HELP PLEASE!!!! Just rebuilt and havng problems.

So the 60 finally is put back together and seems to be running great 2 days ago. I pull it out of the garage after 4-5 months and it seems great. Engine is smooth and sounds good. Drive it 2 or 3 miles and it idles great in the driveway. But the temp gauge reads cold. Pull it up on the curb to see if the coolong system needs to burp but nothing changes. Park it for tommorrow.

Today, I start it up and it seems okay but again will not heat up. I could sit my bare ass on the radiator after a good 10 minutes or so if I wanted to and it would probably just feel good! About 15 minutes later I start it up and I hear a KNOCK or something like a knocking noise coming from the engine after its been going for a couple of minutes. The idle is at this point is gradually increasing to about 1400 rmps as well. Checked the spark plugs and adjusted the gap to .031 since many were not correct. Nothing changes? Whats going on?

The head was replaced and rebuilt. New vavles and springs across the board. No cracks on teh replacement. I put in a 180 degree thermostat (although at the fault of the f-ed up head I had preiously) to insure slightly cooler temps. All the vavles were adjusted corectly while cold and then readjusted hot (or warm I guess if its not heating up well). The timing was not adjusted since the truck never moved when the original head was removed. Otherwise one vacuum line (little one of 3 lines that go to the carb from the intake manifold)is not connected due to me breaking it off accidentally.

So I know that was a lot but I'm really worried and just when it seems like its ready for the road (and trail) somethings not right. Any reason you guys or gals might know whats going on. Tommorrow before the capital cruiser monthly meeting I guess I'm gonna check the valve adjustment setting cold again. Maybe somethings loose? Please, any help will be greatly appreciated. ANy ideas? Could over tightening the valve/head cover cause the vavle train the get torqued down more? HELP!!!!!

Here's a pic since everyone loves pics!

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c74/fjman/IM000255.jpg

Oh, and sometimes it doesn't just start. The starter clicks and after pumping the gas some more it will try(and will) turn over. Kind of weird..... I'll stop posting now since its sort of like talking to myself!!!!

You've got good oil pressure right? Is there definitely oil getting up to the rocker assembly? I'd be hoping for a loose rocker adjuster bolt as the source of the knock.

Did you put in both of the thermostat gaskets on assembly? A missing upper gasket makes for a cold engine. Maybe there's a piece of crud in the cooling system from the service work that has become stuck in the 'stat keeping it from closing?

I second the T-stat

Your heating issue is likely a lack of the upper gasket on the T-stat. Can't help with the knock...hope it is not serious. Did you remove the distributor? These engines will run without the distributor engaging the oil pump, so you need to confirm that you have oil pressure.

As far as the clicking on the starter. U might be due for a new one. Mine did the same thing after I had the MAF hi po engine installed and I was told that the higher compresiion made it do that clicking sound. I went ahead and replaced it with a mean grean and she starts right up now. Good luck.

I know this is a little off topic, but what size tires do u have on in that picture. Looks great.

Also the low temp is probably like the others said . either the thermo stat is stuck open or the upper gasket is gone. Remember to put antisieze when you put back those bolts.

I replaced all of the seals in the thermostat housing (the O ring and gasket). My gauge reads that there is good oil pressure and the rocker assembly was oiling itself quite nicely when the cover was off.
On my way to work today I was wondering if it was the gas in it. The gas is probably a good 6 months old and there is only about 2-3 gallons in the tank. Could this be an issue? Also, is it possible that the head had been rebuilt before and after the machine shop leveled everything out, to much had been shaved? Maybe it needs PREMIUM!!!!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHH

When I get home I'm going to finish cleaning out my garage and recheck the torque setting on the vavle train. Oh, I did not remove the ditributor and the tires are 33X12.5 15s Thanks for the compliment lonleydriver! I've never used antiseize on anything before........ is that a bad thing. I read saomehere that I should have on the monifold bolts as well... too late now!

If you grab your coolent hoses are they hot, soft, hard cold? After It should have warmed up check the hoses and I know you have but it needs to be said you have enough coolent in there right?

Check the color of your plugs. That might give you an indication of your fuel situation.
Does the motor seam hot? Or is it the same temp as the radiatior. Might think of getting a mechanical temp sender from the auto parts store and run it for a while till you work all the bugs out.
Can you describe the knock any better? I've noticed that when its the head making noise it is more of a ticking. With it running try removing the spark plug wire one at a time. This my help narrow down your search.

