Here we go again...

[ZOSO]

Those are the same style marks I had on my 460 when the rockers rubbed the valve covers. I had to go to a "tall" valve cover to clear mine.

[landshark]

They are definitely rubbing. I suggested doubling up gaskets and do a short test to see if the noise goes away. If it does then he would know and could grind out the inside valve covers or get another taller set.

I think I remember this being an issue with the bronco script covers on efi engines from cb.com? I think I considered them, read about it and ended up going with ford powered mustang efi covers off eBay.

[landshark]

These are similar to the ones I picked up but found my used

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1614382170

NEW OEM Ford Racing Mustang Black Satin Valve Covers M6000J302R EFI SBF 302 351

[Eck]

These are similar to the ones I picked up but found my used

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1614382170

NEW OEM Ford Racing Mustang Black Satin Valve Covers M6000J302R EFI SBF 302 351

Yah I looked on eBay last night and thought your $40 recollection was a load of . But finding a good used set at that price was probably a g deal.

I have the FelPro 1645 gasket ordered from O'Reilly's. It is essentially two gaskets glued together with a metal piece separating the two. It is 5/16 compared to my current one which is right around 3/16. My plan is to try to bend the baffles a little bit so those are also not in the way, put a light coat of primer where the current "rub marks" are and re-install my current gasket. If I still hear the noise, I can remove the covers and hopefully have a definitive idea of where its rubbing. I can then try the thicker gasket-- if that doesn't work, then I am looking at new valve covers...

[landshark]

they were probably $60 used ;)

i know they were way less than those posted, i think you have a good plan and it'll work out

[Eck]

So it does not really appear that the rockers are making contact with the valve covers. I sort of feel as though I may have an exhaust leak making the noise. I took it around the block and I have very little power when I push hard on the skinny pedal. It also has a low throaty bog sound to it. It also seems like when I go from very little gas to pushing hard on it, there is a lull and almost like an air bubble it jumps over then accelerates. I have tightened down all of the header bolts, collector bolts and upper intake bolts.

I am just not good at diagnosing this stuff on my own. I have no experience and don't want to over analyze stuff unnecessarily. Can exhaust shops easily diagnose that type of thing? Any other thoughts from the experts out there?

[landshark]

So it does not really appear that the rockers are making contact with the valve covers. I sort of feel as though I may have an exhaust leak making the noise. I took it around the block and I have very little power when I push hard on the skinny pedal. It also has a low throaty bog sound to it. It also seems like when I go from very little gas to pushing hard on it, there is a lull and almost like an air bubble it jumps over then accelerates. I have tightened down all of the header bolts, collector bolts and upper intake bolts.

I am just not good at diagnosing this stuff on my own. I have no experience and don't want to over analyze stuff unnecessarily. Can exhaust shops easily diagnose that type of thing? Any other thoughts from the experts out there?

If your hearing a ticking.. it could be blown out header/manifold gaskets. Hard to see most of the tiem without taking the bolts out of the headers and replacing hte gaskets.. you will be able to see it on the gaskets you remove, it will be obvious. I had a header gasket leak on my 76 - ticking coming from the rear of the head, replaced and everything has been good to go. I was able to take the bolts out of the headers and pry them slightly away from the block GENTLY and put the new gaskets in without taking the exhaust apart..

[Rox Crusher]

But I don't think a leaking header gasket would cause the performance issue you describe

[Eck]

EFI Guy to the rescue. In a short time he was able to help me determine that the roll pin on the cam sensor gear had sheared off and so it wasn't spinning- hence no oil pressure with the cam synchro installed.

The good news is I wasn't . The ok news is that it should hopefully be an easy fix. The undetermined news is whether the short time of driving it without active oil pressure did any real damage. The rockers are all still wet so it didn't run dry or anything....

[akaFrankCastle]

How long do you suppose it was sheared off for?

Any idea what caused the shear?

