Why do I need to adjust my valves every 200 miles???

SCHOOL BUS

SCHOOL BUS

DLRA T-O
Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
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I keep hearing a hollow knock/pop thru my air filter. I'll get the valves relashed and it goes away, only to come back in 200 miles. Bad lifter? Bent push rod? Worn cam lobe?

I'm running pdr 90lb springs and some greg hogue billet push rods.
 
oh and when I rev to 2000rpms in neutral and blip the throttle it pops and puffs a little white smoke.


Smarty settings right now are sw3, default timing, stock rpms, stock rail pressure
 
you might need new nuts, sound like they are backing off on you. Sometimes they can get worn and dont hold properly

Thats what I would try
 
morkable said:
you might need new nuts, sound like they are backing off on you. Sometimes they can get worn and dont hold properly

Thats what I would try
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How much are they out of spec?

Guess you could clean the nut and adjustment rod and mark them with something that would stay so you could check if there backing off or not.
 
They would be cheaper at cummins.... and they wouldn't look at you like a monster when you ask for them like dodge will.
 
I have never had to adjust mine on my truck to be honest. But when I was racing gas stuff, if it was a hydraulic lifter, I would back them off till they made noise, then tighten down till the noise just quit, then approx 1/4 turn after that. On a solid lifter I would use feeler guages and tighten till the feeler guage felt "sticky" and call it good
 
SCHOOL BUS said:
I keep hearing a hollow knock/pop thru my air filter. I'll get the valves relashed and it goes away, only to come back in 200 miles. Bad lifter? Bent push rod? Worn cam lobe?

I'm running pdr 90lb springs and some greg hogue billet push rods.
Click to expand...

Check your rockers cause the iirc the 03-05 have the little plastic piece that tend to let loose. if might be time to just replace the rockers with a set of roller rockers or a set from a 2nd gen.
 
SCHOOL BUS said:
what's the proper procedure on lashing valves? Can I get these nuts at dodge?
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Scott i did mine the other day, not to bad at all took about an hour, i did a search on the other forum i use and found a great thread with pics. . .

idles like a new truck now, smoothed out a bit, but mine has 177k on the ticker so it was about time. .
 
Is it the same rocker that's loose every time? Next time you go and do it check the lash on them before you adjust it and that might help us narrow it down.
 
I wanna do it myself this time. The last few times I've dropped it at a shop. So I don't really know how to do it. Tyler, I'd drive over and let you tutor me but don't know if I should drive that far with it doing it. So from posts in this thread: I should check the nuts, and plastic piece associated with the rocker.
 
i adj the int when the ex for that cyl starts to open and adj the ex when the int for that cyl starts to close

using that method i am sure the ea follower is on the heal of the cam where its supposed to be

dont like the method cummins recommends but it is a lot quicker to do them their way
 
Are you having less lash or more? IF it is more lash, then you most likely have a tappet or a lobe starting to wear.....darn low zinc oil. It could also be a dropping valve seat , if it is a more lash issue.
If it is a less lash issue, and it is on the exhaust only, and you get it toasty hot, it could be your exh valves stretching on hard/hot pulls. I have seen this one time.
In either case you need to isolate which cylinder(s) are the culprit, is it less or more lash, and then diagnose accordingly.

Zach
 
Slide the correct size feeler gauge in there. If it slides in real easy then the lash is growing larger. If it doesn't slide in at all then it's growing smaller. Intake should be .010 and exhaust is .020. There's a set of instructions in the tech fact section on how to set the valve lash. It's really simple.
 
Sounds like a cam lobe wearing down, valve seat starting to drop, maybe a bent pushrod that's getting worse.
 
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