adjusting rocker arms/lifter help

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by knightowl73

ok it s doing this still with a brand new flex fan and spacer, the fan is correct rotation, and oil pressure is about 30psi at idle, maybe 40psi when revved. brand new 180 degree thermostat too. so a 88-94 waterpump will not bolt up to the stock older pulley? i was hoping to be going in the right direction but i guess i can rule that out.

My old 88 Suburban had a standard rotation water pump on it with a combination V-belt and ribbed belt accessory system so it is possible you have a standard rotation pump even being listed for an 88 vintage truck.

If your V-belt pulley fits over the fan studs on the water pump then the water pump is spinning the right direction unless somebody re-drilled the pulley or it has multiple bolt hole patterns on it.

Do you have a fan shroud on there?

How close is the fan to the radiator?

A flex fan is a huge waste of efficiency but should still cool the engine fine as long as you have a shroud and the blades are long enough to not leave a bunch of room between the ends of the blades and the fan shroud edge.

[69BBsuburban]

Originally Posted by knightowl73

hei advance kit maybe help if it drops my total timing some so i can go back to 8 degrees o rmaybe even 6? figured that would make the clatter come back tho.

No...the less timing you have, the less chance of detonation...which is what it sounds like is happening....
Turn the dizzy clockwise...retarding the timing and drive it. Leave it loose enough that it can still be turned by hand with some force. That way you can pull over and readjust.

[knightowl73]

fan shroud is a good one, no holes or anything, and the flex fan is in the same position about halfway out of the shroud. only about 1 1/2" max in between the blade and shroud.

and i did turn the dizzy clockwise when i moved it just barely, drives better, runs hot faster though. thats what im sayng.

[knightowl73]

just took it for a test spin, and ive lost all my power going clockwise that tad lil bit.

[69BBsuburban]

But was the ticking sound gone? Wasn't that the original "problem"?
Sounds like you have muliple "issues" with this engine....hard to diagnois a problem over the internet...lol.

[knightowl73]

yeah i agree. you guys need to be in my driveway with my complimentary case of beer

but i took my timing all the way to 6 degrees to start back off, because i had got way out tryng to "twist then drive." Still tries to run hot, but hardly. barely reaches the orange occasionally. clacking is almost all gone also, and im afraid to drop it to 4 degrees, so i think ill leave it at 6 and in the next few weeks ill change my oil to straight 30w. my dad originally said that he thought that the clacking was my lifters being weak and not pumpng up. sounded logical then, and wouldnt hurt now. but just changed my oil 2 weeks ago so ill wait a bit.
thanks for the help, i think without gong into the egine this is the best i can do. once i get my carb to idle right, should be good enough for me for now.

[leegrady]

Been following along with the thread, just wanted you to know that as I go through my day I often turn over in my head the problems you describe, and ways I might help. Like someone wrote, "it's hard to know when you're not there with the truck".

I agree with 69BBsuburban, if you advance your timing too much it will detonate at higher speeds. (You will notice too that the more you advance the base timing the harder the starter motor works to turn the engine over.) Low-end performance will drop when you retard the base timing to 6 degrees, but you should feel it perform better as you drive the truck on the highway, esp. when you go up hills.

As far as the overheating problem is concerned do a coolant pressure test. If you don't have a radiator pressure tester, then when It's hot, and under pressure make sure there are no leaks anywhere no matter how small and insignificant they my seem. Check all clamps, fittings, heater core, cap, and expansion (freeze) plugs. Remember there are two expansion plugs in the back of the engine inside the bell housing. Is there any steam coming out of the tail pipe that is not attributed to condensation?

I doubt very much if changing to 30 weight oil will make much difference. 10w30 will cool engine parts just as effectively. The main difference, other than the obvious, is that 30 has none of the additives in it that allow the multi-grade oils to change viscosity, allowing more pure lubricating abilities.

Keep at it you've got moral support.

