pushrods or something else?

[holdenutechick]

Hey guys now remember only new to this so not over technical please.

We're trying to get the ute engine going we were told it was working but had some of the 138 pushrods swapped out for the smaller pushrods from an FJ 132 motor so just needed to replace the small ones to get it going, only 3 of the pushrods looked short when we removed the rocker cover (had a very noticeable gap between the rocker and the rod such as half a centimetre even though the adjuster was all the way down) all the other pushrods were a snug fit.

We removed the rocker and pulled out the pushrods only to find they are the same size (10.2") Daniel guesses something is wrong down the bottom of the motor for three of the pushrods to be adjusted all the way down and still have a gap while the rest appear to be as they should be.

[MeFB]

Hmmm,

My guess is that all are all short rods. It's possible that the ones sitting snug are just sitting on the shoulder or tip of the cam lobes (being held up by the current position of the cam).

Put the all back in, turn the motor by hand, and see if the snug ones fall away and leave a gap between the rod and the rocker as the cam rotates. If so, they are all too short.

I'd be more than a little suspicious of the motor and what had been done to it.

[holdenutechick]

Well you seen the ebay listing Alan, I PM'd you about it when I got it.

Where we got it from was an rodding workshop where it had been sitting in storage for a while, we were told it was dismantled as someone needed the pushrods and he couldn't get pushrods the same size which is why the smaller ones were put in.

I know in theory how an engine works and believe you are correct Alan but Daniel believes it to be something else thus why I posted this.

[MeFB]

Well you seen the ebay listing Alan, I PM'd you about it when I got it.

Where we got it from was an rodding workshop where it had been sitting in storage for a while, we were told it was dismantled as someone needed the pushrods and he couldn't get pushrods the same size which is why the smaller ones were put in.

I know in theory how an engine works and believe you are correct Alan but Daniel believes it to be something else thus why I posted this.

The only other thing it can really be is a damaged cam (lobes busted off, snapped shaft, collapsed bearing etc), which would be a real pain

Sounds like it probably wasn't run with the short rods in there (which is good news).

[Craig Allardyce]

Stuck open or bent valves in head, or maybe some stuffed lobes on the camshaft.
Remove rocker gear and put a straight edge across the top of the valve stems. Valve heights should be pretty close. Look for a lower valve than normal.
If no problems were found with the valves, and all pushrods were found to be the same length, then I would suspect the camshaft after that.

Goodluck.

[fingers]

I,m with Tim ....I havent seen smashed off cam lobes except maybe on some very lumpy cams with big pressure valve springs and then only had the case hardening worn off ......sticky valves would be the logical problem ....check the valves using a straight edge as per Craigs suggestion ........Fingers

[fingers]

I noticed on the FX-FJ forum someonw talking about different sized cam followers, but I still haven't come across any variations of cam follower that have caused this amount of difference. Tim

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tim ........many ,many years ago .......Ron Harrop senior built a motor for me to fit into my FJ ..........One of the mods he did at time was lighten all the cam followers by machining the open end down by about 1/2 inch..... By removing metal from the open end the distance to the overhead gear didnt change ........Fingers

[Harv]

A bit OT, but sadly, I've managed to destroy cam lobes fortunately not on a grey though.

VK Calais, 308 which developed a rotten intermittant miss. Mongrel to track down. Ended up being that the cam lobe face hardening had worn off, followed by the lifter totally rounding the lobe. Apparently the 308s were reknowned fo it (quite a few wise men nodded their heads and were not suprised to see the round bumpstick).

Cheers,
Harv.

[MeFB]

quite a few wise men nodded their heads and were not suprised to see the round bumpstick.

Why was that Harv? Did you call them first to make an appointment?

[Mick]

A bit OT, but sadly, I've managed to destroy cam lobes fortunately not on a grey though.

VK Calais, 308 which developed a rotten intermittant miss. Mongrel to track down. Ended up being that the cam lobe face hardening had worn off, followed by the lifter totally rounding the lobe. Apparently the 308s were reknowned fo it (quite a few wise men nodded their heads and were not suprised to see the round bumpstick).

Cheers,
Harv.

that's very very common in holden V8s
i've seen it in reds but not as common
never had that much to do with greys to see it but having solid lifters you think it would wear on the cam
but the type of differances sound to big