weekend help.. please

[wgonfanintx]

okay as you know I have been having trouble with a ruff idle.. here is what I know.
spark, and vaccum are okay. fuel delivery seems okay. I pulled one of the valve covers (drivers side) today and found that the rocker closest to the radiator on the drivers side moves slightly less up and down than the others do, and does not squirt oil as well as others. I pulled the rod and the rocker and inspected them for wear.. they both look fine, and are not bent. I'm assumming that this is the exuahst valve, and that this is the cuase of my problem.. especially becuase when I pull my sparkplug wires one at a time, that same cylinder (#1) makes no effect on the way the engine idles. It does effect the way the engine accelarates & drives. currently my neutral idle is 900 rpms, & my in gear idle is 600 rpms.. 500 rpms is way to ruff.

my question is: what would you do?
I don't have the tools to rebuild the lifters or valves, nor do I have the money to replace the cam if need be.

Can I just live with the shaking (ruff idle)? or can I expect further engine damage?

or do you think the is another problem I should test?

I was even thinking of finding a slighty longer push rod and see if the could get me by..

thanks,
thomas
1988 gw 360

[ March 13, 2004, 08:03 PM: Message edited by: wgonfanintx ]

[g503]

how is the oiling hole on the pushrod?you could try an engine cleaner and really screw up the engine , or it might clean the sludge outand how was the face of the rocker did it seem worn? or pushed in? might just need a rocker set for that cyl,

[Chevelleguy]

It sounds like the cam is going flat. It is caused by the lifter not rotating during break in. The cam lobe starts to flatten and the lifter becomes concave. You can't replace the push rod with a longer one as this will just speed up the wearing process. As all this is happening, the metal from the cam and lifter is going into your oil and being sucked into your pump! The only way to fix it is to replace the cam and lifters(all of them).

[wgonfanintx]

so you guys are in agreement that this is my problem.
compared to that set of rockers they both looks the same as far as wear goes, the appeared to be shiney but not that worn..

replace the cam & lifters.. sounds expensive

what are we talking here?

What if I want to continue to drive the GW until that cylinder dies all together.

[Chevelleguy]

Cam and lifter kit from Summit-$100
Timing chain set-$40-60
Intake gasket-$20
Timing cover set-$10
RTV-$4
Coolant-$5
Oil change-$10
You can keep running it, but like I said, your putting metal in your oil.

[ March 14, 2004, 09:35 AM: Message edited by: chevelleguy ]

[wgonfanintx]

can I replace the cam while the engine is in the truck or does the engine need to be pulled?

my repair manual list it under "repairs that can be done with the engine in the truck" but it seem like it would be quite difficult

thanks for your help guys.. it's not near as expensive as I thought.

[Chevelleguy]

You have to pull the radiator and the a/c condenser to have enough room to slide the cam out. The labor guides call for about 8 hours but if you have never done it before or are mechanically challanged, then it can take 2-3 days.