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Help installing my rocker arms??!!!!

J

Jimminyc

NAXJA Forum User
Location
GJ, Colorado
I ended up with my rocker arms getting cleaned at the engine shop and they came back in a box all apart. So, now im trying to install them and i noticed that 6 of the arms have grooves that widen one way, and the other six have grooves that widen the other way. i know its important to line them up with the proper grooves on the cap that bolts on to the head. Any idea which rockers go where????


also, can i put my oil pump back together and seal it with sylicone?
Brian
 
As for the oil pump, I would be hesitant to use anything that might have the slightest chance of coming loose and getting into any of the oil passages.

I checked the head from a 94 4.0 HO and I didn't notice any grooves. I'll pull some off later tonight and check (if you don'y have an answer sooner)

chris
 
yea, the grooves are on the inside of the rockers where the bolt and retainer go....where it pivits as the engine runs....but like i said...not sure which 6 go which way???? help?
 
My book only lists one rocker (part number) for both intake and exhaust?
A little late, but a cheapo electric engraver or a set of number/letter punches, can save a lot of aggravation.
Every book I've ever read (in the last 35 years or so) recommends putting the rockers, the valves, the push rods or whatever back where they came from. Always a good practice to mark everything you take off for position and direction. And don't count on the factory markings either, I have two number three connecting rod caps in my motor from the factory.
Hold a straight edge across the bottom of the oil pump and check the gear clearance. Just a guess, but I wouldn't put the cover on without a gasket unless I had a few thousandths of clearance. The last time I had the cover off, I tore the gasket. I made my own gasket out of copper foil. I tried to match the thickness of the original gasket, pretty closely.
 
The way the bridges fit into the pivots you can't get them wrong. There is a pair.
new20rocker20arms.jpg

installing-rocker-arms.jpg
 
ok...im looking at them and i could totally put them in wrong. See in the pic where there are 2 grooves on the pivits and the rockers. you are supposed to line up the grooves.. wide side to wide and narrow to narrow...well 6 of my rockers get narrow toward the spring...and six get wide toward the pushrod. Is this not normal??
 
Jimminyc said:
ok...im looking at them and i could totally put them in wrong. See in the pic where there are 2 grooves on the pivits and the rockers. you are supposed to line up the grooves.. wide side to wide and narrow to narrow...well 6 of my rockers get narrow toward the spring...and six get wide toward the pushrod. Is this not normal??
Click to expand...
They should be an X wide to narrow.
Trouble is I would never mix used parts, they should have been kept in pairs if you want to reuse them.
 
Concur. If you don't know which pivots went with exactly which rockers, it's not worth putting them back in.

Having said that, the grooves are for oiling, and should cross rather than align - having the grooves cross will help to keep oil between the surfaces of the rocker and the pivot.

Anyhow, if you don't KNOW for certain which pivots went with which rockers, and which rockers went on which valves, it's not worth the trouble to put htem back in - just buy new ones. No sense in having a parts failure that is entirely preventable.

5-90

Oh - the oil pump? Get or make a new gasket - using gasket paper, or soft copper foil (cut carefully...) I've NEVER used silicone or RTV in an oil pump housing, and I'm not about to. No sense in getting squished pieces of RTV loose, run through the oil pump, and clogging some important oiling hole (bear in mind, the smaller the hole, the more important it is...)

5-90
 
ok, well thanks guys...i now have heard 2 differing things. Puts me in a tough spot. My machinist said to allign the grooves on the rockers with the ones on the pivits...so your saying i should cross them? by the way, happy new year!
 
The grooves carry oil throughout the surface - you'll want to cross them so you get maximum coverage on both surfaces (and I've taken a couple top ends to bits - that's the way they come from the factory.)

However, if you haven't PERMANENTLY marked the parts (there's a good reason I've got an engraver in my toolbox...) to match them back up, DO NOT reuse them. It will be a lot easier on you to just replace the parts - and you might wnat to engrave numbers on them as you install them (on surfaces that don't wear against each other, naturally.) The only "parts" that are safe to switch are the bolts that anchor them - and even those, I tend to keep in the same holes when I pull them out (just being thorough.)

But - short form -
YES, you should cross the grooves - to promote oiling of the pivot surface.
NO, you should not reuse the rockers, if you can't match them up.

5-90
 
I agree with not reuseing the parts, as each one has worn to match a certain partner, and the resulting mis-match on the wear patterns can cause ALOT of trouble- the tips of the pushrods cause the rockers to wear in a certain pattern and the valve tip does also. The pivot points on the rockers and the "balls" have thier own pattern, too. If you get the wrong parts together, then you can overload the worn area as the rocker moves, from the stress imposed by mis matched contact areas, and the worn area can break, with the chance for some NASTY engine damage.
 
Jimminyc said:
ok, well thanks guys...i now have heard 2 differing things. Puts me in a tough spot. My machinist said to allign the grooves on the rockers with the ones on the pivits...so your saying i should cross them? by the way, happy new year!
Click to expand...
But thats the same guy that also just threw them in a box, trust us we know what were talking about.
 
ok...guess ill order some new ones. how much should a set of rockers and rods cost?? i sure dont wanna mess up this rebuild. also, i still dont know, has anyone else seen the 2 different grooves on the rockers before? just curious about that.
 
Jimminyc said:
ok...guess ill order some new ones. how much should a set of rockers and rods cost?? i sure dont wanna mess up this rebuild. also, i still dont know, has anyone else seen the 2 different grooves on the rockers before? just curious about that.
Click to expand...

No but I got a box of nails here and half of them have the head on the wrong end.
(edit) Oh wait those are for the other side of the house.
 
ok, so you guys think im nuts!! but seriously, 6 rockers have the grooves get wider toward the pushrod and 6 get wider toward the valve spring. seriously. trust me, i have stared at them way too long thinking maybe im nuts, even had a friend look at them to make sure 6 were different than the others. ....not a nail situation, but funny.
 
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