Loud Lifters and/or Rods in Newly Rebuilt Engine

[Lee Peterson]

A aftermarket cam might be cut on a smaller base circle, requiring longer push rods. Did you use oem head gaskets?

 

[irsmun]

Here is the video of it.

 

[irsmun]

I really don't think op kept the push rods & rocker assemblies in order that they came off....And thanks for posting the correct way to assemble & torque rocker assembly

Curious how many miles on this engine before tear down .....wear on pushrods & rocker assembly

162500 on the engine. The rods were kept in pairs and marked with the cylinder they left from. They went back in the exact same places.

 

[68PowerWagon]

WOW! That sounds bad. As I said before there are a whole list of things that could be wrong. And just about everyone's post on here could be the culprit or a combination of things. I am not trying to be a smart a$$ but have you rebuilt a motor before? Also when things get sent out (like your heads) things could happen that were not supposed to. Was it a local shop that did the valve job?

 

[indept]

Did you get Mopar lifters or aftermarket?
Maybe they gave you the wrong lifters?

 

[irsmun]

WOW! That sounds bad. As I said before there are a whole list of things that could be wrong. And just about everyone's post on here could be the culprit or a combination of things. I am not trying to be a smart a$$ but have you rebuilt a motor before? Also when things get sent out (like your heads) things could happen that were not supposed to. Was it a local shop that did the valve job?

Yes, local shop did the valve job. Everyone uses them and they have done excellent work with us before. As to rebuilding engines before, yes and no. We had a group of guys all with engine mechanicing experience as amatures. They had never before rebuilt anything this new; just older simpler engines, small engines and the like. We researched and got specs for everything we knew to look for.

This is the rebuild kit we got: https://www.partsology.com/dnj-ek1163a-engine-rebuild-kit-chrysler-dodge-ram

 

[Burla]

Sounds like hemi tick, the question remains, are you gonna redo it thus still no guarantee it will be better, or develop a lubrication strategy? I would do what I suggested earlier; if you aren't tearing it down and when you have 2500-3000 miles on the oil, send it to blackstone labs, they will be able to tell you how bad the problem is via wear numbers. It may sound worse then it actually is. When you put the mic in the engine bay you got an echo or some kind of feedback, it makes it sound worse then it really is.

If you have to go back at the installer, that can serve as a legal document. They may choose to tear it down for ya if those wear numbers are super high like in the 300-500+ ppm iron and/or copper numbers.

Unless the shop did something wrong, this is on the hemi design or parts. Did they remove material when cleaning the lifter passages?

 

[indept]

Unless the shop did something wrong, this is on the hemi design or parts. Did they remove material when cleaning the lifter passages?

The lifter bores are in the block & he stated that they just cleaned the block. Thats why I asked if he bought mopar lifters. If they are not the correct diameter they may not get good pressure to them.

 

[HammerHead]

So we rebuilt our engine recently. Whoever had this truck before us surely never or rarely changed the oil and drove it hard. When we opened it up it looked like Carlsbad caverns in there with all the sludge and build up.

So we broke it completely down sent the heads to a machine shop to have them cleaned and the valves tested. We cleaned the block ourselves in a large tub with diesel. Long story short, we reassembled. Our problem was two fold. One, the engine smoked badly and two, the lifters and/or rods were clinking. We figured out the smoking problem as it was just diesel residue burning off but we can not figure out the lifter problem.

Were we supposed to prime them first? and if so what can we do about it post rebuild. The engine runs great and has all new parts.

Best recommendation for you is to ask a pro, click on the link provided and go to the Questions & Answers section of the oil testing site and ask a professional and get a qualified answer. Site operator is a Mechanical Engineer / engine builder with many more qualifications. Enjoy!

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/motor-oil-wear-test-ranking/

 

[chrisp2493]

Isn’t this noise coming right after a first start on a fresh motor? If so, I highly doubt it has anything to do with the oil he’s using, or the “Hemi tick”. It sounds a lot more like some kind of mistake on the rebuild part. How long has the truck been running since you’ve rebuilt it? A couple days or just a few minutes of run time?

Did you pump up the lifters when you installed them? On my rebuild I let them soak in oil and bled them to get all the air out. It started up pretty quietly. I would remove the valve cover and make sure every lifter is moving correctly, make sure no pushrods are stuck or something like that


You can polish a ****, just don’t pretend you have anything more then a shiny ****.
I bleed Ram Trucks

 

[michaelrc51]

When you installed the cam and other components, did you use assembly lube?

