rossman Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 I recently purchased a '72 240z. The PO told me the engine and head were rebuilt approximately 10K miles ago. I love the car but I think valve train is excessively noisy. I tried adjusting the cam-to-rocker clearance twice, once cold, once hot but the noise is still there and didn't seem to change much in between. Actually it seemed more quiet after the cold setting. Here is a video of the car. Noisy eh? I read here and elsewhere that it could be worn lash pads. That will probably be my next fix after I try adjusting the valves one more time for good measure. This morning I took the valve cover off and started inspecting everything. The cam looks kinda crappy as you can see in the pictures. These are cam lobes for cylinder 2 exhaust and 3 intake. I am wondering if this cam is trash. The car seems to run fine and there isn't a ridge at on the cam lobe. If the next adjustment doesn't fix the problem should I start checking the wipe pattern on the rockers? Or am I wasting my time and should I get a new cam, rocker, lash pads, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozconnection Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Oh dear! What does your gut tell you about this situation? You've already answered your own question. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotfitz Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Or am I wasting my time and should I get a new cam, rocker, lash pads, etc.? Oh dear! What does your gut tell you about this situation? You've already answered your own question. Good luck. Yep, looks like someone used an old cam and "polished" the rust off of it. As for replacing everything, we would need to see the rocker arms and I doubt the lash pads are bad. Afew more pics would let us give you some better advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossman Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 Oh dear! What does your gut tell you about this situation? You've already answered your own question. Good luck. My gut tells me I got ripped off. The guy I bought it from knew nothing about the car. He just drove it for about a year then sold it to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossman Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 On a positive note, I think I may just go ahead with a turbo upgrade that I have been considering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossman Posted May 2, 2008 Author Share Posted May 2, 2008 I got it to quiet down by adjusting the valves cold and -.002 under the recommended clearance. If I remember correctly, that equates to .008 and .010. There is still a noticeable tick but it is much better. With the car running, I passed one end of a piece of PVC pipe over the valve train with my ear on the other to try to pinpoint the tick. As expected, the tick is pronounced near the scored lobes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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