[Eck]

How long do you suppose it was sheared off for?

Any idea what caused the shear?

Not real long. Noticed the noise coming home from the tow. Less than 5 miles for sure.

When I put the new iron gear on the stock synchronizer- the pin on the stock one goes all the way through so it's being held in place on either side of the gear. The new gear only had a hole on one side. My theory is that that puts all the stress to one side of the pin instead of splitting it in half.

Garry said the 3.8 gear is actually in the engineering specs as melonized iron. Which I believe just means blackened or darkened iron. I think I may just run a stock synchro with my flat tappet cam.

[Viperwolf1]

How long do you suppose it was sheared off for?

Any idea what caused the shear?

Not real long. Noticed the noise coming home from the tow. Less than 5 miles for sure.

When I put the new iron gear on the stock synchronizer- the pin on the stock one goes all the way through so it's being held in place on either side of the gear. The new gear only had a hole on one side. My theory is that that puts all the stress to one side of the pin instead of splitting it in half.

Garry said the 3.8 gear is actually in the engineering specs as melonized iron. Which I believe just means blackened or darkened iron. I think I may just run a stock synchro with my flat tappet cam.

Don't do it. A steel distributor gear will eat up your cam. Drill the hole all the way through and put a long pin in it.

[Eck]

How long do you suppose it was sheared off for?

Any idea what caused the shear?

Not real long. Noticed the noise coming home from the tow. Less than 5 miles for sure.

When I put the new iron gear on the stock synchronizer- the pin on the stock one goes all the way through so it's being held in place on either side of the gear. The new gear only had a hole on one side. My theory is that that puts all the stress to one side of the pin instead of splitting it in half.

Garry said the 3.8 gear is actually in the engineering specs as melonized iron. Which I believe just means blackened or darkened iron. I think I may just run a stock synchro with my flat tappet cam.

Don't do it. A steel distributor gear will eat up your cam. Drill the hole all the way through and put a long pin in it.

DAMN YOU VOICE OF REASON!! So why do you suppose the last steel distributor gear got destroyed by an iron cam?

[Viperwolf1]

I don't know. Did you ever post pictures of it?

[Eck]

I don't know. Did you ever post pictures of it?

No but the synchro gear got destroyed and the cam gear was barely affected.

[landshark]

What the heck would cause it to shear? That's kind of never heard of gat happening. But glad you found it.

[ZOSO]

What the heck would cause it to shear? That's kind of never heard of gat happening. But glad you found it.

I've had it happen in my 79 also. Just out of no where. But when mine sheared off it got wedged so it still ran just the timing was 30*+ off.

[Kinder]

I'm still suspicious of the tow.

[akaFrankCastle]

I'm still suspicious of the tow.

As am I. There's a line in driver reported performance that indicates an event occurring.

I'm not a tow truck guy, but I don't see many of them popping locks on cars these days to put them in neutral. In fact, with modern electronic locking systems, I doubt many of them are even trained in the most basic of locksmith techniques as older model cars become less prevalent in the roads.

That being said, the easiest way to hook up a 4x4 for a tow on a wrecker, assuming it is in 2wd, would be back up, nose down. Unless a roll back were involved.

Was it the tow driver who claimed it was towed nose up? Was the truck in neutral when you opened the door to drive it home? Emergency brake set?

[EFI Guy]

I suspect the roll pin sheared because it did not go all the way through the gear, all of the load was placed on one end.

I'm not sure where I came up with the "Melonized Iron" term when researching it a while back, but this is from the engineering doc for the 3.8 sensor:

[Eck]

I'm still suspicious of the tow.

As am I. There's a line in driver reported performance that indicates an event occurring.

I'm not a tow truck guy, but I don't see many of them popping locks on cars these days to put them in neutral. In fact, with modern electronic locking systems, I doubt many of them are even trained in the most basic of locksmith techniques as older model cars become less prevalent in the roads.

