tried the balancer but it was tight, but i will pull the cap and do it again to see if any movement. tks.
If they are hydraulic, you can pull them, one-at-a-time, disassemble them and clean them out. As long as you put them back together properly, and back exactly where they came from, it will be fine. That will only cost time, gaskets, and fluids. This is a common hydraulic lifter. No voodoo magic in there: And yeah, the timing set could have an issue. Those aren't much coin.
This has to do with how much movement You see When you rock the crank nut(balancer) back/forth an watching the rotor, You'll know if You feel play back an forth, an the rotor isn't moving...
I have heard some fairly alarming sounds coming from valvetrain, but yes, if it is more knock, then cracked flexplate*. *I did have one that proved to not be a cracked flexplate, but a cracked convert snout. Zero idea how that became a thing.
Flexplate is fine, checked, no movement whatsoever, flashlight, etc.etc. Converter now very tight. No ticking. Unfortunately its in the guts I think.
Could be build up on top of a piston. Rev the engine a little and slowly put cold water down the carb. It will remove carbon build up. worked for me.
might have thought of a solution--7,500 to see if tach will truly go to 8K. Now, where's that vest, helmet, spare 1/2" steel plate, or maybe that big brick in the yard that would fit the pedal! damm, forgot i'll have to run!
Me and my buddies did that with a 318 when we were like 14, only we used a broom handle on the seat. It did not blow up, it just got hotter and hotter and slower and slower and steamed more and more until it locked up . Those were the days lol
A 318??? I’m not surprised it wouldn’t scatter. I’m a Chevy guy, but damn, those 318’s are tough. We did the same thing when we were younger, with several different engines and nothing spectacular ever happened. Like you said, they usually just locked up, however, we were laughing so hard, it was still fun.
Used to be tv commercials for STP and some others where they drained the oil, put in some of the product and then ran the thing with no oil pressure. I always wanted to see that with a 5-6K rev of the engine-think it would have been a beautiful thing.
Post #1 says: "have pulled plug wires and isolated it to #4". A lifter noise wouldn't go away when a plug wire is pulled.
No it wouldn’t, also dropping one cylinder wouldn’t have an affect on a thrust bearing I don’t believe. Rod bearing knock won’t go away pulling a plug wire. A wrist pin or maybe piston slap? may go away but not sure. I’ve seen engines worn out and or with broken parts run for quite some time - thousands of miles. Who knows how long it will run? If it was mine and I wasn’t going to tear it down I’d run a heavier oil and see what happens. Dan
I believe the OP "thought" that he had isolated the noise to #4, but as I mentioned above.........it's sometimes difficult to pinpoint a noise, especially one that goes away sometimes. He has attempted several other checks since he made that statement, so I figured I'd give him a few other suggestions. I'm not sure that pulling a plug wire might not affect a lifters operation. If the combustion process is removed from the cycles, the removal of compression and exhaust pressure has some effect on the valves and springs opening and closing and the pressure needed for the lifter to push them open. I'm not saying you aren't correct, just saying that there is a cumulative effect on the lifters operation.....so I can't say either way.
heres something to read as I know nothing about gas engines or old cars... but I chased this same type of noise....it was a knock that,,, had many people listen to it and the came up with every idea of what it was.... but heres what it really was.... it was the key that goes on the crank to the balancer,... I had checked to make sure the balancer was tight... but with the belt on and bolt in... kept driving it and the noise seem to come and go at will...how I found it was when I took the front crank bolt out I could feel it move back and forth.... when I pulled the balancer, I could see a grove in the key way .... put a new one in and cured the noise....
Haven't gone back and re-read the whole thread, but a couple of questions. Does engine temperature affect the occurrence of the noise? Engine cold or raised RPM = Higher oil pressure. Engine warm, idling = lower oil pressure. Also, might want to check the valve guides and the valve contact area on the rocker arms for #4. Bring #4 to TDC, ready to fire, take screwdriver, push against the retainer and look for side play at the valve. Check the rocker arm ends for a groove worn by the valve.
again, tks for good replies. Had some time today so I checked the balancer/rotor movement, it had a little (prob. has a single chain with some stretch) but not like a whole tooth or so. Just said to hell with it, took it on the tollway and ran it 3K+ for about 12 miles, turn around and back. Thing ran great (except for a slight miss around 2500 that went away the faster it went, maybe plugs, wires etc.) and had no problems. Put it in garage and let it idle for a couple minutes, didn't hear anything (hood closed though). Had great oil pressure running and idle, perfect 190 temp, no smoke, etc. I can live with that, now if I can find the perfect beer joint off the tollway about 15 miles out one way, I can "fix" it once a week.
Got the fix! --take out hearing aids --tape over all indicators and gages --radio full up to whatever my grandson listens to that I can't stand --add 1 qt. each Marvel Mystery Oil, Seafoam, LiquiMoly, Rislone, Lucas upper cyl. lube, Techron, STP, etc.etc. Oh, add all to oil- hell, forget oil. --Start, rev engine to 5 grand, add 1 gal. cold water thru carb to break up carbon, or cast iron or whatever. --Smile, open adult beverage, strut around garage saying "I damm well fixed that sucker, didn't I"
There is a nice 327 short block on the wanted adds. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1968-327-short-block.1328531/ Dan
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