Posted by Indian Guy on March 12, 1998 at 12:09:08:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Loud ticking in Ford 8N engine posted by Mike on March 12, 1998 at 09:29:08:
: : : My father-in-law has an 8N that he rebuilt the engine on. It runs great but it has a very loud ticking noise. It sounds like valve noise but it's the loudest valve noise I have ever heard. It doesn't have the ajustable tappets. I do know that when he had it apart he didn't keep track of where those little caps on the tappets came from. They got all mixed up. He did install new valve guides. Could a valve guide be jumping up and down or is the tappet clearance just really messed up. He doesn't seem to care about the noise but it really bothers me to hear a brand new engine run like that. Thanks for any help. Mike
: : There has to be a way to adjust the valves on that engine unless it has hydraulic lifters. It's not likley that the piston is hitting the head as stated in an earlier post and I would never advise someone to install 2 head gaskets on a engine! Get yourself a service manual on that engine and check it out, running a tractor with the valves out of adjustment causes power loss and if any are too tight, burns valves and seats. I don't know that much about Ford, I fool with IH. Still cant immagine that there is no way to adjust the valves. You don't want to weld to the rockers or lifters as stated in one post ether. Like I said,get a manual and read! I have been rebuilding engines for 40 years, never saw an engine that didn't have a way to adjust the valves!!!
: The caps I mentioned earlier are the free exhaust valve rotators and they are on the ends of the valve stem, not on the tappet(oops). The only way to ajust tappet clearance is to grind the valve stem or the rotator cap. I'm still trying to figure out how to reduce the clearance by grinding the valve stem! I guess you just have to grind the valve deeper in the seat! One of Ford's better ideas to save some money and make you buy more parts. If Ford tractors didn't have the three point hitch, I don't think anybody would own them (just my opinion).
Who had the idea that grinding the valve stem would do anything but shorten the valve stem? If there is a problem with excess clearance then making anything shorter would create more slop. Anyone familiar with Ford flatheads knows they are a different animal. I agree with getting a service manual, but grinding the valves deeper into the seat is not the solution to a minor problem. As for reliability, L head technology sold more Model T's then anything else except maybe VW bugs. If you still can't figure it out I'd call Llamas. Have fun, Me