Somewhat noisy valvetrain

[racer_x_one]

So I was thinking about changing the lifters and pushrods on my Ex as a PM, but wanted some more educated opinions.
I have a stock 94 Ex with 240k. Lately the valvetrain has been noisier (off and on) than usual considering the milage.
Should I go ahead and replace them before a lifter collapses, or what ever or just let it go? If I do is there anything else I should do/look for while Im in there?
Any advice would be great. Thanks

 

[RedneckRambo]

is it noisy on acceleration or just cruising speed?

 

[Roadrunner777]

I read somewhere the stock pushrods are a little dicey, if you do it, get the good stuff!!!

 

[CumminsCowboyNE]

how is your oil pressure? with 240k on your motor (provided you still on the factory motor) I'd want to make sure the valve train isn't the only thing that needs attention. In my experience I've seen alot of factory ford guages to be "foolishly optomistic" reading there is good oil pressure even when there isn't. maybe try hooking up a mechaincal guage temporaraly to get a good reading. On first startup is it noisy till the oil pressure comes up. is it noisy after oil press. is up? how long on startup does it take to get full oil pressure. After the motor is warmed up does the oil pressure drop alot. All this is precursor to a motor that is getting tired your bearings in the bottom end could be letting too much oil past starving your top end of oil causing the chatter. Well let us know more and good luck.

 

[FIND]

OP, if you give more information, we can give you better advice

how is your oil pressure? with 240k on your motor (provided you still on the factory motor) I'd want to make sure the valve train isn't the only thing that needs attention. In my experience I've seen alot of factory ford guages to be "foolishly optomistic" reading there is good oil pressure even when there isn't. maybe try hooking up a mechaincal guage temporaraly to get a good reading. On first startup is it noisy till the oil pressure comes up. is it noisy after oil press. is up? how long on startup does it take to get full oil pressure. After the motor is warmed up does the oil pressure drop alot. All this is precursor to a motor that is getting tired your bearings in the bottom end could be letting too much oil past starving your top end of oil causing the chatter. Well let us know more and good luck.

Factory oil gauges on an explorer are actually just an idiot light. They read ~middle pressure at all times oil pressure is above 6psi. That's why your gauge doesn't move when you rev the engine. Nothing wrong with what you said, just letting you know.

 

[racer_x_one]

Thanks for the replies guys. The times that it does deside to be noisy its noisy the whole time its running. Most of the time I can stop it and restart it at a red light or stop sign and it goes away. It is the factory motor with nothing major replaced. Im not sure of the oil pressure, I will get a mechanical gauge and check it out. Also I use 10W40 oil. Is that acceptable, or should I be using a different weight?

 

[CumminsCowboyNE]

This tells you how long it's been since I've driven my exploder. I thought it had an oil guage and not an idiot light. maybe try running a thicker oil in it like 15-40. it may help not "run through" the engine so fast and get some oil to the top. I run 15-40 in all my vehicles.

 

[safn1949]

It does have a gauge but as find said,it's just an indicator of your oil pressure,it's not really accurate.

 

[FIND]

It does have a gauge on the dash, but that gauge just pegs up around the middle (the same place regardless of oil pressure) any time you have oil pressure above something like 6psi. Basically the gauge functions like an idiot light. On a normal car without an oil gauge, the light comes on if the oil pressure drops below a certain threshold. On an explorer, you show good oil pressure as long as the oil pressure is above a certain threshold. It is not that it is not really accurate, it is that it basically means nothing at all.

 

[Roadrunner777]

Have you changed oil and filter since you started hearing this? Also, for the engine nuts, does this engine have an oil pressure relief valve?