Alright so i have about 400 or less miles on my 302. Something just does not feel right about it, like something is wrong. My dad thinks its the cam and he want to pull it, i just want to see if there is any ways to check for a worn lobe before pulling the camshaft since i am doing the work not him haha. so i am looking around and i heard there should be a popping in the exhaust or intake. I have not heard anything like that though. When we first ran it there was a a slight ticking on the left side, but then it was gone. Engine shakes noticeably. Maybe that had to do with improper cam break in. Can the lifters show any sign? I've had a problem with timing and my engine is running about 30 deg BTC (i believe stock settings is in the teens if im correct) it does not like to run mid 20's and below. could a bad lobe cause that? Also i had the white smoking problem a while ago if you remember, well now sometimes its blue smoke... it is obviously oil since it is blueish and smells like it. but it only burns oil for the first couple seconds when it starts up after sitting for a while. so now im thinking a valve is stuck or is not seating right. yeah i got a lot of problems. hopefully rebuilding engines wont be this complicated again in the future
Your timing at idle should be around 14 degrees your total timing at like 3000 rpms should be like 32 degrees. What kind of heads are on the car? It could also be a possible valve adjustment.
Depending on the balancer, Ford used three sets of timing marks, and usually replacements only come with two, but the stock Maverick timing pointer is for the third..Took me over a week of phone calls, to figure out what was wrong with mine after the rebuild.
If its blowing blue smoke on start up...You have a leaking valve seal and or a bad valve guide...Your issue could be an oil fouled spark plug. Improper valve adjustment. One pushrod is too long... You need to solve your timeing issues first. Definitely pull both valve covers and visually inspect your valve train. Look for broken valve springs, loose or cracked rocker arms, etc...Spin the engine and see if all the rockers are moving the same amount...If one moves too much or too little...You found the problem. Did you put the engine together??? how did you adjust the valves??? What are the specs of your cam??? Is it a hydraulic or solid cam??? What kind of rockers are you useing??? Are you useing stock pushrods??? Have the heads been milled more than .020??? How did you install the cam/crank gears and timeing chain??? Sorry to grill you but...The answers to these questions can help us help you diagnose the problems you have...
I assembled the engine 90%, the whole bottom end. i had the macine shop assemble the valves, springs, whatnot. I did no adjusting on the valves, just put everything together. figures the shop had already adjusted. The camshaft is a comp cams, cant recall exact but its a mild high energy cam. hydrolic. I am using the stock Rocker arms and pushrods. I will need to look into how much the heads were milled, dont know right now. I made sure #1 piston was at TDC and the the dots on each gear were on top of each other. Haha your fine about the questions, your helping me out!
Ok soo...You did not adjust the rocker arms at all. Its easy on to do soo. Pay attention...You have what is called a positive stop valve train. You turn the rocker arm nuts till they stop, then give em a quarter turn and your done. There is a torque spec for the nuts but...I have never had a problem with the nuts backing off on a stock valve train setup. Now...If the machine shop changed your rocker arm studs to say...Screw in studs. They are probably not positive stop any more. You need to know for sure before adjusting the rockers. Remember when you do this that the valve has to be closed completely on the rocker you are adjusting. As long as you can rotate the pushrod with your fingers...The valve is closed. I think the adjustment may solve most of your problems...Good luck!!! The dots on your cam and crank gears should be lined up...Cam gear dot at 6 o'clock and the crank gear dot at 12 o'clock so they are one above the other directly not cam gear at 12 o'clock...You may have to take the front cover off if I read your response correctly and rotate your cam 180 deg to match the crank at TDC...Do this first if so.
Did you run high zinc break in oil and run it at 2,000 RPM for 20 minutes to break in the cam? I lost two camshafts during break-in a few years ago before I knew about the zinc issue.
Oh ok i understand what you mean! (sorry don't really know much vocabulary yet im pretty new to this) Yes i did do that. I made sure the valve was in the closed position and i torqued the nuts down a quarter turn. i guess ill go back and double check that.
Yes i used zinc and revved for about 2000-3000 for 20 min. unfortunately i lost oil pressure in 5 min of my first run due to a popped oil galley plug. so i stopped and fixed that. hopefully that didnt screw anything up. i have to tell a dirty secret...i am using comp springs, that have the dual inner spring. i did not take them out. i know, stupid me.
If you are still running the positive stop press in studs you could easily pull the studs out with that kind of spring pressure. Not to mention the HP your giving up with stiffer springs than you need.