 

[onemc4you]

So we rebuilt our engine recently. Whoever had this truck before us surely never or rarely changed the oil and drove it hard. When we opened it up it looked like Carlsbad caverns in there with all the sludge and build up.

So we broke it completely down sent the heads to a machine shop to have them cleaned and the valves tested. We cleaned the block ourselves in a large tub with diesel. Long story short, we reassembled. Our problem was two fold. One, the engine smoked badly and two, the lifters and/or rods were clinking. We figured out the smoking problem as it was just diesel residue burning off but we can not figure out the lifter problem.

Were we supposed to prime them first? and if so what can we do about it post rebuild. The engine runs great and has all new parts.

:::::::::;;;;;;:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
You said diesel residue. Omg is it a diesel motor or did u soak your lifters in diesel. If you want a quiet motor, get a gas powered motor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[irsmun]

When you installed the cam and other components, did you use assembly lube?

Yes, everything was lubed up before install, except the lifters.

 

[irsmun]

Isn’t this noise coming right after a first start on a fresh motor? If so, I highly doubt it has anything to do with the oil he’s using, or the “Hemi tick”. It sounds a lot more like some kind of mistake on the rebuild part. How long has the truck been running since you’ve rebuilt it? A couple days or just a few minutes of run time?

Did you pump up the lifters when you installed them? On my rebuild I let them soak in oil and bled them to get all the air out. It started up pretty quietly. I would remove the valve cover and make sure every lifter is moving correctly, make sure no pushrods are stuck or something like that

The truck has run minutes since rebuild, less than 30. We did not soak the lifters and we think the mistake lies there. Its funny because before the rebuild everything was quiet even though the splash openings were completely blocked. Now with everything clean and open they don't seem to be getting lubed. We are going to pull the covers and look inside.

 

[chrisp2493]

Yes, everything was lubed up before install, except the lifters.

That might be the problem. You want assembly lube on all the new parts. Coat the cam with it, cover all the lifters, all the bearings. You put a new oil pump in right? If you didn’t have the lifters pumped up, didn’t prime the oil through the engine, it’s gonna be noisy. I filled the engine up completely with oil and then sat and turned the crank over and over by hand before I even put the engine back in the truck. I’m pretty sure the oil pump sends oil through the lifters and pushrods first, so it takes a bit for oil to get all through the engine.


You can polish a ****, just don’t pretend you have anything more then a shiny ****.
I bleed Ram Trucks

 

[crackerjack1957]

I always soaked hydraulic lifters also on rebuilds, pushed down on spring with push rod to bleed out air bubbles too.

 

[crackerjack1957]

Enlighten the old guy here how you prime a Hemi before starting on a rebuild.
Was easy on a distributor engine.
You have to have external pump & use fitting beside oil filter???
Hold gas pedal to floor to turn engine over without starting while pumping oil with engine in truck with external pump or turn over by hand while plugs are out on engine stand.???

 

[indept]

I used to use a hand pump oil can and pump oil into each lifter until it came out of the top. Sound like the issue here is with the lack of any priming a few of the lifters have collapsed and maybe jambed. Only way to know for sure is to pull the valve covers. If thats the case then it looks like there's no option but to pull the heads off and yank the lifters out. That really is a bad design having to pull heads to get to them.

 

[68PowerWagon]

Yes, local shop did the valve job. Everyone uses them and they have done excellent work with us before. As to rebuilding engines before, yes and no. We had a group of guys all with engine mechanicing experience as amatures. They had never before rebuilt anything this new; just older simpler engines, small engines and the like. We researched and got specs for everything we knew to look for.

This is the rebuild kit we got: https://www.partsology.com/dnj-ek1163a-engine-rebuild-kit-chrysler-dodge-ram

Yeah I would fall under that group as well. I haven't rebuilt an engine since the late 80's. That's why I am not much help. As mentioned in the thread earlier I don't even know how to prime these new engines without distributers. From listening to it through the computer it sounds like more than just one something. Sounds like it is coming from both sides of the block & on the top of the engine. With that, hopefully it is just something simple under the valve covers.

 

[TMyers]

After reading through most of this thread, if I had to bet, the sound you are hearing is the lifters bouncing on the cam lobes. If the lifters were not pre-lubed by soaking them in oil, they were soft and are bouncing. The OP said its ran about 30 minutes so I am almost positive the cam and lifters are destroyed.

I wouldn't run it anymore. I've seen lifters "mushroomed" so bad they can't be pulled out.

Drain the oil and see how much metal is in it.