WTF?! V/C gasket replacement goes horribly wrong... Any ideas?

/.,

 

Do parts stores sell individual lifters and push rods? Sure, it's not a lot of money for a whole set, but I'm rolling coins as it is and don't want to spend another cent than I have to on this stupid truck. I'd rather be spending it on hot rod parts.

.[/e QUOTE] Machine shops do.

 

Wish I'd seen this thread earlier.

Since you found a bent pushrod it sounds like simple pushrod failure. Kinda unusual for 351M/400 pushrods though. Maybe someone dropped a nut into the carb sometime ago.

The only area in the valley of a Cleveland large enough to allow a lifter to p*** is a drainback hole just above the cam gear. The chain might be in the way. I'll bet you find the lifter in the valley.

The intake is dry so it's easy to pull. Watch those smaller center bolts. If the intake has not been off in a while they might be a bit corroded in the threads.

You know you need a pushrod and maybe a lifter. As for intake gasket don't worry about getting another turkey pan gasket. A simple two-piece gasket will work fine and it's easier to install. I like to use silicone on the ends instead of the rubber or cork seals, but if you pull the intake with the dizz in place it makes laying the intake on top of the goop behind the dizz while sitting on the fender holding all that cast iron very difficult. Gorrilla snot the seals onto the block, let it cure then smear sillycone on top of them and in the corners.

The oiling system in the Cleveland family of engines is not wierd. In fact, the oiling system used was very popular in American engines. The Mopar A and B engines used a similar system, as did Olds and Buick. The left side lifter galley is used as a main galley that also feeds the mains. There is a crossover at the back of the block and then the right side lifters are fed. Having all of the lifters in place is good for oiling.

I ***ume that this is an intake lifter? If it were exhaust it should have been backfiring through the carb.

 

The OReilly group of parts houses shows the push rod to be 1.69., lifter 4.29, gaskets 29.99 It's one of those pan style units. Under 40 bucks to have it hitting on all 8 if the cam is good.

And with a bit of red silicone and some diligent cleaning you might sneak by with using the intake gasket again if you don't bend it up taking the intake off. Not advisable for a driver but it might get by with the plow rig. Those Ford engines seem to survive and keep going no matter how bad you treat them.
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Agreed. I've done it. If the turkey pan is there, clean it, goop it with oil resistant silicone, torque it and let it cure for a day.

 

Before ****oning the whole thing back up, try to figure out WHY the pushrod bent. Tap down on the valve stem to check that the valve moves, and isn't stuck. Push rods don't just "bend"...

 

Good point...
BTW DeSoto, I see you winter in PSL. I winter in Jensen Beach. Were practically neighbors! I'll be heading down there next week. You got anything going on in the garage or want to get together for a brewskie?

 

I agree with 354 Desoto. Pushrods don't just bend. The valve is probably siezed in the guide.

Alan

 

I was towing with my f-350 4x4 tow rig and my motor started missing... when I got home I pulled the plugs to find the dead cylinder and then pulled the valve cover the same thing happened to my 400, a rocker backed off and was laying on the head and the pushrod and lifter were laying in the valley. I carefully fished the pushrod out with a magnet (luckily it wasn't bent like yours) and was able to use the magnet to get the lifter back in it's bore.

Once I put it back together it has been running great again.....so hopefully it will work out for you.

 

PIR8DARRYL - Garage is "up north". I spend the Winter ac***ulating parts, then spend the Summer putting them on the car. The Treasure Coast Mall get-together every tuesday evening is where I usually go. Weather's been PERFECT for it...

 

Pull the plug to relive the compression and keep going!!!!!

If ya want to mess with people, thread a whistle and stick it in there.

 

Pursuant to the question of how the hell could this happen, I recall one issue that made life difficult for me.

The clearance between the valve retainer and the valve guide in a stock 2V Cleveland head is not great. Nor is it in 4V heads for that matter. Usually you can cam one up a bit and use stock-type umbrella seals and it's OK. But, not all umbrella seals are equal and the ones used in Clevelands are not very thick at the top by design.

Here is where one migth have a problem. And this is kinda from left field because it is unlikely when using a stock cam. If the wrong umbrella seal is used, one that is thicker at the top than the C design, it will work OK until it gets hard from age. Then it gets clamped between the retainer and the guide. The harder it gets, the more of a shock it puts into the valvetrain.

This happened to me once. The symptom in my case was several broken cam gear roll pins. Eventually I found broken pieces of hardened seal in the pan and figgered it out. New correct seals solved the problem.

Now I don't recall if truck 351M/400s got larger rotator retainers or not. But while you got the cover off you might just give the valve a few taps with a mallet to see if it is free to move. Might want to grab a bright light and try to see what the seal looks like. If you have a lever spring compressor you could pressurize the cylinder, remove the spring and ditch that seal. Or you could just make a .06 shim for the sled rocker. The worst that would do is maybe tick a little (stock Cs have too much pre-load anyway).

OK, this is all pretty out there for your stock engine, but it don't hurt to post it.

Oh, while yer in there, run a straightened coat hanger down the oil drain-backs. They tend to get gummed up with age.

 

No they won't just bend.

But if the rocker nut backs off, the push rods slides out of the slot, the lifter pops out of the bore, rods hits cam and the head, bends and ends up in the valley.

This almost happened in my 327 but I caught the push rod after it put a nice ****** in the valve cover, new nut tightened down and drove home.

 

hey Gigantor... sure you can check the cam lobe, without tearing the ENGINE down. just drop a lifter in, and pushrod. turned the engine over, and watch the rocker. that is IF YOU know how to adjust the rocker right. no wonder the ford ran lousy! only a FORD could run in that condition! WHY? hell man their allways in that condition! HA! call me POP...or the old FART!

 

I had this happen with my Ford 400. I just ***umed that the oil light being on meant the engine was on its last legs, clearance-wise.

After fishing the banana-shaped pushrod and broken bits of lifter out of the valley, I replaced the two parts and glued the intake back on. I'm ***uming an overrevving caused the bent pushrod.

The engine soldiered on for thousands of miles after that. When winter came, the pcv valve froze one morning and pushed a lot of oil out of the top end. I think 400s need better breathing in the crankcase than in the heads.