap, is indeed the lifters!

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