The Ford Barn

Bruce_MO · 12-01-2015, 05:50 PM

I have a rebuilt engine done about 5 years ago by one of the best regarded rebuilders on this site. It only has 260 miles on it since then. The valves always seemed noisy to me (I've posted the issue here previously), and the rebuilder was not much help. So I had some other folks listen and concur that the valves needed adjustment, and I finally got around to doing it over the long weekend. They were all over the place... "worst" was 0.019 or 0.0120. So I set all of them to 0.013 for intakes and 0.015 for exhaust, and checked each one 2-3 times. Buttoned it up and started the engine, and it sounded beautiful... absolutely quiet, with no tap, tap, tap noise. Went out a day later and started it, hoping to enjoy the sound of a problem fixed for good. Instead, after about a minute, the tap, tap, tap returned, albeit a bit softer. And after about 2 minutes, it went away and it sounded good. Checked it again the next day and it's noisy for a while, and then the tapping goes away. So I'm assuming that the adjustable tappet on a valve has "slipped". Would that happen so quickly? Is there a way to secure the adjustment? I was assuming I could run the adjuster "up" to expose some threads and apply some locktite, and then run it down and adjust to the setting I need, but I'm not sure that's feasible or advisable. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

12-01-2015, 05:50 PM	#1
Bruce_MO Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 532	Valve adjustment advice needed I have a rebuilt engine done about 5 years ago by one of the best regarded rebuilders on this site. It only has 260 miles on it since then. The valves always seemed noisy to me (I've posted the issue here previously), and the rebuilder was not much help. So I had some other folks listen and concur that the valves needed adjustment, and I finally got around to doing it over the long weekend. They were all over the place... "worst" was 0.019 or 0.0120. So I set all of them to 0.013 for intakes and 0.015 for exhaust, and checked each one 2-3 times. Buttoned it up and started the engine, and it sounded beautiful... absolutely quiet, with no tap, tap, tap noise. Went out a day later and started it, hoping to enjoy the sound of a problem fixed for good. Instead, after about a minute, the tap, tap, tap returned, albeit a bit softer. And after about 2 minutes, it went away and it sounded good. Checked it again the next day and it's noisy for a while, and then the tapping goes away. So I'm assuming that the adjustable tappet on a valve has "slipped". Would that happen so quickly? Is there a way to secure the adjustment? I was assuming I could run the adjuster "up" to expose some threads and apply some locktite, and then run it down and adjust to the setting I need, but I'm not sure that's feasible or advisable. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.