Uncle.... I'm in Lifter heck..

[john8662]

I'm thourally stumped and I need some advice. My R/W 86 6.2 is about to really aggravate me..

Not too long ago I started getting a cold start knock, sounded nasty and I thought that to be a failed lifter that didn't pump on on the exhaust side causing the noise. Well, it was. So I figured I'd put in a whole set of lifters (16).

I first tried the Melling branded lifters, installed them the weekend before last, they seemed to work great at first, but then I started getting a ticking at 1k RPM and above. I updated this tread with that info:

Failed Lifter noise, for those who know.. (http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=003535)

Anyways, I was quite disgusted in tearing it down again, I don't know if others have tried it, but it's a TON of work pulling lifters with the heads on. 7 out of 16 were not pumped up, so there was my ticking..

I since then devoted last weekend again (the whole weekend) to installing a second different brand set of lifters in the 86 6.2. I've got them installed now, and have driven the truck for about 50 miles. I'm starting to get the clatter again cold, similar to the flat Melling lifters before. Now, I'm starting to wonder if I've got a lifter problem at all, maybe something worse interternally cauing the lifters to not get sufficient oil to pump up, Spun cam bearing?

I'm at my wits end and am considering a Honda car at this point as I'm pretty dern close to walking right now..

Thanks for your help!

[ 05-16-2005, 08:42 AM: Message edited by: john8662 ]

[BobND]

Is the oil pressure good?

Any chance the pump could be sucking a bit of air... cracked pickup tube, etc?

In your experience, is it very common for a cam bearing to spin or fail? I've wondered about that.

[john8662]

Oil pressure appears to be good, on the factory gauge inside I've got 60psi cold idle, and about 65 @ 2k RPM. When the engine is up to full operating temperature, I've got 35 psi hot idle and 50 psi running down the highway. I've wonderd about the oil pickup, in that I might not be getting the volume of oil I'm supposed to get. I have replaced the oil pump during my other project, maybe I've got the pickup tilted too much down. But I would figure that my oil pressure would suffer.

I'm going to hook up my mechanical pressure gauge tonight and see what I've got on it.

Right now I'm thinking cracked block, or leaking oil gallery plug on the back of the engine. I do have a leak on the rear of the engine, I replace the rear main, but I think it's leaking, I'm going to pull the inspection cover tonight and look things over.

[john8662]

Took the time to do the mechanical oil pressure gauge test. What I found was what I expected. The inside guage was off 5psi, but the readings were pretty close. So good oil pressure so far. The lifters don't seem to be making as much noise now. I'm going to keep driving it for now (hard).

But from the way it runs, I'll be tearing down yet another engine, To get a look-see on whats going on.