QuestionDick,
I tried one of the other experts and was unsucessful, could you please see if you could help me out here? This is the question I wrote to the other guy.
I recently had some problems with my 67 Mustang coupe 200ci I6. I started going through it, and found my number 3 had a bent push rod. After a gruelling 3 days of looking for the part, I was able to special order it. The only problem is I dont know how to install it. The rocker arm has a screw with a ball on the end. The push rod is the kind with ball on bottom and seat on top, so Im guessing the valves are adjusted by torque. Is this right and how much torque do I use? Do I need to do anything else other than dropping the rod in the hole? Does it need to be lubed with some oil or anything? Do I need a feeler gage for the valve or is it strictly the torque on the screw? Ive searched everywhere on the net and could not find an answer. I also looked for a Haynes manual but they donot make one for this engine. My Chilton dosent really go into detail of how to do it either. Please help me out with a dummy set of directions if you are able to. Thanks for any guidance you can provide.
Bill
AnswerUnfortunately, my book only goes back to 69 in great detail, and by 69 they had quit using the 200 in cars - they had gone to the 240 Cu In by then.
These are pretty similar, though, so I'm going to take a chance here and tell you that the valve adjustment is very uncritical on these engines - the hydraulic lifter will automatically compensate for anything even close as to lash setting. To be picky, you can stop the engine with the cylinder you are working on at TDC on the compression stroke (check the distributor rotor and rotate the engine until the rotor is pointed at the plug wire for this cylinder). Then push HARD on the end of the rocker arm that connects to the push rod, and when the lifter is done collapsing (this will take a while, they leak down very slowly), measure the space between the end of the valve stem and the rocker pad that pushes on it. This gap should be around 1/8 inches - if it is, you're OK as is. If not, adjust the screw until you are in that range - but again, it is not at all critical - anything from 0.060 to 0.160 is OK. Then start the engine and let it warm up. The valve will clack for a few minutes until the lifter fills up again. If it quiets down then, you're done - put the valve cover back on and go wash up!
If it doesn't quiet down, try going tighter with the adjuster screw until it does - go about 1/4 turn at a time, and when it finally does quiet down, go one more 1/4 turn, that should be fine.
Now, the big question is: why did the push rod bend? If you have had head work done recently, the guides are probably set too tight. If not, I suspect there is some other problem brewing - like maybe the lifter is stuck in the expanded position. If this is the case, you are going to have trouble getting it to collapse so you can measure the valve lash.
Let me know if you need more info - I'll help if I can.
Dick.
