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Anonymous
Guest
Can someone send me an "Idiots guide to setting tappets" on a 1972 250 inline 6. I have seriously not done this for years and just need a quick read to make sure I have not forgotten anything, lol.
Howdy Rusty:
Is this a trick question? Your '72 250 has hydraulic lifters and the rocker arms are not adjustible.
Have you converted to adjustible rockers? If so, Warm the engine to operating temp, stop the engine and remove the valve cover. Notice which rockers are in the up or fully closed position. Tighten the adjuster to eliminate any play and an additional 1/4 turn. Turn the engine over again and check and adjust the next bunch of rockers in the up position. Continue until all rockers have been checked/adjusted. Do not keep adjusting with out ocassionally starting up as oil will bleed from old lifters and make it seem as if there is clearance.
Start the engine with the valve cover off and let it run. Watch to verify that oil is getting to all rockers. If not, check the push rods for wear. This is especially true with an old tired engine. If you have the original non-adjustible rocker arms and ball-end push rods, check this anyway. The oil comes from the very back staunchion and, with time, heat and crud, the inside of the rocker shaft gets plugged and the front rockers are the 1st to pay the price due to lack of oil. Check it out.
Adios, David
Is this a trick question? Your '72 250 has hydraulic lifters and the rocker arms are not adjustible.
Have you converted to adjustible rockers? If so, Warm the engine to operating temp, stop the engine and remove the valve cover. Notice which rockers are in the up or fully closed position. Tighten the adjuster to eliminate any play and an additional 1/4 turn. Turn the engine over again and check and adjust the next bunch of rockers in the up position. Continue until all rockers have been checked/adjusted. Do not keep adjusting with out ocassionally starting up as oil will bleed from old lifters and make it seem as if there is clearance.
Start the engine with the valve cover off and let it run. Watch to verify that oil is getting to all rockers. If not, check the push rods for wear. This is especially true with an old tired engine. If you have the original non-adjustible rocker arms and ball-end push rods, check this anyway. The oil comes from the very back staunchion and, with time, heat and crud, the inside of the rocker shaft gets plugged and the front rockers are the 1st to pay the price due to lack of oil. Check it out.
Adios, David
A
Anonymous
Guest
Not a trick question, but this ["rockers arms not adjustable"] is the reason why I am posting, I have not played around with inline 6's for years, and we have just bought this ranchero, drove it about 4ookm's and the noise from the engine just got progressively worse and worse. When we started the journey it was idling rough but once on the road she seemed fine, but the clacking noise got louder and louder and we actually put her on an auto carrier for the rest of the trip. I doubt if anything has been changed or done to this engine in the last 30 years. This is an XA Falcon ute, but South African version. So now I am stumped, if I cannot adjust the rockers, what do you suggest we do, change to adjustable? And is there anything else that could be causing the noise, instead of the tappets.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Howdy back Rusty:
My apology Rusty. I just assumed that you were talking about a USA '72 250.
I would assume (risky) that your 250 came with hydraulic lifters in '72. 1st, confirm that it has hydraulic lifters. Next remove the valve cover and remove, dissassemble and thoroughly clean and inspect the shaft- inside and out. Check all the pushrods to confirm that they are still round and smooth. Make sure all holes are clean and open. Oh, are the rockers adjustible?
Replace anything that doesn't look right and reinstall. Start her up with the valve cover off and watch for oil to ooze from each all the way to the front rocker arm and listen for the source of the clatter. If it is one or more lifters and there is no adjustment, it is stuck lifters.
Most likely you have stuck hydraulic lifter(s) if the engine has been sitting this long. You might try a good engine oil flush and a high detergent oil additive like Motor Medic, or others. Amsoil also makes some good ones. You might get lucky. If not the solution is to remove the head and replace all lifters. Probably not what you wanted to hear.
Adios, David
My apology Rusty. I just assumed that you were talking about a USA '72 250.
I would assume (risky) that your 250 came with hydraulic lifters in '72. 1st, confirm that it has hydraulic lifters. Next remove the valve cover and remove, dissassemble and thoroughly clean and inspect the shaft- inside and out. Check all the pushrods to confirm that they are still round and smooth. Make sure all holes are clean and open. Oh, are the rockers adjustible?
Replace anything that doesn't look right and reinstall. Start her up with the valve cover off and watch for oil to ooze from each all the way to the front rocker arm and listen for the source of the clatter. If it is one or more lifters and there is no adjustment, it is stuck lifters.
