How bad could this be?

[lawdog1623]

I began reassembling the painted parts to my truck today. I began tightening everything down and started the injection pump removal. The air compressor housing was already loose so i figured i would take it off to make working on the inj pump easier. i removed the compressor bracket and what i saw is in the attached picture. what your looking at is the farthest pushrod to the front of the truck on the driver side. it immediately struck me as odd because there was a large nut around the rod and loose at the bottom resting on the seat. its loose and slides freely up and down along the rod. The rod isnt loose it does not move up or down at all but does spin. The nut looks to be the exact same size as the nuts that secure the head to the block. im going to remove the valve covers and snap a few pictures as well. Has anyone got any suggestions as to where this nut came from ir what its supposed to be attached to? i dont want to drive it and ive had another member suggest that this could have mistakenly been dropped and fell onto the pushrod and forgotten.

 

[lawdog1623]

i removed the calve cover and immediately noticed that it appears someone dropped the nut that anchors the head under the valve cover. its the only apparent explanation. if a tech dropped that nut it would fall down that first hole. looks like he was just too lazy to get it after he secured the valvetrain. What say you guys to this theory?

my second question involves the second picture where you can clearly see that the left rod with the nut on it is missing what appears to be a sleeve that inserts into the block casting at the bottom. every other rod has this but the one with the nut on it. can i remove the rod from the valvetrain easily and remove the rogue nut? once its out can that sleeve be easily inserted or am i screwed?

 

[swbradley1]

You can pull the whole valve train assembly pretty easy. You can either pull it and try to put the sleeve in or just take the nut off or just leave it alone. How long has it been running that way? Any issues?

 

[gimpyrobb]

It shouldn't be hard to fix, I would try to fix it if it were my truck.

 

[lawdog1623]

It shouldn't be hard to fix, I would try to fix it if it were my truck.

i think im gonna remove the valvetrain and pull out the rogue nut. im not versed in this stuff at all but my old man is a wrencher from way back. hes asking if the valvetrain is adjustable or not and im not sure. i havent consulted the tm yet. are those sleeves at the bottom of the rod drop easily installed? ive driven the truck for a while with no problems. it runs fantastic but i would hate for that nut to fracture and cause a catastrophic failure of some sort.

 

[lawdog1623]

this truck has made me work for everything ive gotten out of it. ive got a lot of man hours in the motor refreshening. it would break my heart if it took a dive

 

[gimpyrobb]

I don't know about the guide. A buddy might have a parts motor, want me to try and pull one out? The valves are adjustable.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I'm not certain about this sleeve you are referring to. Perhaps I just can't see. Pulling the valve train up would be faster than trying to whittle the nut off with a dremel.

 

[lawdog1623]

that would be great. thank you so very much. these trucks are my babies. and many thanks to tom for talking me out of a heart attack!

 

[swbradley1]

Look at you original pictures of the rocker assembly. The slotted adjuster with the lock nut is where you adjust the valves. that's what he is asking.


Also, before another mod gets to this please use proper punctuation and capitalization. Thanks

 

[lawdog1623]

Sorry, im on an iphone. Is there any way to remove the valvetrain without losing its timing? I figured it the engine doesnt turn over or move, i should be able to remove the whole assembly, retrieve the rogue nut and reinstall without messing up its setting. Im probably dead wrong and im sorry for being dumb on all this but thanks for the urgent responses.

 

[gimpyrobb]

The valve rocker arms will un-bolt and pull off. Then you can pull the push rods out. Once your done, put everything back together and you should be good, nothing will change.

I would check the rocker arm gaps once your done. Many trucks have them out of spec and benefit from the gap being correct. Your doing this as preventive maintenance, not because the work you did would mess anything up.

 

[lawdog1623]

well here is the "rogue nut". Thanks to gimpy rob for the confidence boost. Notice the mushrooming of the nut where it has been hitting the block casting. This has the same markings as the head nut under the valve cover and judging by where i found it, some army mechanic dropped it down the hole where the pushrod seats. The diameter of the hole is absolutely perfect for the pushrod to drop right through. There is only enough room for it to slide up and down the rod. If this hefty nut had split or fragmented im sure it would have toasted my motor. i looked at every other rod to make sure there were no other foreign objects. as soon as possible ill be dropping the pan and checking the nuts on the crank with a mechanic friend of mine. I also checked the rod by rolling it across a marble countertop. It is straight as a string. My wife was nothing short of pissed when she saw me in the kitchen rolling a greasy push rod across the table top she hand kneads bread on! Anyhow, i highly suggest owners pull the valvecovers and look at the pushrods. Theyre easily seen from the top of the motor. Thanks all, and god bless.

 

[ducer]

Mechanics like to play pranks on one another. When I was a wrench I would like to throw 1 extra transmission check ball on the trans guys bench after he got the transmission rebuilt! He would go half trying to figure out where it came from. The guy was kind of a jerk so I was not the only one who did this. Some one with the same twisted sense of humor probably did this to simulate misadjusted lash, probably ticked like hel1.

Denny

 

[lawdog1623]

i was thinking about this the other day and i do remember a distinctly loud click that was audible when the truck was at idle. i thought it was odd at the time but i just sort of dismissed it. I parked the truck almost a year ago and started tearing the engine apart so over time i had forgotten about that particular point until finding this. I think in going to just go ahead and put a new pushrod in the place of this one. I checked it and its nice and straight but you never can tell how that nut may have compromised the rod by sliding up and down it. I guess i could mic the rod at multiple places to ensure that its not narrowed or worn in any area the nut may have been touching. Would this be a good idea?

 

[gimpyrobb]

I wouldn't worry about it, but if you are, contact scsgmike. He had brandy new ones.

 

[SCSG-G4]

Gimpy's right. I'm the prince of poppet valve push rods! You want just one or a packet of 12? A full set is $25 plus the ride.