360 Lifter ticking on acceleration

[aliendude]

My Clipper made it for my move..... Put it now has a ticking lifter on accleration.   New engine.....  really annoyed.    Had anyone had problems with thier fuel pump being noisy on acceleration?   Otherwise it is a lifter.....

Had her up to 70.....speedometer bounces over 67....

Talk about a gas gobbler.... I figured $180 I'd need.....wound up costing me $220 bucks.    It must only get like 5 mpg.....  I had a full load of stuff and water, and towing a small car......

You think maybe I hurt the 360 motor...?   sound fine other than with a load on it.....Started about 100 miles into my 435 mile trip.....

Pretty happy with the clipper now.    Other than the motor I bought....brand new and it has a ticking noise......

I wonder if it will hurt it worse to just keep on driving it.   you know?  
If it is a lifter it's already bad so would it mess up my cam?

[Andy Illes]

Glad you made it...  

You're not describing a typical lifter-noise scenario, Dude.  On the other hand, an exhaust leak can sound almost exactly the same, and gets louder accelerating.... check your manifold bolts, also the header to pipe joint.  Good luck!

[terry and karen conkle]

sounds like an exhaust manifold gasket has gone bye bye!

[Andy Illes]

Yep, I agree... the gaskets were my first guess too when I mentioned manifold bolts... shouldda specifically said gaskets.

Yours is the same as mine, A-Dude.   It's an easy job - maybe an hour anna half total - you can do from inside, except the front bolt on the driver's side... that one's easier to get at from underneath.  They're all bolts, not studs, so you can pull the manifolds back far enough to do the job.  Just be sure you clean off the mating surfaces, there will be crud on 'em that'll keep your new gaskets from seating right.   If you glue some fairly coarse sandpaper (80 grit) to a few paint stirring sticks, there's enough room to get at it all.  

PS... Though you don't use any kindda sealer on those gaskets, stick 'em to the heads with some sortta goop anyway and let it dry - Copperseal's good.   Otherwise, the new ones'll be flopping/slipping/dropping all over the place while you're trying to get the manifolds to line back up.

[Rodney]

Well AlienDude,
If you find it is not an exhaust leak and is for sure comiing from the valve train. you should pull the valve covers and take a look at the rocker arm shaft assy's to see that they are bolted down tight and that the rockers are all open an closing the valves and are moving about the same lift. if a rocker is not moving like the rest you have a flat cam. if that all looks ok see of you can see down the push rod area of the head to see the top of the lifters. I use a small light on of those fiber optic ones and see of any of the clips or retainers have cam out of the top of the lifters.  there are may reasons for a tapping noise in an engine an hopefully it is a simple fix for you. When you say new engine is it a mopar crate engine or a rebuild? if it were a rebuild were all of the rockers and pushrods replaced?
There are oiling holes in the rocker arm shafts which oil the rockers and these holes need to be facing down, I have seen the shafts installed wrong and will gauld the shaft and rockers this may cause a noise to.
I have seen these parts over looked in a rebuild but these parts well stretch and push rods can be bent. it is important that the push rod length be checked if the heads have been milled or the block decked as this changes the distance from the cam to the rocker. this of course isn't as nesassary to be checked if you have adjustable rocker arms and have them adjusted correctly. Their is also a brass bushing which supports the lower distributer drive gear which I have seen left out of the engine block & this can cause a noise but mostly it will destroy the distributor and doesn't do the block any good either. hopefully  you gave your new engine some light driving and break in time of several hundred miles before doing any heavy pulling as over working a tight engine can really hurt the new parts as there is a lot of extra friction going on in there untill all of the new parts mate to each other. The first few hours running a new engine is sooo imporntant.
yes it could damage the cam if their is to much valve lash and mushroom the bottom of the lifter which will make it a reall problem to remove.
if it is a valve train problem it would most likley make noise at idle to.
if under a load it could be in the lower end. I sure hope it is an exhaust leak as they can make quite a noise as well.

Let us know how it goes
BfnR

[bigray]

I agree on the exhaust leak.

I had a muffler to blow during a Thanksgiving trip. It sounded just like a lifter when it first started. It was very suttle and I thought I was having engine trouble.

I went for broke and continued to drive it to my mothers. When I got there I realize that it was a muffler. By that point it had gotten a little louder and started to flap. I changed the mufflers and she was purring like a kitten.

I hope yours is that simple too!

[Horst]

aliendude - if you're gonna drive 65, loaded heavy AND towing a small car with a 360 - in my opinion -  you're just asking for trouble.
Clippers are heavy - if you're loaded - you're probably well over 10,000 lbs - and then towing a car?
That's asking a LOT from a 360 - I'm not at all surprised at your mileage.

Regarding that ticking - look for an intake manifold leak as well - yes they do go on 360s (mine did) the way to tell is the ticking, and a rough idle, that will slowly get worse.