Valve Rockers.. pushrods??

[pwjm]

**EDIT** Picture below!

 

*edit* for quick reference its an 87 EA81 motor in a GL/Chaser 4wd

 

my suby adventure started here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=94000

 

and more recently developed here: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=102672

 

Now presently after taking the engine out of the car and apart. Noticed one of the head bolts was finger tight and the one on the other side had vibrated itself off and into the oil pan! sweet!... so the coolant problem was indeed the Head gasket and not a cracked block. that's a good thing! Its all back together holding water and running now too.

 

Only one problem... Its making a seriously loud metal on metal sound on the driver side of the motor. my buddy is absolutely convinced its something to do with the rockers. When we took the engine apart we left as many pieces intact as possible to simplify things when putting it back together. We left the rocker assembly together and set it aside, then reinstalled it later all without checking the clearances or anything.

 

How likely is it that they became mis-adjusted somewhere in the process of removing and re-installing the heads?

 

any ideas on what went wrong? the motor wasn't this noisy at all when i parked it last year with the coolant pouring into the oilpan (headgasket issue)

Edited August 25, 2009 by pwjm

[GeneralDisorder]

The engine has hydraulic lifters and what you are hearing is probably one or two of them that have air in them. It also might need a valve adjustment - I suspect that because you mention head bolts working loose so it's probably been messed with in the past.

 

These engines have valve adjustment on the rockers because prior to 1985, most of them had solid lifters. There is still a procedure for adjusting the hydraulic engines, but it is NOT the same as the solid lifter engine's.

 

I don't have the procedure handy, but it's in the FSM if you have access to one. I might be able to scan it but not tonight.

 

GD

[pwjm]

If you could scan the FSM for that procedure that'd be awesome, all I can seem to find is EA82 Service manuals on the net.

 

Do you know if the engine will have to be pulled to do this procedure?

 

*Edit* - this FMS scan (http://mshoup.us/docs/fsm/EA81/83/Chapter03-Engine.pdf) says that there can be a clicking if there is air in the lifters. The noise I'm hearing is pretty loud. When they say Click I'm thinking about as loud as fingers snapping. I'm hearing more of a clapping volume of noise. It also says to run the engine for 10 to 20 minutes at 1500 rpm to solve the problem. If its not air in the lifters wouldn't this do severe damage to whatever else could be the problem?

Edited August 24, 2009 by pwjm

[pwjm]

It was the lifters. After visual inspections the rocker arms where all within spec. We let it run at a medium rpm for 5 minutes the problem cleared right up!

 

thanks for the help!

 

.... now its time to do my marshmallow soft breaks... hurry for rusted connectors!!!!

 

here's some pictures in case you're interested.

 

^^^ See how the middle nut is missing? yea.. it fell off somewhere along the line. I suspect it was the cause of the headgasket failure. There was on on the head below that was finger tight aswell.

 

my friend got bored and decided to have some fun painting a rising sun on my airbox cover.

Edited August 25, 2009 by pwjm

[GeneralDisorder]

Glad it cleared up for you - that often happens when you have the heads off. I wouldn't touch the adjustment being that it cleared itself up.

 

GD