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Thread: Nailhead Lifter Noise

  1. #1

    Exclamation Nailhead Lifter Noise

    OK, I am very mechanical but not a car mechanic. I learn by doing. I have a '64 Riviera with a 425. I have lifter noise that shows up after I have driven several miles on the highway, shut it down, then restart. It is very pronounced until I drive very moderately and it gradually works itself out. I have been told that the oil galleries are plugged up and that I can clean them out myself. Since I have never had a valve cover off, can someone describe to me what I am looking for and how I go about this? Or you can describe to me why my friend doesn't know what he is talking about, and what I big mistake this would be for me to do this myself. I have the chassis service manual, but that doesn't tell me the whole story. I have seen some improvement after using Rislone for a year. I really do have a mechanical head on my shoulders and have spent 40 years working on almost everything else besides a car motor. I plan to have this motor professionally rebuilt, but that is not in my budget for a year or two. Please advise.

  2. #2
    sergio Guest

    Unhappy Nailhead lifter noise

    Just remove the valve covers. You should see the valve train along with one hole fore and aft of the assemblies. These are the drain holes that the oil follows back to the drain pan. You should then be able to use "gun cleaning" brushes to open up the oil return galleries. What is happening is that oil is being trapped in the valve cover area because it is not draining back into the oil pan fast enough. Chances are that you are going to find some very bad oil crust especially around the exhaust valves. If I were you, I would pull the valve covers and the galley cover and look for "oil change neglect." You may have to rebuild this engine sooner than anticipated.

  3. #3

    Thumbs up Nailhead lifter noise

    Thanks Sergio. Your comments were very well put and to the point. I realize I am trying to cheat time. I have been very careful about taking it easy on my baby until that time that I can have the engine rebuilt. I will give it a try this weekend. I appreciate your comments.

  4. #4
    Conroy
    get some valve cover gaskets clean all the gunk in the area under the valve covers. Remove the end bolts on the rocker stands and clean them and the hole they go in, the oil supply to the rockers is the gap between the end bolts and the hole. Run high detergent oil, and change it every 3,000 miles. You can remove the intake and valley cover and clean the galley area if you feal like the extra work. You could remove the rockers clean them and check for bent push rods if you want. Get the push rods back in the same lifter and the rockers on the same side they came off.

  5. #5

    Nailhead lifter noise

    Thanks Judd. Good information. I have a question out of ignorance. Per Sergio's comments, I have pictured pushing crud down into the oil pan if using a gun cleaning brush on the galleries. Now I visualize using solvants to clean the areas you mention. Is this the correct way to clean this crud out? Do I simply change oil after this proceedure? I don't put more than 100 miles a year on this engine in the state that it is. The engine actually runs pretty smooth and strong, it just burns a little oil and has this annoying lifter noise. I have been changing oil once every fall and spring. I have belonged to the ROA for several years and never received immediate and detailed replies like this. Thanks much to both of you for the help. This is great.

  6. #6
    I would remove the rocker shafts/bolts and use solvent (carb cleaner?) and a brush on them, clean the rest with brushes a flat screw driver and rags. Clean the inside of the rocker covers and run it. If you are not running it that much it will at least have oil to the valve train till you rebuild it. I've done this to Ford motors and they would be clean after a few oil changes and some driving miles. I think you have the right idea of what to do.

  7. #7

    Lifter noise

    Thanks. I can't wait to get started.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    125
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    0
    Conroy, The lifter noise could very well be a drain back problem as mentioned. However, it does not necessarily mean your motor needs a complete rebuild. Do you know the history? Has it ever been rebuilt? How many miles on the motor? Before tearing into the motor, I suggest installing a good oil pressure gage and monitoring oil pressure. Put a vacuum gage on the motor and see what it tells you. Do a compression check and see what you have. If you are really ambitious, do a leak down test. This is all much cheaper and easier than doing a rebuild on a sound motor. You bring up a good point about what happens to the crud you break free cleaning the drain holes and internals of an engine. My suggestion would be to use care and get the least amount of crud into the motor in the first place, maybe use an old shop vac to suck up the debris. Consider using a couple of quarts of oil to flush the heads and valley (if you clean it) into the pan, then drain the oil before starting the car. Put in new oil, bring it up to temperture, then change the oil and filter. The cost of 5 quarts of oil may save you from getting your lifters stuck with a piece of crud from the head or valley cover. A report back on what you do and how this all turns out would be interesting and appreciated. Good luck.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    7
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    0

    Oil Changes

    Really you should change the oil every 3,000 miles or every 4 months whichever comes first. The reason for this is: condensation can collect in the oil pan, as the oil is not being heated to drive off the water you have a greater chance of sludge formation. This leads to clogged passages, lifters and filters.

    Just my 2 cents.

    Buicks make TORQUE

    Randy Black

  10. #10
    Mottrodder, I like your ideas for flushing the engine. I have a numbers matching engine with 146,000 miles on it. I have known the previous owner for many years, who recieved fairly good documentation on the car when he bought it, and passed it on to me. He owned the car for 10 years. There are no indications that the engine was ever rebuilt. In fact there is every indication that it has not. From the looks of the pan on the garage floor, every gasket and seal is leaking, including the tranny. The guy I bought it from had the engine detailed in place. At a glance it doesn't look to bad under the hood. When I accelerate suddenly, the old girl leaves a moderate trail of blue smoke. A couple of times on start-up or when she is idling for a long time, the right (passenger side) tail pipe will begin to pass an alarming amount of blue smoke. I don't mean a cloud, but very noticable. This will then subside when driving moderately in the city. The lifter noise is also coming from the right side, either from #1 or #3 cylinder. As I mentioned before, the noise is all but gone (I credit Rislone) unless I drive it on the highway at speed. All-in-all most of the time the engine starts and runs smooth and under average city driving there is no indication of burning oil or noisey lifters.
    Randy, your point about 3 month oil changes is well taken. It really doesn't cost that much, it seems a little extreme to change oil that often for 100 miles a year. Here in Illinois a driving year for my Riviera is April through October, more or less. Probably all the more reason to fight condensation.

    I purchased a gun cleaning kit tonight. I plan on diving in tomorrow. I will report back on my progress.

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