qws

This is on the stock 95 I just picked up.
The original symptoms were a ticking and the coolant was about 2 gals low. When I got in on the road I was able to see what it was doing. I ran ok considering the ticking, drove it about 10 miles and she heated right up to 260 on the analog around 240 on the digital. The last mile had low power. So my thought is a leaking head gasket especially since the coolant tank was low again. The car had some white smoke but not excessive.

So finally this week end I tore it apart, here is what I found
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h5/slvrvette/IMG_20150927_194817831_zpsknrl6v1t.jpg[/IMG][/URL]




Found one pushrod out of position...now my first question is why? what else do I need to look at as to the cause? None of the pushrods are broke or bent.
Second... I don't see any sign of antifreeze any where, so where could it be going... haven't even seen anything in the exhaust as of yet.

I wondering also since I'm this far in if I should just go ahead and send the heads out and replace the head gaskets.

your thoughts?..

antfarmer2

sounds like a plan

1963SS

Sounds like a good plan since they no longer look too pretty.

Why does the out of position rocker look different (Carbon buildup) than the others. Check the stamping on the bottom that makes it self aligning and see if it's worn. Compare it to one of the others. Haven't used stock or self aligning in so long I forgot they were there. Of course I'm old.

JackDidley

Is the pushrod bent ? Lifter looks pretty far up out of the bore. Maybe it stuck up and bounced the valve off the piston.

BOOT77

I'd check the rocker tip(they look self aligning) and the stud slot for wear. Also the stud itself. Deff check the pushrod like said. Rockers come off, fix it and drive it long as no other damage was done.

edit: Also pull the lifter and deff check the roller and maybe turn the engine over and look at the cam lobe if the lifter is damaged. If not I'd slap it back together and drive. Semi-worst case you need a rocker, stud, pushrod, lifter. If the cam is damaged maybe you want to upgrade or do a rebuild if it's got a ton of miles.

qws

The pushrod itself is in good shape, shows no wear and is as straight as an arrow. I will however reconnect and spin the engine just to see if I can see something.

That to me seemed high out of its bore as well, however number 2 is as well, neither seem to be stuck.

This engine has 102k on it, and my plan is only to flip it since I have 2 others, don't need 3. It was purchased real cheap because of the ticking problem. And I'd like to do this repair right.. so I am tempted to pop the heads off as well and refurbish.

antfarmer2

roll the rod on a sheet of glass and listen for ticking

QCVette

I was looking at that too. I suspect it is from no oil flow through the pushrod. It might be an indicator that they ran it this way for quite a while.

I also was looking at the other internal surfaces. Many seem to have a build up also. That makes me wonder if there is a lot of blow by suggesting other problems too. Along with a lack of maintenance.



As far as the water loss, While you have it this far, I would take the heads off and look at the gaskets for leaks, examine the cylinder walls, and check the chambers/pistons/valves for damage too.

Good luck.

qws

Well the rocker arm is out of position due to the push rod not being in the lifter.

I am planning on tearing the heads out since its this far and I'd like for it to be right when closing it back up.

shootnstarz

A compression test will tell you a lot, while you've got it this far apart why not?

Rick

shootnstarz

You and I think a lot alike !!!

Rick

BOOT77

Might as well do a total rebuild. You may not like what you see when you pull the heads and then your just throwing away $ if you redo the heads and slap them on a 100k short block. I'd do it myself for a beater drag car that I know won't live long, but not in anything I was gonna sell.

FYI I've always herd it's a pita to purge all the air on an LT engine because of the reverse coolant flow, but maybe your more familiar with them than me.

qws

BOOT77

Hard to tell from the earlier pics but how does the valve tip look? How does the roller tip end look and move? Can't see the bottom of the rocker pivot ball and how does the inside of the rocker look? Neither look burnt/blued from what I can see, nor does the slot look worn. The contacts point of the valve and pushrod look like normal polishing wear. Did you roll the pushrod on some flat glass or a mirror?

Rent or barrow the tool and do a leak down on the cylinders to be sure before you spend any $.

Also even if all parts are still good I'd use a brand new nut at least.

mtwoolford

Was it a bad lifter? maybe it collapsed, allowing excessive play that resulted in the rocker bouncing off the tip of the valve?

was there any damage to the cam lobe? at least as far as you can tell by looking down the lifter bore?

Hot Rod Roy

Could this have happened because the PO over-reved the engine and floated the valves? The adjacent cylinder exhaust valve looks funny, too.

ANTI VENOM

If you look at your plugs and find a clean one, then you know where the coolant was going.

qws

so far things appear to be just normal wear. Rolled pushrod and no unusual sounds. Cam lobe from what I can see seems fine to. Lifter wheel rolls fine and smooth.

Got one head off yesterday, the side where the pushrod came out and seems to be typical wear so far.

VikingTrad3r

subbed! did you ever find out where the coolant was going>?

qws

As of yet, No. The gasket on that side looked fine. I hope to have the other head off by tomorrow.
I'm wondering if it just wasn't real low to begin with and maybe the 2 gals I put in just weren't enough... but we will see.