Tick, tick, tick 96 xl 2wd 4cyl pickup

[Mmauldin]

At 300,000 miles, I replaced the timing chain, guides and tensioner, water pump, t- stat, hoses, belts, dist. Cap, rotor, plugs and wires, and replaced all the injectors. Oh yeah, and the oil pump, filters and oil with Mobile 1, new radiator and fan clutch.
Spared no expense...... To Say the least.
All was great until about 1 week of travel, say 800 miles, then the valves began to clatter like they were getting no oil. I pulled the valve cover and I have plenty of oil pressure. Had a lifetime warranty on the oil pump so I swapped it out ( primed it before installation of course) and the moderately loud ticking persists.
When I began on this engine renovation project and pulled the valve, timing and oil pan, this engine was sludge free and only needed the timing chain as an absolute must as the guide plastic was in the oil pan.
So I want to adjust the valves BUT they have no adjusters.

Any suggestions on solving my tick, tick, tick???

PS: I have pictures and a sound bite if that would help.

[Rev_D21]

Sometimes it can take a while for the rockers to purge all the air in them or you could have exposed lazy rockers by fixing everything else. Did you follow the procedure in the FSM for purging the air from the rockers? If not check out http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM for a copy of the service manual free on the house from us at NICO.

[Mmauldin]

Would lazy rockers show up after 800 miles?
I am very grateful for your wisdom. My truck is the same green as yours.
I take it that the hydralic lifter itself is replaceable or so I buy new rockers?

[Rev_D21]

There is a tech article on NICO about how to clean them up and get them working again. Search around. If I find it I will post it here.

[Rev_D21]

Here it is:

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/ka24e- ... epair.html

[Mmauldin]

That's an excellent article. Guess what I will be doing Sat. Morning...
You are GREAT!
This beats a $600 bill for new rockers.

[Rev_D21]

Glad I could help. Let us know how it turns out.

[Mmauldin]

I ended having to make a few picks to remove the lash retainers. I had to order 3 new rockers as the lash faces were either pitted or cracked. I have the rest cleaned and ready for assembly when the new one come in this week.

[Mmauldin]

No more tick - sounds like a sewing machine with umph!!
Thank you again for all your help.

[Rev_D21]

Awesome! Glad we could help! Now go enjoy it.