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

[Mac Daddy]

Is it really that easy? I tried that when I only had 1 back rocker arm and couldn't get them off. I got as far as pulling the 1st arm off and that was it. I couldn't get the rest of it apart to get to one of the inner arms.

~Mark

Well IMO it isn't difficult..... I place the rocker arm assembly in my vise clamping the tight arm and using a lead hammer (or any other soft metal hammer) and blaster for lubrication, I tap the shaft through the rocker arm... The rocker arms are tight when you get to a place on the shaft that isn't worn by a rocker but they do come off.... Afterall they went on the shaft at one point so they will come off...

The biggest issue I find is all the cooked and baked on sludge that is stuck to the rocker arm shaft.... You have to get as much of that off as possible so the arms will not have that obstructing their removal. That is where the SeaFoam comes into play.... I've soaked the assembly in SeaFoam overnight to remove that baked on mess.... Thus far I have always been able to get the assemblies apart with little difficulty...

I hope this explains it better.

 

[Maniak]

Ahh.. so I just didn't use enough force.

Mine one bad rocker arm is on a new Rocker assembly that I screwed up one rocker arm on. I ended up just using my least bad rocker arm assembly (I had 5 at the time) on one side and my other "new" one on the other side when I rebuild the 4.0.

I'll attempt again to take apart the newer one and replace just the one rocker. Then, next time I change the plugs etc I'll go ahead and replace that rocker arm assembly and then I can forget about it.

~Mark

 

[Mac Daddy]

Ahh.. so I just didn't use enough force.

Mine one back rocker arm is on a new Rocker assembly that I screwed up one rocker arm on. I ended up just using my least bad rocker arm assembly (I had 5 at the time) on one side and my other "new" one on the other side when I rebuild the 4.0.

I'll attempt again to take apart the newer one and replace just the one rocker. Then, next time I change the plugs etc I'll go ahead and replace that rocker arm assembly and then I can forget about it.

~Mark

Gotcha, Yeah that's why I use a lead hammer.... I can hit it pretty hard without damaging anything but the lead hammer lol....

Good luck with it...it's really not that hard...

Jess

 

[ranger7ltr]

How many miles were on your re-build? How did the lifters look as opposed to the rocker arms? Yeah I could imagine having done all that work and having to wait for noisy lifters to pump up with oil!

The original engine had 161000 on it and I would still be using it if I didn't pull the heads and see the cylinder walls being chewed up...The lifters, rockers, and pushrods were definitely worn on the top end of each and they were not going to be reused in my engine...

The replacement parts[Lifters, rocker arm assemblies, and pushrods] had no miles on them...I did the lifter in the oil bath pumpup and I STILL had to run the engine for a few minutes before the engines oil pressure @ 70 psi completely filled the lifters...

When the lifters filled with oil the engine was quiet and has run quite well in the first 8k miles...

 

[Xeek]

i actually like the sound a little bit. when accelerating just right it sounds like a diesel almost. (i like the sound of a good diesel engine)
all i need is a turbo whistler on my exhaust tip and hold the gas at that perfect spot and maybe i could fool people into it being a diesel lol

 

[Daniel77]

rocker assembly replacment

Hello everyone ,Its been a while since I ve been here .
I put a junk yard engine in my wifes 1994 limited explorer
2yrs ago . It recently started ticking . I found rebuilt rockers
and push rods . It has a small oil leak I cant find . I am going
To pull the engine back out and replace the oil pan gasket ,
rear seal . I will check the oil pump while I m at it . The oil gauge is a little under half way . Its a hell of a good running engine . Took a 250 mile trip
and only used a tank of gas . Suprised the heck out of both of us .
I am going to do the rocker change after I get the engine out .

 

[Daniel77]

lifter ticking

I have a 94 explorer limited . I had to replace the engine because the dumb ass I bought it from was a wanna be mechanic and screwed the engine up .
The engine I put in it was from a 93 explorer . I had to use my upper intake
because mine has egr .
The engine ticked from the getgo . It got worse . I also had a small oil leak I could not find . I recently pulled the engine back out to replace all the gaskets an rear seal and oil pump . I am also going to replace the rockers .
Pulling the rockers off I found that all the push rods on top are all mushroomed and out of round . Seems like they were'nt getting no oil .
I pulled the lifters and they all look fine as dose the cam . I have never seen a Ford cam go bad .
Iam looking to replace the lifters Too since Ive gone this deep in the engine
but $400 + for a set of lifters is pretty high .
From every one Ive talked to all 4.0 engines do this .[tick ] The push rods and rockers are made of soft metal . I am going to order my new rockers from delta cam Monday . Does any one know if they come with push rods ?
I will keep in touch How my project goes .

 

[wood1]

Yes, push rods incl. Some people do not think Delta has a good product, jd4242 broke a rocker IIRC. I installed the kit from Delta about 6 weeks ago and everything is good so far. I pulled my lifers and cleaned them up a bit but they are not easy to clean internally so I really don't think I made any difference that way. My old push rods were pretty worn on the tips and I had the tick. It's gone now, runs nice and quiet.

One note, when you are torquing the assembly down watch that you make sure there is enough room between the heads and the push rods. Mine were close and I had to shift things around a little. Mind you, that may have been due to the aftermarket heads I installed.

 

[Daniel77]

lifter tick-tick -tick

Just got done with wifes explorer . Pulled engine .Replaced oil pump ,rear seal ,
The tick-tick-tick was driving both of us crazy . Got new lifters ,push rods,
Rockers from Delta cam shaft . Oiled every thing up really good . NO TICKING .
My wife was so happy to have her exp back . It even has more ass to it . This is easy job to do . Thanks to every one on here


Daniel 77

 

[coopa]

Maniak, It's an ancient thread (2008) but your explanation of being able to repair the valve clatter on an OHV Ranger (mine is a 99) is interesting. A year ago I replaced both heads and this year the lower intake manifold gasket hemmorhaged, I've repaired it but this time while I had it apart I noticed an extreme gap on one of the valves (collapsed lifter suspected) but I wonder if there would be any benefit to just doing the rocker arms and push rods??? I'm closing in on 70 and the idea of pulling the heads again is disarming to say the least. Your explanation is tops.