That being said, the easiest way to hook up a 4x4 for a tow on a wrecker, assuming it is in 2wd, would be back up, nose down. Unless a roll back were involved.

Was it the tow driver who claimed it was towed nose up? Was the truck in neutral when you opened the door to drive it home? Emergency brake set?

I am pretty sure they popped the drivers side door because their is something now rattling around in the door that wasn't rattling before. I know it was nose up because I was chasing the large mouth bass down the alley looking at it nose up. I had backed the vehicle into a parking spot so the only way to pull it out was nose up or flatbed. I don't recall whether it was in neutral-- the e brake was not set.

[Eck]

I suspect the roll pin sheared because it did not go all the way through the gear, all of the load was placed on one end.

I'm not sure where I came up with the "Melonized Iron" term when researching it a while back, but this is from the engineering doc for the 3.8 sensor:

So according to that-- it is an iron gear and should work with an iron cam. It seems odd though considering all of the 3.8 motors have roller cams in them.

[EFI Guy]

So according to that-- it is an iron gear and should work with an iron cam. It seems odd though considering all of the 3.8 motors have roller cams in them.

I know, hence all of the confusion. I still don't like giving advice on it, my answer is always "buy the gear that matches your cam." But, if it were steel it likely would have chewed up your cam last time, not the other way around.

[Rox Crusher]

I would guess that the pin broke as a result of a sudden stop or change in direction.

[horseplay]

high pressure oil pumps can cause early fatigue in cam gears. I've never seen one shear the pin.

[Eck]

high pressure oil pumps can cause early fatigue in cam gears. I've never seen one shear the pin.

I'm not running a high pressure pump.

[akaFrankCastle]

I would guess that the pin broke as a result of a sudden stop or change in direction.

Exactly what I was thinking. Like being hooked up, towed forward, then backed up before you realize it's still in gear.

[Eck]

I would guess that the pin broke as a result of a sudden stop or change in direction.

Exactly what I was thinking. Like being hooked up, towed forward, then backed up before you realize it's still in gear.

This isn't helping my attempt at anger management. I already want to throw a brick through the front window of the Doll Hospital...

[akaFrankCastle]

This isn't helping my attempt at anger management. I already want to throw a brick through the front window of the Doll Hospital...

Probably best to focus on a thorough check of the entire truck before you put it back on the road. Bricks are expensive. And they will haunt you for far longer than you can imagine. Trust me in this one.

If anyone needs to be the focus of concentrated rage, make it the towing company. Establish whether or not their policies or the policies in their tow contract absolve them of damage done to vehicles they remove. Check to see if they are licensed to operate in the city (maybe it has lapsed), bonded against liability, or have previous complaints. Are they a company in good standing with the Colorado Secretary of State? Worst case, you start tailing their trucks and filing complaints with the police every time they fail to use a turn signal, roll stop a red light or speed. Just back up your claims with GoPro footage to make sure you're taken at least half seriously.

Or, you can just chock it up to another painful yet valuable lesson.

[mickphatmac]

This isn't helping my attempt at anger management. I already want to throw a brick through the front window of the Doll Hospital...

Probably best to focus on a thorough check of the entire truck before you put it back on the road. Bricks are expensive. And they will haunt you for far longer than you can imagine. Trust me in this one.

If anyone needs to be the focus of concentrated rage, make it the towing company. Establish whether or not their policies or the policies in their tow contract absolve them of damage done to vehicles they remove. Check to see if they are licensed to operate in the city (maybe it has lapsed), bonded against liability, or have previous complaints. Are they a company in good standing with the Colorado Secretary of State? Worst case, you start tailing their trucks and filing complaints with the police every time they fail to use a turn signal, roll stop a red light or speed. Just back up your claims with GoPro footage to make sure you're taken at least half seriously.

Or, you can just chock it up to another painful yet valuable lesson.

Remind me to NEVER piss You off!
Next time we meet up, I'm checking for cameras!!!