howzit
i have an 89 Falcon S 3.9 CFI 5 spd and was wondering if its worth it replacing the tappets??
if not whats something better to do to it??
any help would be greatly appreciated
Cheers

are the LASH ADJUSTERS noisy???
if not then there is no need to replace them.
if they are then it would not be a bad idea to replace them

which part is/are the lash adjusters??
and how do you know if they are noisy??
my car makes a ticking noise and if you thrash it the noise is even louder
cheers

could be a sticky lifter or something

the lash adjuster . commonly miss-called the lifter or tappet

is a hydrualicly controled adjuster that keeps valve clearence at zero.
so you don't get any noise and to lessen maintanence.

after time they can wear and become noisy. the ticking noise you can hear.

If a rocker is tapping, I call it a $25 job... thats how much replacement ones cost at Repco... I replaced 2 of them a couple of months ago, and it was all quiet. Now its ticking again, and I have to replace 3 different ones which have broken since.

What commonly happens is the plastic ring which holds a thin disc to the end of the tappet generally breaks (something to look for). As soon as this happens there is a couple of mm clearance and it tapps like a MOFO.

Its an easy job, all you need is a 13mm socket to take off the rocker cover, and a 10mm to take out the rocker mounting bolts.



Lucky for you I started working on my tappets last night, so I ran downstairs this morning and took a pic for ya. From top to bottom, the shim - rocker arm - tappet - broken disc. To the right, a complete tappet assembly, or what it should look like. (Note the one on the right in the replaceable tappet from Repco, as the one on the left was standard tappets, note top of tappet)

Also note the oil line which you can see running from the rail mounting hole to the tappet compartment. It would be advisable to check this hole is clear of muck, a WD40 straw fits perfectly down this hole, attack the hole it from the inside top of the rocker arm where the tappet would be.

Anyway...

Just push/tap the shim and tappet out of the rocker arm from the top, or try and pull the broken tappet out from the bottom. (you may have to use some force if its an old engine). When you put the shim back in make sure the dot is facing out.

While your replacing the tappets its probably a good idea to spend a day, pull apart the whole rocker assembly, clean any caked up oil 'n' s**t out of the rails, oil lines and tappet oil lines in each rocker.

Hope that helps ya. I've done this whole procedure half a dozen times now, any probs, let us know!

Replaced the 3 tappets, and installed an new rubber gasket (lookin a bit better). My car is once again, silent!!!

I'll give you guys a comparison...

6 months ago...


..today...

cheers lukieman
is that standard mpfi or did u do a conversion
awesome engine bay
nice n tidy