1969Fstback 58 Report post Posted May 21, 2017 As the title says chatter coming from under driver side valve cover. I haven't taken it off yet. I am not super experienced with heads. My question is as follows. What's the first an most obvious thing to look for? My hope is that the super smart folks here can help me diagnose the issue via telepathy, osmosis and/or pictures. Then help determine if it's something I can handle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Conway 264 Report post Posted May 21, 2017 Motor ? valve train using solid or hydraulic lifters ? Probably a loose push rod caused by a collapsed lifter, broken rocker arm or a loose adj. nut. With the valve cover off you will see what's wrong. Brian. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969Fstback 58 Report post Posted May 21, 2017 I honestly am not sure about the lifters. I just went out took valve cover off. I put new aluminum ones last fall and drive it once. Was hoping it was a clearance issue. But it was not. I didn't see any broken rockers. I took both sides off. Every rocker felt the same as far as adjustment goes. In which I mwant I could turn them a touch clockwise and back. I could spin all the push rods but one on driver side. That rocker I could not pivote at all nor spin the pushrod. Then again it looked as if it was pushing down on the valve to open it. So thst may be legit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JET 445 43 Report post Posted May 21, 2017 I had the same problem with my new engine, it felt fine turning it over by hand but when it was running there was a ticking under the valve cover, turned out one of the rocker arms was just touching the baffle under the filler cap, a light tap with a hammer and the problem was gone. Yours is probably the same,undo your valve cover bolts and with the engine running lift the valve cover slightly, if the noise stops you have found your problem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GypsyR 32 Report post Posted May 21, 2017 I did once have a happy 302 that started tapping. For some reason one rocker started tapping a baffle in a valve cover after eight years of service. I never did find an issue. I tapped the baffle some with a hammer and it was happy again. Then again I had a 289 that would repeatedly back off two rocker stud nuts and start tapping. A set of new nuts fixed it after I got tired of retightening every so often. Other folks have had "press-in" rocker studs pull out of the heads. They only have to back out a tiny amount to start clacking. That tiny amount is hard to see with just the eye. You can run the engine without valve covers and carefully put a thumb on the noisy suspect rockers to narrow down the issue. Unfortunately this tends to let oil slobber a bit down on the exhaust manifolds a little. If the engine is hot and not revved above idle I have gotten away with doing this with no oil mess at all. Some folks have cut out the tops of old rocker covers for old school valve adjustments which works really well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969Fstback 58 Report post Posted May 21, 2017 Yeah I have a set of old chrome ones I may do that to. I am gonna recheck the valve cover clearness again before doing so. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969Fstback 58 Report post Posted May 22, 2017 So I picked up my valve cover to check for any marks underneath . It clattered. I pecked it with my finger and it clattered. Checked the baffle it was solid. The oil fill cap screws apart for some reason. Well it was a little loose. I tightened it up and put the covers back on. Sounds a lot quieter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brian Conway 264 Report post Posted May 22, 2017 It would be great if they were all that easy. Brian Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
