Right after I had the A/C fixed the car seemed to run hot with the A/C on. She'd also stall when it got hot. Tried to fix cooling system. Flushed cooling system. Replaced water pump, thermostat, radiator, hoses. Now has a knock. found a couple of loose lifters but they seemed to have the same amount of thread showing as the rest. I suspected the lifters. Tried to adjust lifters but could never hear them clacking due to the loud knocking noise. I suspected the lifters needed to be cleaned so I put some seafoam in the crank case. As soon as I revved the engine she died. Now there's no fuel coming out of either injector and she won't start anymore. I swear I'm making it worse as I go along.

 

check fuel pressure. Pump may be bad. also regulator.

 

All those symptoms could be due to you running lean from a lack of fuel supply. Are you sure it has gas in it? Sometimes the dash gas gauges go bad so actually go look inside there. Then see if you're getting fuel pressure. Then you'll have to do further diagnosis which many of us can help you with.

 

Well I got it started back up. I knocked a connector loose on the distributor. Still knocking loud. If I try to adjust the lifters I can't even hear the clacking because the knocking is so loud. I didn't really start knocking till I changed the water pump. But it did stall before that.

 

Number one thing MISSING FROM YOUR POST......very important.....WHAT YEAR IS YOUR CAR?????? Makes a big difference to how we trouble shoot your issue.

Here is how to adjust your lifters....forget the listening for noise while your trying to adjust.... READ ALL THE WAY THRU...Since you have played with the valves, I suggest that you back off all the nuts at least 1 to 1-1/2 turns.

1) Remove the spark plugs. This makes it much easier to turn the engine by hand.

2) I believe that the nut in the center of the bottom pulley on the balancer is 5/8”. Use a six point 5/8” socket to turn the engine over by hand to line up the timing marks. Place a finger in the spark plug hole for plug #1 as you turn the engine over. You are trying to determine if the engine is on compression as you line up the marks. If you feel the air pushing against your finger as you line up the marks, you have compression in cylinder #1. Align the timing marks.

3) Now adjust the valves as follows:
Intake #1, 2, 5 and 7 then adjust Exhaust 1, 3, 4 and 8.
Note: If you are not sure which valve is the intake and which is the exhaust, look down at the exhaust manifold. The exhaust valve will be right above the exhaust pipe for the cylinder you are looking at.

Using the standard GM method, you twist the push rod between your thumb and index finger while slowly tightening the nut. When you feel resistance to twisting....stop tightening the nut. Now tighten the nut 3/4 of a turn and stop. Go to the next valve in the sequence.

4) Turn the engine 360 degrees and line up the timing marks again. Now adjust the following:
Intake 3, 4, 6 and 8 then adjust Exhaust 2, 5, 6 and 7.

You are now finished with your adjustment. Note, I usually tighten the lock nut 3/4 turn after adjusting to zero lash the FSM will tell you 1 full turn. I have never had an issue with 3/4 of a turn even with a high .538 lift cam.....

If you are adjusting roller rockers with a locking Allan nut inside the nut, turn the adjusting nut about 1/2 of a turn and then tighten your Allan screw. Now turn the nut and the Allan screw at the same time the additional 1/4 turn. This will lock them tight.

NOW THE TWIST TO DO IT EASIER:

Post from Forum Member JoeC

BTW, I tried something a little unconventional on adjusting hydraulic lifters. one thing that always bothered me is the statement "spin the pushrod until resistance is felt" that seems a little too subjective to me. so I tried this: I set "zero" lash with a .0015" feeler gauge while slowly turning the adjusting nut. {place the feeler gauge between the top of the valve stem and the rocker arm.} When I felt the feeler gauge grab, I was fairly confident I was about .001 from zero lash. at that point, I turned the adjusting nut 3/4 turn. I recently read that one turn is equivalent to .040" because of the thread pitch on the threaded rocker arm stud, so 3/4 turn should give you about .030" adjustment. I also read that within a hydraulic lifter there is .060 total plunger movement, and ideally you want to be just about in the middle of that range, or .030 inch. I don't know if I’m out in left field on what I did, but I feel I got a really consistent valve adjustment across the board. if you think you might have a tight cylinder, maybe give this a try - it seemed to work for me...

again, thanks for all your help - take care -

JoeC

Now the other important thing is to find out what is knocking? Where is the sound coming from. You may have a major engine problem that has to be fixed first.

 

John Marker - -EXCELLENT procedure - it is spot on!

Jake -

 

Maybe you have been following my similar post about my'90 Vette.

I finally took it to one of the best Corvette mechanics in the country - more on him in my post. I had a lot of the same issues. He called me about 30 minutes after I dropped the car off at his shop. 2 bad injectors, 2 good injectors and 4 very shaky. It seems that ethanol eats away the covering on the wire coil around the injector and it shorts out. Check the ohms while running and you can see the condition of each injector...a simple way is to disconnect each injector, one by one and see if you get a change in how the engine runs. Hope this helps.

 

Since you say the knocking started after you changed the water pump, try removing the serp belt and start the car....knock still there? If not, then look a the pump bolts, pulleys and anything in that general area.

You may have over tightened a valve or got one too loose.