Why is no oil spurting out from the pushrod-rocker arms in the valve train at cold idle. No valve train noise. Runs smooth.

Hi Complete Auto:
- I would first check to make sure that I had the correct amount of oil in the engine. Basic, but essential.
- The valve tapping will be happening due to too much clearance between the rocker arm and the valve. Follow that back and there will be slack between the rocker arm and pushrod, and then back to the lifter.
- The lifters have an integral hydraulic action that pumps oil through the hollow pushrod to the rocker arm assembly.
- If the lifter "pumping" has failed due to contamination or some other reason, it will need to be replaced.
- If there is too much slack and the rocker is adjustable, slack off the lock nut and turn the adjustment until the tapping stops. Then tighten the lock nut and re-install the rocker/valve cover.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.

Some tapping is normal with age and mileage. Wear on the cam and lifters and followers causes it.

Without hearing the noise I can only guess. Probably a hydraulic lifter. Many 50s, 60s and 70s engines had this problem. Varnish builds up in the lifter body. If it's just a SLIGHT tick, I wouldn't worry about it. You could try a different brand of oil and some engine cleaner.

As an aside, I personally own a 91 GMC pick-up with a 4.3. It had a clicking lifter on start up and 10 min after. I always used Castrol oil, supposedly one of the best. Switched to Penzoil, it was on sale. No more click!

If you want to try and un-stick it, try this. Be forewarned, it WILL make a mess! Try and locate which side of the engine the noise is coming from. Remove the valve cover. Inspect for bent pushrods and rocker arm stud pulling out of the head. If you find either of these problems, disassemble the whole valve train and inspect/replace worn parts. Back then, Pontiacs and SBCs were notorious for studs pulling out of the head if you ran them hard.

Start engine. Oil will spray/mist everywhere. You were warned. LOL
Watch the rocker arms as it idles. If one does not move as far as the others, and the click is more of a bang, you have a collapsed lifter. A worn cam lobe will be much more quiet than a collapsed lifter, but you will see decreased movement of the rocker arm. Replacement is the only option on both.

Take a RUBBER (not metal ) or plastic dead-blow hammer and rap the rocker arm(s) several times where the pushrod mates with it. Over the years I have used this method with approx 60% success.

I tried the DIY service and repair manuals from a website and it actually helped me repair transmission problem in my jcb 3cx site-master. it wont move
forward or reverse, engine is good both solenoids for forward and reverse work.
I don't have much technical knowledge but I just followed it step-wise, and works perfect! got it from www.reliable-store.com

This is kind of hard to judge without hearing it. Lets say the noise is the pellets in the Catalytic converter that some types of automakers used, with low flow at idle, the loose pellets can bounce around until the flow increases and pins them to the insides of the Catalytics.

However, if you rebuilt the motor you would know some mechanical stuff. I can move on to more possibilities.

Oil pressure starvation can make the pushrods rattle in the rocker arms. The engine oil pressure will cushion the critical area between the rocker arm and the pushrod seat.

On the rebuilds, have you worked on the heads? Like valve spring tension and pushrod clearance? I have had engines that would idle perfect until accelerated and return to idle clanging and missing. The valve springs were shot. Then I have had some GM motors that had hydraulic lifters yet the pushrods were different lengths and that is how the pushrod clearance was made; by changing individual pushrods to get the correct clearance.

This is something that can occur when the valve seats are cut. The valve stem can ride up into the head slightly when the seats are cut.

Now you may have replaced the camshaft or the lifters or not. But it is recommended that each lifter is paired with a camshaft lobe. If you mixed the lifters into different positions, you may have distortions that are resulting in noisy clearance problems. For that matter, camshaft bearings may be loose.

The Jeep and American Motors cars used a 232 CID engine too. Can't say what components were different but you may have mixed parts.

Now some models used a Rattle or knock sensor, and in the old days, you could get a rattle from weak distributor springs in the breaker plate. The mechanical advance would throw out too fast.

I am curious. Would like to know what you found.

No, you pull off the valve covers and intake manifold, loosen the rocker arms, turn them off the pushrods, and lift the pushrods off the lifters. Replace the lifters one at a time so you don't mix up the pushrods. If you have to take a rocker off, remember which valve to put it back on. You may have to turn the engine a bit to lift up the lifters enough to grab. For more exact procedure, including torque values, please send your engine size.

put the rocker arm on get lifter on backside of cam ajust pushrod so rocker tip is in the center of valve then measer pushrod

Inspect/Test/Service/Replace Hydraulic lifters can fail for several reasons:

• Dirt lodged in the check valve can allow the lifter to leak. Too much wear between the lifter and the body can cause excessive leak-down. This results in a noisy lifter.
• A lifter might be noisy because of an oil pressure problem.

