I have a 1960 Ford F100 with a 223 inline six that was rebuilt two years ago. It was driving great all summer long. I drove to work everyday and about 2 cruise-ins per week plus to car shows almost every weekend. In the last couple months I have had alot of strange issues. I have broken push rod adjusting screws twice on the 2nd and 3rd cylinders. I then had a push rod get the top of it sheared off and stuck on one of the adjusting screws on the third cylinder. I had to readjust valve lash on the 2nd and 3rd cylinders in July they were WAY out of spec so I re-adjusted. Could the push rods just have been beat soo hard that it caused this or is it possible that the new parts just aren't up to the same standards as NOS (sighting the rebuild parts) I have tested compression and all seems to be well with the engine. I pulled all of the pushrods none of which are bent or damaged. Anyone got any ideas?
Valves sticking? Valves bent? Lifter pump up? I've only bent push rods when valves contacted pistons due to misplaced valve reliefs in the pistons.
Could the rocker shaft be bent? I had an O.T. 4-popper once that ran fine for a long time, and then one day broke a rocker arm. Turns out that the rocker shaft stands had been installed incorrectly, bending the shaft slightly and causing the rocker to be side-loaded on the cam.
Hi "Brady", not sure if it's relevant here but around that time-frame (couple years ago) there were a "bunch" of pushrods m*** produced (in this country, not off-shore stuff) for the "Y" blocks, 239", 272", 312" that had the wrong ends welded in place! I do realize you are talking the "6", but the components to "build" the pushrods may well be the same pieces? The "cups" had the wrong radius for the rocker arm sockets. Caused a bunch of grief for many builders at the time. We got involved with the mess and helped out some of these guys! Thanks, Gary in N.Y. P.S. It sounds as though it MAY be your issue by your description. The "fix" was to change the pushrods, we knew what to look for on the newer batches! No more issues after that time!
Thanks for the ideas guys! GOSFAST this is what it seems like to me. Everything looks to be in good order. I have looked at the rocker ***embly mulitple times checking to see if it was bent. I do have a line on a new rocker ***embly for cheap I guess I just need to go ahead and get it! Here are some pictures of the failure today.
The left push rod in your pic looks like it's been run dry for some time. You may not be getting enough oil to the push rod cup. It does not take much lube, but if it runs dry, it will wear the adjuster ball and push rod cup pretty fast. Not an expert on Ford inlines, but I think on your older six, the rockers are oiled from the rocker shaft, if I'm not mistaken, so your push rod cups just get splash or whatever happens to run down the rocker into the adjustment screw, which is not as good as pressurized oil coming up a hollow push rod. Check your oiling when it's running and put a dab of ***embly lube in each cup when you put it together again, so you have some lubrication until the drip process gets it wet.
Lots of good advice so far, IIRC there are little holes in the rocker arms that direct oil flow. I believe that oil flows down from the rockers to the pushrods. I take it that when the motor was rebuild the entire rocker shaft ***embly was cleaned? The vast difference in adjustments on 2 and 3 worries me, are you sure that the adjustment was done correctly at that time? The valves being adjusted to tight or loose could lead to the results that you are getting. It also could be that the pushrod was not correctly in the lifter at the time of install or adjustment.
can you get new ones? i went through same headache with a newer ford 6cyl and finally found some new ones and it solved my issues, might have to dig in the wallet but its worth it.
Wow, thanks for all the help! When I had the engine rebuilt a new rocker shaft ***embly was installed. The lubrication of the push rods that 270ci and Greasy Knight have described is correct. There are oil lines that run into the rocker shaft ***embly but I hadn't really thought of them not getting properly oiled, I am going to look into this as well. I currently have 6 new pushrods and 12 adjusting screws that I purchased from MACS and the local parts store. I had the top end and block worked on at seperate shops. Once the block was cleaned and bored they requested the heads to put them in place and adjust the valve lash. I really dont think they adjusted the valves properly along with other issues I had with this shop (Bad oil leak from the timing cover, missing freeze plugs, no oil pan gasket, etc) Ive been fixing their mistakes since I got the engine home and wont be taking anything back to them again. The way the breaks were happening it seemed like a product defect to me, they were too clean of a break, like the weld on the pushrod cup was weak (possibly due to no lubrication) Thanks for all the help
Couple things that I have thought of....I would defiantly use OE Ford parts to fix this, IMHO even used Ford parts would be better then new aftermarket. I would pull the valve cover when its running and see if your getting enough oil flow to the top end. IIRC these motors don't spay oil when you pull the cover, but I could be wrong as the last one I did it to didn't have all that much oil pressure I would pull the pushrod cover and take a look at whats going on in there, just to double check what the shop did. Also are you sure that you haven't mixed any of the adjustable rocker type parts with some from the zero lash type. I know you've got the correct rockers, but what about the push rods or other bits?
Greasy Knight, you are correct. There is not enough oil pressure for any spraying with the valve cover off. I have had it and the push rod cover off numerous times to check what's going on. I have replaced 3 pushrods since the rebuild all of which having the same issues. I am sure that the adjusting screws are the correct type. The pushrods compare in length and diameter. The parts store could have screwed up but, they are usually pretty good. I have found that the clip to hold the oil feed line to the rocker ***embly is missing allowing the oil to over flow without filling the rocker shaft. On another note the newer pushrods seem to fit the adjusting screw ball a little better.
Forgot to add this. I have the ability to get parts from a s**** engine. I have thought this might be my best solution since the beginning.
I'm going to bet that most of your issues where caused by the lack of oil to the top end. These engines are known for top end oiling issues to some extent, so even less would cause bad things to happen. Where any of the broken rockers binding at all? I'm wondering if that caused them to snap, new tight parts coupled with a lack of oil. If you install the rockers or rocker shaft from the s**** motor I would check for wear, as lack of oil causes groves in the shaft and the rockers to get ovaled out. At least that's what happened on my 215, of course that thing was beyond wore out in every other respect Oh and be sure to check that the oil feed line is firmly seated down in the head.
Hi "Brady", one more item, it appears from the photo of the existing "good" pushrod, it is sitting way too deep into the pushrod cup. It MAY be worn out OR it may just be wrong?? That "ball" should be about 1/2 the depth down into the cups, that one above is almost touching the threaded section of the adjusters. Doesn't belong that "deep"! I have some 6 cyl NOS sets here and the adjuster balls only sit about 1/2 way into the pushrod cups when viewed from the sides. Thanks, Gary in N.Y. P.S. Just to add, most "shaft-supplied" oiling system ***y's (Mopars, Nailheads, etc) will not "spray" like the Chev line, those rockers you have should have a "feed" hole (p***ageway) from the shaft to the ball/cup area! There should also be a "groove" inside the r/a for constant oil supply to the cups!
I have not read through all the replies above, however, I wonder if anyone has asked how much torque you are applying to the adjusting nuts? I have seen these tightened too much which will weaken the ability to keep the adjuster in one piece. Just a thought. Good luck curing the problem.
About a year ago a batch of incorrectly drilled 223 rocker shafts were going around. All the suppliers were using the same source. I got two bad in a row and my machinist got one at the same time. Check the oil holes for alignment and proper placement.
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