The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Input needed on sticky 292 intake valve

Hi all ,
Well the 65 P30 project is moving right along . The sand blasting was done this afternoon , and I was very pleased to find that there's very minor body damage under all the paint that was on it .
Anyway, The engine has a problem that just won't go away . This van sat for at least 4 years . It turned over , but had a real hard spot like maybe there was something in one of the cylinders . The problem was a stuck intake valve in #5 .
Once the valve was freed up it ran fine . The problem now is the valve sticks when the engine cools down . it has already bent 2 push rods . Any ideas as to why this valve will not free up ,or what can be done short of pulling the head ?
Thanks for any help in advance .

I personally would pull the head. Im not one for quick fixes and hate to see people do things twice, or three times. If you pull the head I hope the bottom end is still pretty strong or you could start having problems with the bottom. Good Luck!


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Does it burn oil, especially at idle? Could be that the valve seals are really bad. In my younger days we had a tool for changing them without removing the head. I agree that if you pull the head, you may have ring problems next. Good Luck.

I've had good luck with Marvelous Mistry oil, thats about the only quick fix I would try, put it in and run it if its not too bad, it's a definate 50/50

Thanks for the replies !
I know the best way is to pull the head , the problem is I'm not ready to get that far into the engine at this time . I'm just trying to get this truck to a point that I feel safe about driving it 20 miles . Dang tow guys want 200 bucks to haul it 20 miles and that 200 can buy a lot of parts is the way I'm looking at it .
Other than the valve issue , the van is in really good shape mechanically . Okay...so it needs king pins , that's not major deal , or is it ?
I had totally forgotten just how well these old trucks were built . I mean any part that moves has a grease fitting . Even the spring shackles have grease fittings . I'm starting to get a little excited about fixing up this old van .

On another note , anyone have any idea of where I might find the head light assemblies and the radiator support ?

Well , ocne again thanks for the info .

You say it only sticks when it cools off? Don't take any long breaks on your 20 mile drive and it shouldn't stick.

I'm a firm believer in Kroil. It's by far the best penetrating oil I've used in the 50+ years I've been twisting wrenches, and short of pulling the head and getting a valve job done, it's the only way I'd try to free up a sticky valve.

www.kanolabs.com

I buy it in the 1-gallon can- - - - -that's about a 2-year supply for me, but I use a lot of it in my gunsmithing business as well as around the auto shop.

Pull the valve cover and squirt a healthy dose of Kroil onto the valve stem from the top side, let it soak awhile, then fire up the engine ane dribble enough of it into the intake at a fast idle to get heavy smoke from the exhaust. Shut the engine down and let it sit overnight. When you restart it, goose the throttle a few times, and run it at a fast idle until the smoke clears. It won't hurt to put a little Kroil into the crankcase for your trip home. 6 or 8 ounces should be plenty. It will give the whole lubricating system a good cleanup on the way. Good stuff!
Jerry

Are you sure the valve isn't bent? Is the rocker O.K.? Hard to believe that "sticking" could bend push rods.
The old saying comes to mind: There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over.

cm

Well , to be honest , I really do have the feeling that the valve might be "tweaked" a tad , and that's why its sticking .
When the stuck valve was discovered , I kept applying carburetor cleaner and PB Blaster on it for a couple of days . With that and slight tapping with a dead blow hammer , the valve started to move . But it was really stiff . It would tap down and then slowly rebound .
Here's what doesn't make sense . After working with it for awhile it "broke free" but then it would stick again . It kept repeating this action of being free and then sticking . Once it seemed to be freed the engine was started and run for at least an hour . Additional squirts of PB Blaster and clean motor oil were squirted into all valve springs in an effort to clean and lube the stems . The compression was all over the place before the engine was run ,(75-160) but settled back to a respectable 155-165 psi in all cylinders after it was run awhile .

The reason that I have concerns about the valve being bent is the way it will stick one second and be totally free the next .
The engine has been run for several hours now and yet the valve will still stick . What doesn't add up is the compression in that cylinder still being equal with the other cylinders . I'd think that a bent valve would leak , but maybe the stem is tweaked just enough that it is causing the valve to stick , but allowing the head of the valve to still seal .

It's all guessing at this point , and I won't know for certain until I tear it down .

I haven't goosed the crap out of the engine for fear the valve might stick at higher rpm. The higher rpm needed to drive it 20 miles on the highway is my main concern . The "what if" the valve should stick at higher rpm ?

I'll look into the Kroil , but I have to say that I've never seen it around here . Not that I was looking for it , but you know how you just happen notice things while killing time in the automotive store for hours waiting for wife to finish checking out the latest in new Bra's . After awhile a guy can get a pretty good idea of what new engine in a can stuff is out there .

Well... today is suppose to be the big day for getting the van home , so with any luck it will make it in one piece . If the valve is stuck again when I get there...I think that I'll have to break down and have it towed . I really don't want to replace the engine over a tow bill .