[knightowl73]

thanks for the info leegrady

the only thing missing is the overflow tank, but i have yet to see any water come from that tube. my original one was cracked and wouldnt hold water, but i will get one asap. ddnt think it would matter since when i check the rad its full and i never see the hose to the overflow dripping or anythng around it wet ever. i havent replaced the heater core yet so those hoses are just tied together. havent noticed any water leaks any place. i will have to check about the steam tho, as far as i know the only thing with the tailpipes are that one never seems to be pushng exhaust out like the other one does, and they are true duals,, but i never worried about t, figured i was just tripping.

as far as the thicker oil, i was not dong this for the temp really, mostly to try and rid of any clatter it still has, just barely has any at 6 tho when its cold. after it warms up tho, the rpm band for the clacking does move down some, i mean its more noticable. thicker oil was just to try and make sure the lifters pump up.

seriously believe id have to tear it down, get a valve job, new cam, new lifters, and new rocker arm nuts to fix the truck but that wont happen. id rather sell this truck after a new paintjob and use the money to fix my other shortbed.

anyways thanks for the help guys, i havent a clue whats "really " going on in my engine, but it s driveable so its not somethng too major right?

[leegrady]

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned the thermostat so, if you haven't done so already make sure that the one in service is not slow to open, or only open partly. You can drop it in a pot of hot water to visual see proper function. Remember too that the thermostat slows down the coolant going through the radiator to give the radiator time to exchange the heat from the coolant to the ambient air temp. I use to live in Hawaii, and cold weather starts there are not much of a problem so I would sometimes gut the thermostat but never completely remove it.

And now a word on camshafts. First I always dial in my cams. I want to make sure it is right on the money.

Many cam manufactures build in a certain amount of advance when grinding the camshaft. For example: a cam with a recommended intake centerline of 108 degrees, while the lobe separation angle (LSA) is 110 degrees, will have an actual two degrees of advance built in. LSA is the spread in cam defrees between the intake and exhaust centerlines. The area inbetween these two centerlines is overlap, i.e. when both valves are open at the same time.

A cam ground with zero advance will have an intake centerline equal to its LSA.

Going back to the example I mentioned above: the intake centerline is 108 degrees. The exhaust centerline is 112 degree, for a LSA of 110 degrees.
108+112=220/2=110 degrees LSA

In most street applications where there is built in advance any more advance from the zero baseline will probably not improve overall power. I referring to installment of the cam, and lining up the sprockets. But, always check with manufacture recommendations.

An interesting note is that LSA is so important when deciding which cam to run that car manufacture build entire engines with dual overhead variable timing cams to enable the LSA to change depending on demands of the engine.

Our single cam in block engines the LSA is set for good and the only way to change it is to change the cam. Eventually, even good ole GM will come around and build DOHC small block V8's. Cause the old way is kinda like buying a black and white plasma tv.

Anyway, there is much more about camshaft technology, (overlap). My hope here is that this may inspire you to research your next engine build. It's not at all, all about simple bolt on performance.

Talk to ya later...

[knightowl73]

yeah i know, i bought the truck because all this was aleady done and the truck was just wrecked, but ran. now im finding out there was more wrong than just the wreck. the omnly mechanical problem the truck had supposedly was an oil leak. He was a old man, son had built the truck for him, and im guessing since he went nowhee and most likely drove it slow, did not have a problem with his "old truck"

guess I got stuck this time, but its just a truck for me to fix up and ride around in until my other project is finsihed. hopefully with you guys help ill be able to turn the truck into somethin really desireable to sell. just take a lot of time and a lil money lol.

anyways, the thermostat is a new one, i think 180 degrees or something. its doing ok right now. im not planning on gong into the engine and doing anything major. im gong to go to a 160 degree thermo if i can and try and find a 4-core rad, but i do have a free 3-core one i might use if i get it checked and it checks out ok. this is just a safeguard im trying and hoping the temp guage will get a little more stable at a lower temp.

as far as the clacking, right now its liveable as long as i drive it normal. i can get on it a bit now without hearing that dreaded noise, although it is still there. about the only thing i can do about that now is like a said before, go to a 30w oil, since it is starting to get hot around here and wouldnt hurt, and for sure add a bottle of lucas oil treatment.

in the mean time i will keep trying to see if me and "the buddies" can figure out EXACTLY whats wrong with it and actually fix it. not trying to waste alot of money guessing, so ill decide what to do on the fix when i find out whats wrong for sure.