<VV> white smoke, valve train noise - need HELP!

[BobHelt at aol.com]

hi Ron,
I'll give you my suggestions. Please see below.
Regards,
Bob Helt

In a message dated 4/3/05 6:10:34 PM US Mountain Standard Time, 
rbkj84 at conwaycorp.net writes:

> On 
> the right side of the engine, there is a strong valve tap noise that 
> began as I was driving.  I have had a lazy lifter on that side but it 
> always seems to pump up after a few minutes when the car has gone more 
> than a week without being driven.  There is a substantial amount of 
> white (not blue) smoke coming out of the right exhaust. 


White smoke can mean unburned gas, blowby or unburned oil. So to eliminate 
the first item, run the engine and look down the right side carbs for visible 
gas being released into the air stream. If there is some, you could have carb 
problems too.

The noise should be isolated before you do any major removals. So I suggest 
the best way to do that would be to back off one rocker nut at a time until the 
rocker is off the valve, with the engine running and the noise occuring. You 
may have to reinstall one or more of the rockers to keep the engine running, 
but when you hit the right valve the noise should stop. If it doesn't stop or 
both valves on a cylinder stop the noise you may have something wrong with that 
cylinder. When you determine that it is one and only one valve, then using 
that spring compressor might tell you more about the guide and its position. But 
if it isn't the lifter, then you will have to remove the head for repairs 
anyhow, so using the spring compressor won't really help much in all likelihood. 
So pull the the lifter associated with the bad valve and replace it with a new 
one. yes you can replace just one lifter at a time.

Ok in summary, determine if it is only one valve causing the problem, and 
which one it is. If it isn't a valve, it could be something with the piston or 
head. If it is just one valve, then replace the lifter. If that doesn't fix the 
problem (allow time for the lifter to pump up. In fact be sure that the new 
lifter is full of oil when you install it) then the problem could be with the 
guide or something else, but you will have to pull the head to fix that anyhow.

Ask if you have more questions

Bob Helt


 
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