The coolant hoses are warm just like the radiator. The engine is hotter though (but that would be expected anyway right?) The knock is not a fast ticking.... its more of a metal pop or lower sound. Could I have a loose push rod in there. Maybe a valve is to loose and the rocker isn't seating into teh push rod correctly? Possible? The hoses are a bit soft and warm though including the heater hose. ANd the plugs are tannish brown w/ a little grey. Thats normal right? Without checking the vavletrain, I don't think I should start it so I'll start there first. Any thought s on the gas idea?

You might want to dump in a 5 gal can of fresh gas to help things out BUT that would have nothing to do with a metalic knock in the motor! At least pull the valve cover and see if anything obvious it outa wack. I could see a push rod being out of place and not noticed...

Nick

Get a mechanic's stethoscope & poke around to find the source of the knock.

Checking the color of the plugs won't do any good unless you do a "plug cut": run at 1/2-full throttle, preferrably uphill, for about 30 seconds with the engine warmed up (sorry, couldn't help it) & turn the ignition off while you slip it into neutral. The plugs will then show you the mixture on the main jets. If you just pull the plugs after idling, you're looking at idle mixture, maybe.

You might want to drain the gas tank (you can use the old gas in your lawn mower).

Now that you described it as a pop, check for an exhaust leak. Use a hose and listen for leaks all around the manifold. Then go under and check the EGR manifold and pipe, down to the compression fitting on the coolers and then back up to the EGR valve.

It's just been rebuilt, so you might need to retorque the manifolds. Don't forget the head bolts will need to be retourqued soon.

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So it could be a leak in the exhaust? Would that also cause the idle to increase as well? I had to retighten all of the bolts on the manifolds (including the ones connecting th e 2 manifolds) soon after we started it the first time since I had exhaust leaking after it ran for 20 - 30 seconds.

I suppose I can check the manifold bolts when I'm pulling off the valve cover (carb to i suppose). I know that teh fitting on the ERG cooler (drivers side front bottom of engine is where its at, right?) has leaked for the last 2 years. It leaks where the exhaust pipe enters it.

Ahhhh.. And I'm going to clean off the battery connection on the starter since it is VERY corroded. Perhaps that where the starting problem is at?

I will also check to see if my thermostat tests okay too.

fjman said:

I put in a 180 degree thermostat (although at the fault of the f-ed up head I had preiously) to insure slightly cooler temps.

I'm gonna check the valve adjustment setting cold again. Maybe somethings loose? Please, any help will be greatly appreciated. ANy ideas? Could over tightening the valve/head cover cause the vavle train the get torqued down more? HELP!!!!!

Click to expand...

There a quite a few issues here and you'll have to tackle one by one.

The colder Tstat may just be doing it's job, without knowing what your ambient temperature is...

Any reason why you're checking your valve clearances cold? It should be adjusted hot... unless you're saying that you don't feel the motor is getting hot enough.

In theory, over tightening the valve cover would tend to increase valve clearances, but your cover would break before that would happen. I wouldn't worry about that.

Take it back to the re-builder or a good mechanic and have him listen to the noise. If there was no noise before and all you did was change the head, then I doubt it's a lower engine problem. But, I can't determine what exactly what you mean... knock or pop. Then check for vacuum leaks, everywhere. And go through all your emissions hoses carefully and check and double check for misroutes.

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Try spinning the push rods with your fingers. If there is a bent one you can usually feel it. Also with the engine running and the valve cover off use a wooden hammer handle and put some down pressure on the rocker arms and see the the "knocking" noise changes. Thant might help you track it down.

Problem solved partially!

I went out today and sure enough, one of the lock nuts above the push rods hsd come loose. I guess I didn't tighten it enough. I went through and rechecked the valve clearances cold (like you are supposed too since you can't reaLLY warm a newly rebuild engine up if the valves are all over the place!) and then rechecked them with the engine warm. Although, I still did not get a temp reading on my gauge, evenything seemed pretty warmed up.

Should there always need to be any further adjusting once the engine is warm? They all seemed about right after it warmed up. Do they usually need to be tightened or loosened? I reassembled everything and it ran great as I took it out for a few miles. No weird noises but it failed to run nice and warm on the gauge still. I even tried letting it idle w/ the heat off. If I have time tommorrow I'll pull the Tstat and test it. I'm just really not feeling the whole draining the coolant thing again (even just a little).

Otherwise, I think i found the idle adjuster screw on the carb and turned it counterclockwise a few rotations to bring the idle under 1K. Should it need to be turned that much????? Didn't seem to effect the performance of the truck when moving. It was on the back of the carb pointing at about 11 oclock if you were in the drivers seat....... Anymore comments will be appreciated. This was the first true mechanical test for me!