NOTE An oil pressure problem will be evident on hollow pushrod engines if no oil is reaching the rocker arms.

• A lifter can become stuck because of varnish that accumulates between its plunger and body due to a lack of periodic oil changes.
• A stuck lifter can sometimes be freed up by the addition of an additive to the oil, or by spraying fuel system spray cleaner down a hollow pushrod oil channel.
• Lifters that stick because of varnish buildup can sometimes be loosened up by squirting carburetor spray cleaner down the hollow pushrod lubricating channel, where it contacts the rocker arm.

Hydraulic lifters are not rebuilt because they are relatively inexpensive. It is possible to disassemble and clean lifters but they must be reassembled with their mated parts. Because of the labor time involved, this procedure is usually impractical.
Sometimes a piece of foreign material becomes lodged in the lifter check valve. If the lifter is removed and disassembled before serious wear between the lifter and cam lobe results, it may be cleaned.
Worn mechanical (solid) lifters can be reground.

• The base of the lifter is ground to a radius on a special lifter grinder.
• Roller lifters have a longer service life than standard lifters.
• Wear can occur on the roller pin. Some of these pins are serviceable.

It might occasionally be necessary to disassemble a hydraulic lifter to clean it or to inspect it.

• If this is necessary, disassemble one lifter at a time and pay attention to the order of the check valve assembly.
• Lifter disassembly is done by pressing down on the pushrod seat with your thumb and using a screwdriver to remove the snap ring.
• Remove the plunger from the body; this may require tapping the body.
• Next, remove the check valve assembly.
• After thoroughly cleaning the lifter components in solvent, visually inspect them for signs of wear.
• If the internal components pass inspection, the lifter can be reassembled.
• During reassembly, cleanliness of the parts is of utmost importance.

Please don't forget to rate!!!!

2.2L Engine When installing new lifters, a pre-lube should always be applied to the lifter body. It is also a good idea to prime hydraulic lifters by submerging them in clean engine oil and depressing the plunger using an old pushrod. This allows the internal components of the hydraulic lifter to coat with oil before initial operation in the engine. All lifters should be replaced when a new camshaft is installed.
If any valve train components (lifters, pushrods, rocker arms) are to be reused, they must be tagged or arranged during removal to assure installation in their original locations.

1. Remove the rocker arm cover.
   
2. Remove the cylinder head assembly from the engine.
   
3. Remove the bolts retaining the lifter anti-rotation brackets, then remove the brackets.
   
4. Remove the hydraulic roller lifters from the bores.
   
5. Inspect the lifter and lifter bore for wear and scuffing. Examine the roller for freedom of movement and/or flat spots on the roller surface.
   

Remove the bolts retaining the lifter anti-rotation brackets ...



... then remove the anti-rotation brackets



The lifters are located in bores in the engine block



Use a lifter removal tool to remove the lifters from the bore

To install:
If installing a new lifter, coat the lifter body with a suitable camshaft pre-lube

1. Install each hydraulic lifter to its bore being careful to align the flat sides (top) of the lifters with the flat sides of the anti-rotation brackets. When properly installed the flat sides of each lifter are aligned parallel to the anti-rotation bracket. The roller at the bottom of the lifter is parallel to the camshaft lobe.
   

Make sure to properly align and install each lifter as improper installation of the lifters or brackets could result in engine damage.

1. Install the anti-rotation bracket retaining bolts and tighten to 97 inch lbs. (11 Nm).
   
2. Install the cylinder head.
   
3. Install the rocker arm cover.
   

Removing the hydraulic roller lifter from the 2.2L engine

The 3.1/3.4 engines are built the same way. The oil goes through the cam bearings then to the lifters, then the push rods to the rocker arms. The last engine I seen that had a weird problem had the cam bearings spun. Unfortunately there is no easy way to check for this problem short of disassembling the engine.

The other possibility would be bad lifters but loosing half of the engine lifters wouldn't be possible. Sometimes the pushrods wear on the contact areas also but not usually half an engine.

This isn't going to be easy, Good luck.