Valve tappet noise on a rebuilt 152

keith11

New member
Anyone had problems with valve tappet noise after a complete overhaul of a 152. The cam was reground and new cam bearing installed. New lifters were soaked and put under vacuum to remove any air. Original push rods were reused as well as the rocker arm assembly. After initial startup the valve tappet noise was there. I ran it about 20 minutes and the noise was still there. Removed the valve cover and ran the motor again for another 20 minutes.The valve tappet noise was coming from the #1 cylinder intake and exhaust valves and never quit. Thought maybe I had a couple of bad lifters so bought new ones and replaced them on the #1cylinder. The lifters I took out looked good and cam lobes were fine. Also checked for oil and it appeared ok. After installing the new lifter I still had the same valve tappet noise? Has anyone experienced this problem? I have heard when you have a re ground cam you could lose some lifter preload ??? Help!
 
The lifter should have .040-0.060" pre-load. You may need longer pushrods if you used a new head gasket and the camshaft base circle is now smaller.
 
Has the deck or head been surfaced? What head gasket is now installed?
The deck was not resurfaced. After disassembly of the head and valves it appeared that the head had been reconditioned recently in the past but not sure if the head was resurfaced. After cleaning all the valves and seats, valve guides and head surface flatness looked good. Lapped the valves and reassembled the head. A top end gasket set witch included the head gasket was purchased through NAPA.
 
The lifter should have .040-0.060" pre-load. You may need longer pushrods if you used a new head gasket and the camshaft base circle is now smaller.
Yes a new head gasket was installed from NAPA. Don’t understand why just a couple of valves if the base circle was changed during regrind,
Do you know if they make an adjustable push rod that may be used?
 
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