VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1958-1960 valve question

when i first start my car the valves are real loud just like a singer sewing machine lol,, after a few miles of running they are fine normal ,, what the deal do i need to adjust them ??? or do you think i have a oil port clogged not letting enough oil to them,, i know when it was new they didnt do that ,,
what do you guys think ??

thanks

I could think better if I knew what engine and transmission you have.

sorry 235

If it is a 235 from a car with a stick or a truck it will have solid lifters. They may meed adjusting OR the oil supply to the rocker arms may be restricted. Removing the rocker arm cover and seeing if oil is being delivered to the rockers will be easy to do.
If the engine is from a car iwith Power Glide the engine will have hydraulic lifters. Tey generally will not require adjusting but rocker arms could be running dry.
Remving the head and cleaning out the oil passages is usually the the only way to get the oil flowing.

its from a car with auto power glide ,, is there a number i can check to see if they are hyd or solid ???

thanks

the shop manual says that it has hyd lifters ,if thats the case i can get a set and change them or just adjust them ,, i say i have a bad lifter,,, either way its good to know that they are hyd

thanks

The rocker arms still may be running dry. The cover is easy to remove for inspection.

Does anyone know were i can get a set of hyd lifters,, i checked most of th places i know ,i think if they are OEM they have to be worn

Thanks

It's not just a question of where to purchase lifters. Over many thousands of miles the lifter 'seats' against the camshaft lobe with a conical wear pattern. A new lifter used on an old cam may severely wear the lobe so the valve won't open as far. I have had that happen several times in my 50 years maintaining cars. You might get away with it --- or not.
Reground cams and new lifters are available from vintage Chevy parts suppliers and usually by ordering through local parts places, O'reillys, Bumper to Bumper, etc.
DFC

Ok i see, i will remove the valve cover and look to see ,,,should there be oil there right away ,,i need to check for slack also to right,,at any time they should not real loose right?

are the lifters rebuildable ???

Well i took the valve cover off and everything looks ok oil was getting everywere, there is a tube thats comes up in the middle and bends over , dont know what it does, but anyway i am going to remove all the plugs and start the adjusting process and go from there ,i,ll let you guys know

Thanks

i checked all the adjustment and they seemed lose so i adjusted them ,, but after starting the engine still had the sound , and i started it with out the cover and didnt see alot of oil then after about 5 min or so ( longer ) i saw a little oil coming out the small holes on top of rocker arm still not like i thought , i thought it would be everywhere,, so i have other problems no i guess ,, so what do i do without pulling the head ????

please help guys

here is a pic after about 10 mins running
https://picasaweb.google.com/111870...v1sRgCOiR2v3By_PrvAE#5755789610784176594

lilrobo, you probably need to give us readers more info before expecting solutions or before you tearing the motor apart. What year is the car,how many miles might be on the motor, is there an oil psi gauge and what readings with cold and hot motor at idle,what weight oil is in the motor,is there 'blowby' (oil mist) coming out of the oil fill hole at hot idle ? You originally said the noise went away after a few minutes of engine running- a well worn motor can have low oil pressure/ volume to the lifters and it takes awhile for the lifters to pump up and quiet down. If its only several noisy lifters that can be dealt with by removing the lifter gallery side cover and removing them all for examination. If their all clacking then a plugged up oil intake screen , worn oil pump or resrictions in the oil passage to the lifters is more likely.Your picture seemed to show plenty of oil for the rocker arms, it does'nt require alot there.
All sorts of pssibilities, give folks more info.
DFC

sorry i thought i mention that stuff ,,,its a
1958 biscayne with auto it show about 47k miles don't know about turned over or not , no oil pressure gauge ,,don't see any blow by ,, i adjusted the valves 2 times , yes on cold start up they are still loud not as before but loud ,,,i was thinking there should be more oil there than that, their was only a small stream coming from that spout , and it came and went,, i could have a clogged screen on the bottom of pump??? i removed the oil sending unit and ran the car and had alot of oil come out way more there than the top side , i was going to remove the sending unit and install a gauge there temporary to check the pressure

sorry about that you guys have been a great help
thanks

update i just checked the oil psi i have 40 ,,i feel better i think ..., i think i have a clog from bottom to to ??? the oil i used is our farm oil ( 15w40 full syn ) seems like i had more at the top than before now i have a steady stream from that tube , but just a little from the weep hole

thanks again

lilrobo, if you checked the pressure with a gauge plugged into where the sending unit sits and got 40 psi (hot or cold ?) it suggests that the oil pump is fine and the main/rod bearings are being lubed okay. 15w-40 syn would be a little heavy for cold weather but with summer temps thats okay.Not knowing the history of the motor it could be that someone ran non-detergent oil for a long time and created alot of crud in the oil passages. Now along comes you with a high additive syn oil which can loosen the crud. Since there is only a bypass oil filter most of the crud stays in circulation and guess where it's most likely to accumulate? Hydraulic lifters. Pulling the lifters, disassembling and cleaning to remove varnish and crud is a pretty laborious process.Many of us have done but found that some where too badly worn with weak springs so they still were not quiet. Tough decision. If it were me I would drain that oil, replace the filter put in 5w-30 and drive it for a few weeks to see if they quiet down. New lifters, a reground cam, gaskets- several hundred $ and a lot of work. It's your call. Good luck.
DFC

Is there a filter? And would it be a good idea to pull the rocker [bleeped]. And try to clean the passage that runs from the bottom?. Seems like i should have more oil at the rockers ,, i dont mind changing the oil more often its free for me. Now would be worth wild to remove the rocker arm [bleeped]. Run some diesel through and let it run through and drianit and run new oil ? Or just run this oil for a few days and drain like do several oil drains i might lose some slug that way

Thanks so much for yhe help i realy need it

How did you adjust your hydraulic lifters?
With existing lifters the engine must be run to warm up the oil. The WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING start at the front. Loosen adjusting screw untill there is a clicking noise. then slowly tighten till noise goes away. The very slowly tigten down another 3/4 turn. Engine may miss a little till the lifter exxhausts some oil but should and must smooth out. then work your way back doing all the same way. doing the above will put the piston inside of the lifter in the center of its travel.

I did them with motor hot and off started with #1 TDC and went in fireing order,,this morning i did a cold start and seems like it was quiter and got a little more oil up top sooner than i did before , but it also seemed to get a little louder as it warmed up,, could be the oil getting thinner too ,,, i was thinking about running this weeknd and doing another oil change and going back with 30w?? Still dont know were i should take the rocker [bleeped] off and clean that passage before i button it all up??
Do you think the 15w 40 fully syn oil is ok to run full time ?..its a real good oil from shaffer,, we use it all our farm cars and trucks all years......

Thanks

You can't get an accurate adjustment on hydraulic lifters without the engine running and hot. It is too easy to collapse them if they have a bit of wear and then have them too tight when engine is running. Or to not get them tight enough.

Leave the 15W-40 oil in the engine. The full pressure engines can handle that in hot weather.
As long as you can see some oil dripping from the rocker arms leave well enough alone. The fresh oil may clean things out a little and don't worry about not having an oil filter.

ok great .. i was worried about that i do see a little oil dripping from the rockers,, i'll run it for a week or so and change it again...i might try to adjust them a little while running

thanks again

well got it all buttoned up did a test drive ,, everything seems good , i got back home and saw a little blow by coming from the oil fill spout ,,,i know on my son 65 mustang with a 289 we had some too , we use a wrist ban to help filter it lol .. so i am going to drive it this week end and see how it goes and might do another oil change mon ,,,, so thanks to everyone who has helped me i really needed it

thanks