Most likely you have stuck hydraulic lifter(s) if the engine has been sitting this long. You might try a good engine oil flush and a high detergent oil additive like Motor Medic, or others. Amsoil also makes some good ones. You might get lucky. If not the solution is to remove the head and replace all lifters. Probably not what you wanted to hear.
Adios, David
First thing might be to have a good look at the oil in strong sunlight.
Yep, the rockers are adjustable for those models AFAIK. Run the motor up to temp if possible and pop the valve cover. The adjustment is to spin the pushrod between your thumb and finger while tightening the nut. As soon as you feel the slightest drag, add one full turn. That's it.
Factory procedure has the #1 at TDC compression for the first adjustment: 1I, 1E, 2I, 3E, 4I, 5E. Now rotate 360° for #6 TDC compression: 2E, 3I, 4E, 5I, 6I, 6E. You're done.
Was it blowing any smoke? What about the possibility of exhaust leaks adding to the sound?
There's also the issue of timing chain wear to consider. Set the balancer to TDC by only turning clockwise. Pop the distributor cap and turn the balancer in the opposite direction until you see the rotor move. Note how many degrees of movement are now shown on the timing scale. Halve that for your timing chain slop.
Cheers, Adam.
Yep, the rockers are adjustable for those models AFAIK. Run the motor up to temp if possible and pop the valve cover. The adjustment is to spin the pushrod between your thumb and finger while tightening the nut. As soon as you feel the slightest drag, add one full turn. That's it.
Factory procedure has the #1 at TDC compression for the first adjustment: 1I, 1E, 2I, 3E, 4I, 5E. Now rotate 360° for #6 TDC compression: 2E, 3I, 4E, 5I, 6I, 6E. You're done.
Was it blowing any smoke? What about the possibility of exhaust leaks adding to the sound?
There's also the issue of timing chain wear to consider. Set the balancer to TDC by only turning clockwise. Pop the distributor cap and turn the balancer in the opposite direction until you see the rotor move. Note how many degrees of movement are now shown on the timing scale. Halve that for your timing chain slop.
Cheers, Adam.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Thanks guys, she is out in the sun at the moment, hopefully we will be able to get some work done on her before sundown. The exhaust is full of holes, and also I noticed where it bolts onto the exhaust manifold there is a big gap, it is on skew. The carb is filthy, the gasket is basically non-existent, I see that the fuel filter has 6mm pipes and should have 8mm pipes so there is petrol coming out of there as well. Will report back as soon as we find out more. Basically I think she needs a good teardown [love that word], have just ordered a new gasket set etc.
You ordered the Aussie gasket set, didn't you? The US one varies a little to the point where some things may not fit...
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Anonymous
Guest
Ordered the .za one, sorry, should have realised that S A could stand for S.oz as well. Our Fords for those years are based on the Oz Fords, from 1969 on, up till then they were based on the Canadian Fords. Still seem to be quite a few of these Inline 6's around here, altho' they could not find one in my city they managed to locate one in another part of .za.
Which is why I refer to the Ranchero as a XA Falcon ute, not a ranchero, altho it is badged as a ranchero here, mention XA Falcon and I get blank looks. USA designed ranchero's look nothing like our ranchero's.
Which is why I refer to the Ranchero as a XA Falcon ute, not a ranchero, altho it is badged as a ranchero here, mention XA Falcon and I get blank looks. USA designed ranchero's look nothing like our ranchero's.
I knew you meant .za... Certain people have been attracting the attention of the media here 
...
There's not too many of those utes left here; they all rusted out. Oddly enough, around this era, I have noted more than the odd cracked head. Worth checking for if you're pulling it apart.
Adam.
... There's not too many of those utes left here; they all rusted out. Oddly enough, around this era, I have noted more than the odd cracked head. Worth checking for if you're pulling it apart.
Adam.
A
Anonymous
Guest
This one had only one owner and has been under cover all its life, also its an up country vehicle, which means very little natural rust, unlike us here at the coast. I will check out the block, if we haul her out, might just put a 390 in instead, did not get round to even opening the bonnet as the garage is in such a mess we decided to try and sort that out first.
There is always someone in the media causing a stir, I take most of it with a huge pinch of salt.
There is always someone in the media causing a stir, I take most of it with a huge pinch of salt.
