Tickety friggin tick

Jorgo85 · 03-04-2007, 11:08 PM

I have just had my head reconditioned. The water jacket between the 3rd and 4th cylinder had corroded out and needed welding and re-facing. I paid $550 for the weld job, and an extra $80 for the bloke to put a lifter kit through the lifters. I removed the head myself and spent 12 hrs today re-assembling everything and triple checking all the bolts and torque specs. I finally started the car at about 7pm (WA time) and I was expecting a bit of lifter noise for the first minute or 2, but after five minutes, it still sounds like a diesel. It seems as though the cam is running dry. The (factory) oil pressure gauge is reading about half way up. Or alternativly the engine reconditioner has stuffed all my lifters. When I took the head off, I applied pressure to the rocker arms to try and find the dodgy one. None of them budged. I checked them again before putting the head on, and they're all soft. Can anyone shed some light on the subject before I tear the mechanic a new **** hole?

Any help will be most appreciated.
Cheers
Sam

Aaron_EF8 · 03-04-2007, 11:57 PM

Why do you think they're called 'TickFords' :P

Did you get the cam chain tensioner in properly? Enough oil in the sump? Did you change the oil when you did the head? The lifters take a few minutes to build up pressure and get oil in them, although 5 minutes seems a bit excessive. Someone on here who has done a heap of these should be able to answer that better.

I'd ring the mechanic and see what he says without being rude before you go mental at him.