266 Rocker Noise

[Sublime69]

Hey guys, new to the forum and new to internationals. I am going to look and hopefully purchase a 1964 c1100 pick up with 8x,xxx miles. I have been doing a lot of research on them and my main concern with the truck is a valve train tick. Now I have not heard the noise or seen the truck in person. I am going to look at the truck on Saturday and would like to know the best way, if any, to see if this supposed noise is something that is a major problem or an easily resolved issue. The old man that has the truck has owned it for 5 years and told me that there is a slight tick and if I am picky about it, I could "remove the rockers and clean out the clogged oil holes."

here is a pic of the truck.

Thanks!

 

[FDChappie]

It could be as simple as a good motor flush to clean the oil passages or as complicated as a spun cam bearing as it usually messes up a tooth or 2 on the cam gear when it happens.

 

[Scoutboy74]

There's no quick and easy external visual inspection here. The two more in depth tests are as follows:

1. Hot oil pressure from curb idle up through wide open throttle, measured with a known good oil pressure gauge that has actual numbers on it...in other words not the stock gauge with the nearly worthless l - h demarcations. You want to see roughly 10 psi steady at idle and at least an additional 10 psi for every 1000 rpms increase in engine speed up to max throttle which is roughly 4000 revs. The psi there would naturally be a minimum of 40 psi.

2. The other test is to drop the oil pan and examine the contents of the pan for the presence of non-ferrous metal fragments (cam bearing kibble) and grey sludge residue (bearing de-lamination).

I realize these methods aren't exactly quick, simple and practical for the average tire kicking buyer, but if total peace of mind is what you must have before you make the purchase...woot, there it is.

 

[Sublime69]

there's no quick and easy external visual inspection here. The two more in depth tests are as follows:

1. Hot oil pressure from curb idle up through wide open throttle, measured with a known good oil pressure gauge that has actual numbers on it...in other words not the stock gauge with the nearly worthless l - h demarcations. You want to see roughly 10 psi steady at idle and at least an additional 10 psi for every 1000 rpms increase in engine speed up to max throttle which is roughly 4000 revs. The psi there would naturally be a minimum of 40 psi.

2. The other test is to drop the oil pan and examine the contents of the pan for the presence of non-ferrous metal fragments (cam bearing kibble) and grey sludge residue (bearing de-lamination).

I realize these methods aren't exactly quick, simple and practical for the average tire kicking buyer, but if total peace of mind is what you must have before you make the purchase...woot, there it is.

Ok thanks for the info! This is going to be something I will have to roll the dice on. Unless I drop the pan real quick on the test drive. Ha

 

[FDChappie]

Actually dropping the pan is easy and only takes about 10 min with a speed wrench and 1/2" socket, slotted screw driver and a 7/16 wrench. There are no x members in the way.

If the ticking sound comes from the front of the engine and the oil pressure reads low on the gauge you can pretty much assume a spun cam bearing. Surprisingly they will usually run a long, long time this way.

 

[Robert Kenney]

ok thanks for the info! This is going to be something I will have to roll the dice on. Unless I drop the pan real quick on the test drive. Ha

Don't think it's a big deal. A slight tick is not likely total meltdown.

Historically when a cam bearing actually does spin and block the feed hole to the rockers, the oil gallery pressure can and most of the time does rise.

Don't bother taking the rocker arm off and clean them. I would pull the valve covers and verify thorough flow to each rocker arm.

My 68 304 will some times tick but not always. Subsequent oil changes show "0" metal in the drain pan or oil filter.

Change your oil, install a quality filter and oil. Fill her up with quality fuel. Take her out and drive her down the highway for a while. Say 15-20 miles at highway speeds (60-65). Don't sweat it if the engine sings, these things were geared low. Rpm won't hurt them with in reason.

Pull off of the road and see how she sound then.

 

[FDChappie]

Robert has a good point. The 345 in my travelette used to have an occasional bad clack on startup and sometimes even for several miles. Several frequent oil changes and a good italian tune up and it never did it again. An italian tune up is working it good and hard with a heavy load up hill. These IH engines are designed for heavy truck duty and need a good hard run from time to time.