Rocker arm/pushrod replacement procedure

[RobertFord]

All,

I'll be replacing my rocker arms and pushrods tomorrow in an effort to get rid of the nasty rattle my X has developed in its 4.0 OHV. Now, I know the lifters might be the actual cause of the rattle, but as those parts are already expensive in the US and even more so in the Netherlands, I'd rather have a look and see if and what lifters might need replacement before splurging on that.

Now, I have bought the following parts:

- FelPro permadry gaskets for the valve cover and upper intake manifold
- 12x rocker arm
- 12x push rod (standard size)

I intend on going by the following procedure:

Before: put new rocker arms and pushrods in ATF for the night

1. Disconnect any lines, marking them where they got from (A/C is already removed so no need to worry about that)
2. Drain radiator a bit
3. Remove upper intake manifold and then valve covers, inspect current state of rocker arms
4. Remove rocker arm assembly and push rods from side #1
5a. Strip rocker arm assembly of old parts
5b. Clean all pars that will be reused with brake cleaner/bit of sanding paper/cloths
5c. Reassemble rocker arm assembly
6. Remove old gasket materials, clean up anything that can be cleaned up
7. reinstall rocker arm assembly, make sure everything seems right when compared to other side.
8. Repeat for other side
9. Tighten lower intake manifold bolts
10. Install new valve cover gaskets (applying some RTV here and there, I believe there's an instruction coming with the gaskets)
11. Install valve covers
12. Install upper intake manifold
13. Reconnect all the lines
14. Pray it works

Did I miss anything here? Any other tips / tricks that might help reduce the chance of failure?

 

[Anime]

Rattle is the rockers, the lifters seem to give more of a ticking sound.

Once you have the rockers off the shaft, you want to inspect the shaft for wear since you'll be re-using it. Some marks and scratches are ok, but if the shaft is gouged really deep. you'll want to buy new rocker arm shafts to go with the rocker arms. Hopefully you can just re-use the stockers.

Be sure to torque all the bolts to spec, especially the bolts holding down the rocker assembly, and of course the lower intake bolts and valve cover bolts too. Do not overtighten the valve cover bolts, that distorts the covers, and causes leaks.

 

[RobertFord]

Thanks! I couldn't get the valve cover off. the only bolt I couldn't get loose was the wan nearest the firewall. As I only had metric sized sockets, which work on nearly all bolts, I figured I needed a us-sized one, which I bought, but haven't come around to trying it again... Did get to tighten the lower intake manifold to spec, which was quite necessary as they all needed about 1/2 to 3/4th of a turn..

 

[RobertFord]

Well, after reading this forum some more it seems the valve cover bolts are indeed 10mm, which sucks as that was the size I was using. I have purchased a 3/8ths socket, see if I can force that one on there and get it loose.

Could I use penetrating oil or something like that to ease it up a bit?

 

[wood1]

The whole motor is metric, designed and built in Germany.

Penetrating oil isn't going to help with the valve cover bolts I don't think. If the smaller socket won't quite go on the head you may have to tap it on with a hammer. Once you break the torque tap the sides of the socket and rock it to remove it and the bolt will thread out easily. If you wait until you completely remove the bolt with the socket it will be a pain to remove. Get yourself new bolts.

When you remove the bolts that hold down the rocker assembly make sure you loosen the bolts a little at a time so the tube doesn't get bent.

Might have been a good idea to get new lower intake gaskets if you went this far. Hopefully retorquing the LIM will last you. Should cure any oil/coolant consumption issues you may have been having.

Good luck!