The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Solids no noise?

Guy at store pulls up 3100 235 1957 engine (he says). I could not hear it running. He says solid lifters on the valve train. I says no ticking. He says you have to adjust them right? My engine has solid lifters and after it warms up it sounds like a little sewing machine. My friend has a 216 and it sounds like a sewing machine also. So I says maybe you have hyd. lifters he says no he adjust his valves every 5,000 miles that is why it's so quiet......? Is every 5,000 miles a good time to adjust ????? I also heard that too tight and quiet valves are not that good......just wondering.

It is possible to have mechanical valves without the tick. It all comes down to how they are adjusted.

The book number is most likely the largest gap you can run before performance is dropped.

My 270 had the lifter gap numbers changed 3 times in 4 years (CCKW) depending on the motor, cam, and usage.

My Suzuki Boulevard had mechanical lifters... adjusted every 10k miles... It would take a while but you could adjust the tick out of it. Most ppl live with the ticking as there is no harm in it, and even if you did find the sweet spot for a quiet train, it won't last long.

It would be interesting to put a vacuum gauge on the motor to see what it reads. I agree that the noise can be adjusted out, but I question operating it that way.

Man....ticking no ticking..... I understand ticking as surface contact would be normal but when it becomes so quiet or very loud there must be a strain on valve, springs, push rod, lifter surface, and or cam surface? How much stretch or compression of the metal components takes place? My grandfather had a 216 and he never adjusted the valves (his own admission) and he must have put 200K and sold it running when he got to old to drive. He never went over 45MPH!

they should sound like a well oiled sewing machine, if adjusted to be silent you risk valve recession, especially if hardened seats haven't been installed and/or you run it hard .... better a slight 'noise' [as factory designed] than burned valves or seats

Bill

Yeah solid lifters need some clearance to allow for expansion of the parts as the engine heats up in temperature. That is why they specify an intake and exhaust valve clearance for adjusting them to.
John

Yes, it's possible to adjust the tick out of a solid lifter setup. No, it's not practical unless you do what the guy in the first post does- - - -spend way too much time adjusting. Anyone familiar with cam degreeing understands the concept of a "clearance ramp"- - - -a short section of the cam lobe with a very gradual rate of lift designed to take up the clearance slowly before the actual valve lifting process begins. If a clearance ramp is .006" tall, guess what the specified clearance will be? Exhaust valves run hotter, so they need more clearance, which translates to a taller clearance ramp and a different adjustment specification. Even hydraulic cams have that ramp, but it's very short, and usually only 2 or three thousandths tall. On the closing side of the lobe, there's a "deceleration ramp" that slows the valve speed down just before the valve touches the seat, and then the clearance goes back in with a second low-movement lobe segment before the base circle portion of the lobe.

To get it completely right, the valves would have to be adjusted initially using a degree wheel and a dial indicator, and every valve would have its own clearance specification to exactly match the clearance ramp for that lobe. Not exactly practical to eliminate a little tick!
Jerry

I fought the tick and the, tick won, I fought the tick and the, tick wooooooooon

It took awhile but I finally accepted that my 216 was going to tick. After exhausting several different clearance settings I went on to hot zero clearance adjusting with the engine at the lowest rpm it would take before stalling and I still couldn't get that danged ole tick tick tick out.
I'd no sooner than think I'd get one cylinder quiet than I'd be back on it later because it would be the one still ticking.

So I've settled for .005" on the intakes and .012" on the exhausts and it's about as good as I will get it.
Funny but at 40 mph the engine is at it's quietest and I can actually hear how well the exhaust sounds w/every cylinder hitting a good powerful lick. I can even hear the carb sucking gobbs of air to feed those hungry cylinders....
So I make it a point to cruise at 40
Dave
P.S. if someone does happen along w/the perfect quiet setting, I'll no doubt try it

I can't understand why someone with solid lifters would think they should make no noise? If someone wants an engine that is quiet find one that has hydraulic lifters.

Hey thanks for the information. I have downloaded the information. I'll put it in my glove box if I see the guy again around town I'll pass it on to him it might help him out.
Thanks, Steve

My old 85 Ranger had a 2.8L OHV V6 w/solid lifters, quiet as hydraulics but needed readjustment every 10k miles

My current 72 VW 1600cc OHV air cooled dual port boxer engine w/solid lifters also is as quiet as hydraulics but needs readjustemt every 5k miles.

Many OHC engines use solid tappits. The 2.4L in my Mrs' Toyota require a disc/shim change to adjust the valves but after 85k miles it still doesn't require it.

IMHO, the lack of pressureized oil being applied at the pushrod-rocker union and also at the rocker-valve stem union is why these old stovebolt inline 6's cannot be adjusted to eliminate the tick.
Dave

There is no reason why a properly adjusted motor should tap. Now the book number is a general number. Not all valve stems are going to grow to that magical .005 mark. If you adjust a running motor so that it does not knock that means that you are simply dialing in the valve train for THAT specific motor and not going with a generic number that mechanics of varying quality can use.

Its ALWAYS safer for a dealer (even in the 50's) to point at the book and say 'I adjusted to the factory spec' and not 'I adjusted to YOUR MOTORs valve train' if there ever is a problem.