This can't be good., rocker movement - help diagnosing before tearing Options

[iankarr]

Hi Guys,

So...my (new to me) 74 2.0 FI was idling great and running pretty well, except after warm it would occasionally experience a loss of power at about 3000K. Last weekend I took the dizzy out to clean and lube the plates. Also installed a pertronix and flame thrower coil. Started it up and ran like crap and uber rich. Then realized I forgot to connect the MPS hose. duh. Did that and it started up ok. It was late, so I left the car till this weekend to get the timing dialed in.

OK, so I start it today and hear this tapping racket and the engine feels like it's only running on 3 cylinders. Pulled plug wires one at a time, and it seems all are contributing.

Pulled the valve covers to see if that's where the racket was coming from and figured it was a good idea to make sure everything was properly adjusted anyway. Nothing LOOKS weird, but if I pull backwards on the #2 intake rocker, it will move about 1/4" towards me. Let it go and it returns back to contacting the valve stem. I know it isn't normal, but before I tear into things, I thought I'd check with the brain trust.Bent rod? Beginnings of dropped valve?

From what I can tell, the POs didn't drive this car much, so I wouldn't be surprised that all this new activity is exposing weaknesses....

Thanks!

[iankarr]

Just checked the #2 exhaust lifter with the boroscope (cause I have every tool known to man. My garage looks like China.) it's also hydraulic.

The pushrods are magnetic,so I assume they're chromoly. But they look normal sized. I thought hydraulic rods were fatter? Could this be another episode in the adventures of DAPO???

Here's a pic of the #2 rocker assembly, but the rest look like this too. My yellow car had a McMark-built 2056, which had some pretty big differences...so I don't know what's "normal" for a "stock" 2.0. But I have read that spring rings like the ones on this rocker assembly are usually paired with hydraulic lifters...is that correct?

Now that the hydraulic cat is out of the bag, I def want to switch back over to solid. Problem is I don't know if the cam was changed and/or if it will work with solid.

Any suggestions on how to change it are appreciated... Will start another thread with specifics.

Thanks!

[rgalla9146]

Just checked the #2 exhaust lifter with the boroscope (cause I have every tool known to man. My garage looks like China.) it's also hydraulic.

The pushrods are magnetic,so I assume they're chromoly. But they look normal sized. I thought hydraulic rods were fatter? Could this be another episode in the adventures of DAPO???

Previous owner had no interest in hitting redline.....and less interest in regular
valve adjustments. Hydraulics ! Voila !
Ian, as an aside I have a '89 VW Westy that has hydraulics.
If it sits for a few weeks they leak down and then take a while (1/2 hr) to pump up.
This is especially true in warmer weather. I'll renew them this summer.
Until you decide what course to take replace the oil w/ Shell Rotella 20w50 or similar.
You can also bleed the lifter before re-installing it. Immerse it in oil and pump it with the pushrod until it becomes harder....er stiffer...er.... less springy.
Never did it myself but heard of it.