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A valve sticking open would cause a lean condition. Not opening all the way would only be like a lower lift, shorter duration cam.
Thanks. That wouldn't necessarily cause any piston-to-valve interference, correct?
Maybe I should do a compression test next? I've got a set of gauges. I wish I owned a leak-down test kit. The tick noise leads me to believe it's the lifters.
Well, I finally got a chance to do the leak-down test. Thanks @shakenfake for loaning me the tool!
Here are the results, but I suspect some valves are sticking (?) On the cylinders with 2 numbers I spun the engine over since no apparent pressure was able to build up. On 2 cylinders at some point I heard a "psst" and saw the gauge needle drop (the ones with the *)
Cylinder 8 is a pain being so close to the firewall so that one hooked up the gauge and pressurized it slightly, then spun the engine until I saw pressure rising. On all cases where pressure was not met, I could hear and feel air through the throttle body. Any thoughts? 🤷
That sheet is a mess. I'd say do it over. Pull the valve covers and back off the rocker bolts then TDC the cylinder you want to start with and lock it in place. Either use the tool for the starter location or a breaker bar/socket on the balancer bolt. Air back through the TB would generally indicate an intake valve issue.
I never updated this thread. Back in March
I was going to do a cam, lifters and some refreshed 317 heads. I removed the heads and noticed when I tried to open the lifters 2 had these little particles inside the little cups. I thought had found the problem...
Then the cam bearings had a bit of wear (which actually seemed like it was normal now looking in retrospect), so I decided to pull the engine. Teardown looked very good. Main and rods bearings didn't have much wear. Crank journals looked excellent.
A cylinder ball hone, new piston rings, cam/main/rod bearings and gaskets (reused the valley cover and rear main seal since those were pretty new.)
I've put maybe 1200 miles (changed break-in oil around 650 miles), and truck is running good.