Stock E31 Head Factory Rocker Valve Guide "Lash Pad" Thickness

[gundee]

If those were original lash pads they were shot from wear ages ago. New pads likely would have been enough..

I never would have spent the money on rocker arms until I tried the new pads first.

But nothing wrong with what you did. Except if you are doing all that then upgrade that old worn out camshaft

with a modern regrind and new pads. IMO.

[oemz]

I inspected the lash pads and rockers and they were pretty worn, so I just decided to change out both. I would have had to have multiple lash pads in various thickness to compensate the worn out rocker arm to get the correct wipe. Since they were both new, with the correct valve settings the wipe was right on.

Lumens,

You are right. The correct thing would have been to do the cam as well, but the lobes where clean so I passed.

 

 

[Zed Head]

Thanks for getting back.  So basically, you didn't check valve lash, you just replaced those parts based on the ticking noise, and the appearance?

Pictures would be neat if you still have the parts.  And where did you get genuine Nissan rocker arms?  My impression that they're NLA.

[siteunseen]

I'm jealous!  No more ticking, problem solved, that's all that matters.

[Chickenman]

Edit: Deleted double post

Edited March 21, 2016 by Chickenman

[oemz]

Zed Head,

I removed the old rockers and lash pads and checked for wear and replaced with new parts. The old lash pads were genuine but looked different than the ones I purchased from Nissan. The old ones appeared to be thicker/taller, but the underside was recessed deeper than the new ones so it balanced out in height. The diameter of the new ones were slightly smaller which made me a bit worried at first, but they work perfectly fine. The parts are still available from Nissan in the US, but I'm not sure how many are left.

I'll take some pictures of the old parts and post them up.

 

[Zed Head]

I guess they are.  Didn't know that.

I like to confirm my suspicions before replacing parts.  You didn't really do that, you might have been fine with a lash adjustment.  No biggy, just personal preference.  Don't throw the old parts away, the rocker arms can be reground.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/oe-nissan/13257w0300

[oemz]

Yes, I did check the valve lash before removing. It was close to spec but it could have used adjustment.

I do agree with you that it would have been the better way to approach it, but I don't think it would have solved my problem unless I had different lash pad thicknesses to work with. There was a significant difference in thickness in the rocker wipe surface height vs the old one. Sorry I didn't measure. I think with adjusting it to spec, it would of required me to try different lash pads to get the correct wipe because of the taller rocker arm. I could be wrong, but If this is true, it would be the cheaper way to approach the problem. 

Buy a few lash pads in various thicknesses and adjust to see if you get the correct wipe pattern and hope the ticks goes away.

 

 

Edited March 22, 2016 by oemz

[oemz]

Here are some pics of the old rocker and lash pads/guides

[Chickenman]

Wow.. that is horrible wear on the rocker arm wipe pad in the top photo. I've never seen a rocker pad wear offset like that on an L-series. Tip of rocker arm is worn offset as well. I think you would be well advised to check your Camshaft for wear. It looks like it has some taper wear.

Can you post up some more pictures of your old rocker arms and the wipe patterns?  It would be nice to see a selection of the old rockers instead of just 1. But the  top picture is a worry....

 

 

[Chickenman]

Have you physically checked the wipe pattern after installing the new rockers?  That old rocker picture has an asymmetrical wear pattern that could be caused by a worn Camshaft.

Here's a picture of a good wipe pattern.

 

[oemz]

I think the reflection is making it seem that way. See picture below.

You can see the wipe was more towards on the adjustment side. If I remember correctly, the exhaust rockers where more centered.

 

I did check my wipe when installing the new ones by highlighting the rocker wipe surface with a red sharpie and hand rotating the cam.

I'll try to take a pictures of all 12 and post them up.