Ticking sound and "coughing" through carb

[Elliomcmh]

I reassembled the Packajet ford 460 engine on my 1977 cvx-20 jet boat. I had the starter rebuilt and the alternator voltage regulator adjusted. I set the initial timing to 10 Deg below TDC. I didn't have to remove the cam to do my repairs to the block.

Now I have a ticking sound coming from the engine that is present most of the time and when I accelerate above 2000 RPM to plane off, the carb "coughs" and it's just not running very smooth at all.
I also don't have adjustable valves Any idea what could be causing this? Thanks!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

most likely either a lean sneeze (extremely bad on the motor) or ignition cross-talk (also not to good on the motor)

the ticking sound could be arcing from the ignition

 

[Elliomcmh]

What could cause these ?

 

[Scott Danforth]

my first thought, you need points, condenser, cap, rotor, wires and plugs for the ignition (if that is truly what is making the ticking noise)

as far as a lean sneeze. generally its because your carburetor is plugged with crud.

 

[Bondo]

and when I accelerate above 2000 RPM to plane off, the carb "coughs" and it's just not running very smooth at all.

Ayuh,.... This sounds like a lean condition,....

Could be crud in the carb, the fuel pump, the fuel filter, the fuel tank, or fuel tank vent,....
Start by checkin' the Contents of the fuel filter for Crud, 'n change the filter,....

The tickin' noise could be Alota things, narrowin' down the area it's comin' from will no doubt help,.....
Could even be the u-joints in the double cardan joint, or bad pump alignment,.....

 

[Elliomcmh]

My compression was between 140-145 on all cylinders except cylinder #7 which had 160 psi. I think I've found my problem. There is slack in the cyl #3 exhaust rocker arm but the bolt is tightened all the way. I'm assuming that the hydraulic lifter is bad. Can I go to the parts store and get a replacement lifter for a Ford 460 around the same year?

 

[Antax]

For the internal parts, yes. You might also try soaking the lifter in oil for a day or so and pump a couple times while its still in the oil. Sometimes they loose their prime.

 

[Elliomcmh]

No Title

I pulled the intake manifold and the lifter in question. It looks like there is a dish that's approximately 0.016" deep. The cam lobe is still there and doesn't look bad. Is there a chance that a new lifter would fix this and get me through the summer? Or is my entire cam and everything shot?

 

[Antax]

That would most likely be where the tick is coming from. From the picture the cam lobe looks to be rounded a little. The cam should be flat all the way around except for the lobe itself which should have a slight "tilt" to it. This is to rotate the lifter a little on each rotation. I would pull the cam shaft and check the lobes over pretty good.

You might try just replacing the lifter but something else was wrong that caused the lifter to fail to begin with. Clogged push rod maybe? Also if the cam isn't smooth enough it could just wear out another lifter and it only takes a few mins to scrap a cam shaft.

 

[Grub54891]

That cam is truly going south. A lifter may help for awhile but I personally would replace the cam/lifters now.

 

[Elliomcmh]

I may try replacing all of the lifters to buy some time

 

[Elliomcmh]

I replaced them all, maybe it will get me through the summer, it's running pretty good now, time will tell.

 

[jimmbo]

I hope you applied cam assembly lube to the base of the lifters upon assembly, and didn't idle the engine for the first 20 minutes or so


New lifters and old cam = new cam and new lifters soon

 

[Daves70]

When you replace the cam and lifters. Make sure you use cam lube on everything. And use a zinc additive in the oil from now on. Modern oils are hard on flat tappet cams.