Thanks again for the input !

Kroil is primarily merchandized to industrial, commercial, and military customers. It's very seldom I've ever seen it on the shelf of auto parts or hardware stores, and then only the Mom & Pop independents. It's too expensive to appeal to the WD-40 and PB Blaster crowd, no matter how good it is. They do have a direct-order option on the website.

I don't know about now, but 30 years ago, every military base worldwide stocked Kroil as their primary penetrating oil. Gotta be good if Uncle Sam ships it all over the world for use on GI equipment!
Jerry

Thanks for the heads up on the Kroil Jerry .
I have discovered yet another problem with this van . Seems this is a one step forward two steps back operation .
The engine "seems" to be running fine except... the latest problem . I was already to drive it on home and blah...it died . No fuel getting through the pump . Better it happened before hitting the road .
So , most of the day was spent chasing the reason it wasn't getting any fuel . The fuel pump is new , but as much as I can tell is having a problem getting fuel to / through it . It'll pump for a little bit then quit . The thought at this point is the pump has become clogged with deposits from the tank . I knew better than to run it without a filter before the pump , but to be honest , I flat out forgot to install one .
So...I guess I'll have to pull the pump and the tank for a good cleaning .
Any thoughts on how to go about cleaning out a tank that has had really bad gas in it ? I have no idea if its rusted as well , but wouldn't be surprised if it is .

Thanks again .

Well...it never made the trip home . lol
It wasn't getting any fuel . So I have a theory . See if this makes any sense . The fuel was really bad in this van , but it ran . So it was allowed to burn the old fuel off , and fresh fuel was added . It ran fine with the exception of the sticking valve .
Okay , fast forward a couple of days . It seemed as if it had run out of gas on Friday just as I was getting ready to drive it home . I thought this was strange seeing as to how I had dumped 8 gallons of fuel into it a couple of days earlier . Today 2 more gallons were added into it...and nothing . New fuel pump failed ? No . Able to blow back through the fuel line ? No !
The fuel line is totally blocked . Tried adding pressure to the tank and no fuel came out of the line . At this point I started to drain off the tank . When I ran out of cans and pulled the hose from the tank there was this black goo on the hose . Nasty looking goo . My thought is this is deposits from the fuel and not only blocked the fuel line , but also could be the cause of the sticking valve , or as it was this morning "valves" . Three of the intake valves were stuck this morning ! All were towards the rear or the engine . "weird"
Could this goo , or varnish be getting onto the valve stems and then acting like a glue when the engine cools down ? What else could cause just the intake valves to be sticking ?

Guess I'll find out what the stuff is tomorrow when the tank gets pulled . Any tips on cleaning out the tank ?

Oh boy...I'm having fun now !

I'm bettin' the valve stem is bent a little bit. The valve probably rotates until it finds the spot where it gets stuck and there ya' go...Jim

I had the same issue on my 292. I used the Marvels mystery oil and a dead blow hammer. The other issue I ran into was a bad lifter on the same cylinder (#4 intake). My motor had set up for so long (10 or more years)the lifters would not release the pressure. Even after I freed up the valve, it kept bending push rods. I pulled the side covers and got new lifters. Worked out great!! Lifters are $3 a piece, x-number of pushrods at $1.50 per rod, didn't take long to realize the cheaper way, and of course the bending of the side covers. But mine did the exact same thing, so you may want to look at those lifters.

Okay...this is the story. I pulled the tank and it wasn't pretty . The pick-up was totally covered in goo . The tank itself is shot . I was able to clean it out fairly well , but I know the sides of the tank are covered with rust and deposits from the bad fuel .
Seeing as to how a new tank can't be found , I had no choice but to reinstall the old one . I've installed filters before the pump and after . So with 8 more gallons of fresh fuel and a quart of mystery oil the engine is running again . And...the valves are no longer sticking !
This crud that was in the tank was some nasty stuff . It was hard to clean off of the tools being used . I can see how it could have been getting on the valve stems , drying , and acting like glue . The # 6 intake valve had enough of this stuff on it that when I was able to get it to move it stayed down . Not good . I tapped and played around with that valve for a half an hour and it wasn't coming back up . As a last ditch attempt to free it , I did something I really didn't want to do . I placed heat on the head around the base of the valve spring . I was lucky . The valve broke free real quick . Once the engine was started it ran on maybe 4 then 5 and finally all 6 . It was allowed to run for a couple of hours and its been fine ever since . It sat for 2 days and I took a real chance by starting it without checking for stuck valves . No choke , no throttle just turned the key and it was running !
So I have to think that all of the crap in the tank was setting up like cement on the valve stems .
Hope all of this is of some help to someone in the same position.

I have pictures of the fuel pick-up , but being an old guy I don't know how to attach them .lol Anyone know a 10 year old kid that can explain it to me ?

It made it home!