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Pulled rocker stud, and more? :(

5K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  Gokussj5okazu 
#1 ·
This past Friday my 350 was running like absolute crap, like only 7 cylinders were firing. Finally got back home today and pulled the right valve cover since I was hearing a tapping on that side. First thing I see if the #4 intake rocker is extremely loose, but the nut it the same height as the others. So my pops makes me tighten it back down against my better judgement. :mad: You guessed it, it had been pulling out and as soon as I started it it pulled out even more. So a bit more of an inspection reveals that the #4 exhause rocker doesn't move at all, and neither does the pushrod. A little persuasion and I manages to push on the pushrod and force the lifter back into it's bore, once again against my better judgement. So now I've got a pulled rocker stud, and what seems like a lifter frozen in the lifter bore. Major PITA. And to top it all off, the old man, of course being a hard-headed so-and-so, says that drilling the stud hold out and tapping it for a screw in stud is a horrible idea.

So does anyone else have any ideas? Pinning the stud is out of the question, a certain SOMEONE's too hard headed to take it to the machine shop.
 
#2 ·
There is a little more to it than just tapping the hole for a screw in stud. The stud boss has to be machined flat for the screw in stud to jamb against. Are you running stronger springs than stock? Are you winding it up too tight? In the old days a quick fix for puled studs was to pin them.

Vince
 
#3 ·
Ya I knew there was a bit more to it, and would have take it to the shop, but can't for the same reason as pinning it. They're stock springs, and it never sees anything higher than 4,500. If worse comes to worse I can swap the heads with another set I have, but the stuck lifter is what I'm really worried about.
 
#4 · (Edited)
You have machine the stud boss in order to install a shouldered stud and guide plates. I couldn't even guess how many people have pulled the loose stud, tapped the hole and put in a non shouldered stud and went down the road without pulling the heads. It's not the prefered way but if care is taken to keep the tap straight and get all chips out it can be done. Be sure use some sort of thread lock on the end of the stud that will go into the head.
 
#5 ·
tresi said:
You have machine the stud boss in order to install a shouldered stud and guide plates. I couldn't even guess how many people have pulled the loose stud, tapped the hole and put in a non shouldered stud and went down the road without pulling the heads. It's not the prefered way but if care is taken to keep the tap straight and get all chips out it can be done. Be sure use some sort of thread lock on the end of the stud that will go into the head.
There's actually a very economical and easy to use tool available from summit that is used to pull the stud and then, using the stud beside it, guides the tap so it goes in straight. Rockere arm stud removal/tap guide tool

 
#7 ·
Thanks Lil, I didn't even think of looking for tool for this. Seems we're just going put spacers on top of the rocker arm so we can lash it and hope the stud doesn't pull anymore. If it does, oh well, I'll pull it and tap it. I decided to pull the lifters while I'm at it, since one wasn't lifting. I really hope the lifter is just dished out too much and it's not the cam. Has anyone here every seen one do this?

Btw, how the hell do you get those suckers out? I'm used to driving them out from the bottom, but how are you suppose to pull them from the top. :confused: Anyone?
 
#8 ·
If you're going to run it on the old stud, knock it back down in the hole with a hammer. Put a plain nut on it so you don't bugger up the threads, and tap it down semi-gently until it's close to level with the next one. We did that to a friend's old Camaro years ago, and it not only got him home from Little Rock, it ran fine until the next time he over-revved it and pulled them back out again.

There's a tool for pulling lifters, but I've done it with a small screwdriver and a few choice words, if necessary. If they're not too gummed up, or beaten outward, at the bottom, they usually come out without too much trouble.

If the lifter bottom is dished, your cam is shot.
 
#9 ·
Well this is just giving me more and more trouble every time I touch it. Turn out the cam was shot, even with the new lifter there's no lift on that exhaust what so ever. >_> Luckily I got my hands on a free roller cam with lifters so now I just need to switch them out, right? Unfortunately wrong. The good tools that I'm going to be needing to take all of thsi apart this weekend are out at my shop (about 15 miles away), and I have no way of getting it there other than trying to get it to run and nurse it there. Anyhow now it won't run worth a crap, even worse than it did before I tore it down. Ya I know it's only running on 7 cylinders but heck, but it was before too, and atleast it could pull itself.

So now it's running extremely rich, which makes no sense since I never touched the carb while it was off. The new rockers are ticking slightly, my new valve covers were too tall causing the AC unit to move too far over and need a longer belt so I'm out power steering as well, AND I can't find an EGR block-off plate to same my life. All because of a 23 year old cam! Grrrr...

Are there any particular problems with running it on 7 cylinders, other than the horrible balance? I really don't care about bearing wear or anything else, as long as I can get it out there. We're most likely going to just finish up my other engine.
 
#10 ·
Doc here, :pimp:

You can get a EGR block plate Here: EGR

Sounds like , from ALL the problems you have posted on this engine, It just might be prudent to pull it ALL the way down and rebuild it..have the machining done AND you want to get the shavings from that smoked cam out of the system anyway..Start again with a NEW fresh engine. :thumbup:

This old one seems to be falling apart one part at a time... :pain: :sweat:

Doc :pimp:
 
#11 ·
The material from that cam lobe and lifter (and probably some others) has travelled through your engine. It has scored the crank journals and cam journals. It has imbedded itself in your main, rod, and cam bearings. Some, if not all, of the pistons have metal particles imbedded in the skirts and will remain there to scratch the cylinder walls unless they are removed by glass beading the skirts. The cylinder walls are also scratched by the metal particles and will need to be honed. Your oil galleries are full of abraisive oil. Plus, the rocker stud will never stay put until you replace it with a screw-in stud.

You will have to remove the engine and tear it down to repair it, regardless of what the old man says.

tom
 
#17 ·
Gokussj5okazu said:
Are there any particular problems with running it on 7 cylinders, other than the horrible balance? I really don't care about bearing wear or anything else, as long as I can get it out there. We're most likely going to just finish up my other engine.

Doc here, :pimp:

Oil contamination, rapid wear from metal shavings, main and rod Bearing wear, more cylinders going away, cam shattering, or locking up, are just a few..you STILL could end up walking that 15 miles AND then need a tow Vehicle..

Doc :pimp:
 
#18 ·
Alright, thanks for the input. This is the engine that came in the truck when we bought it. We origionally thought it was bone stock, but once we removed the right valve cover we noticed the heads were extremely clean so we know atleast those may have been rebuilt. Anyhow, the #4 INTAKE rocker stud was pulled, AND the #4 EXHAUST cam lobe was wiped the first time we removed the valve cover. Just for the record, we did get the #4 intake stud fixed, no more pulling. We got it running rather decently today, and plan to drive it out to my shop where it will sit until the new engine is done. I really don't care what happens to this one, heck I believe a main bearing is bad anyhow, considering what I could hear before this fiasco. Thanks everyone, here's to the biggest PITA ever. :smash:

Btw thanks for the link Doc, that'll do. :thumbup:
 
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