Elephant's feet (valve lash adjuster) wear?

[Black 993]

I'm trying to diagnose a persistent valvetrain metallic ticking sound in my 1970 911. It developed recently, a couple thousand miles after an engine rebuild I did myself that included new cams and reconditioned rockers. It's not an exhaust leak or loose head nuts and the engine runs fantastically -- great power, smooth idle, etc.

I've now done two valve adjustments to no avail. First one didn't affect the ticking so I drove the car a few hundred miles and then removed the valve covers and rolled the engine over to check all the rockers, and it was strange -- a couple were loose, a couple were tight, and the rest were perfect. I readjusted them and triple-checked my work by rolling the engine over several times. When I put the valve covers back on they were really, really perfect. Fired it up, and still have the ticking noise, and overall what I would call a noisy valvetrain.

I can't figure out what the problem could be other than worn elephant's feet. Very little in the archives about this -- anyone have suggestions? I hate parts-changing and do not look forward to pulling rockers and shafts with the engine in the car, so any diagnosis tips are appreciated.

[Trackrash]

I would use a stethoscope to try to isolate the location of the noise.

I had a noisy lifter on my old motor, but careful (tight?) valve adjustment calmed it down. I suspect it was due to a worn valve guide.

FWIW, I think you are correct that loose elephant feet can cause some noise, but I have not found that to be a huge concern.

What cam are you running? What oil? Is the noise there all the time or when warmed up?

FWIW, I found that adjusting the valves when the motor is still somewhat warm makes it easier the feel the correct adjustment. When the oil, like 20-50 is cold and thick it is a challenge to use the feeler gauge accurately, IMO.

[Black 993]

I've got mod-Solex cams, nothing special. And use Mobil 1 V-twin 20/50 oil. If I was reading this post I would chalk it up to operator error, but I've been doing valve adjustments for 20+ years. I know what I'm doing and know I did it right both times.

[shoooo32]

I had the same problem with a SC motor I rebuilt last year. After the third time I adjusted the valves hunting for an abnormally loud tick, I searched the forum for hours and found the answer. It seems the factory torque setting (13 in-lbs) for the rocker shaft bolts is fine when the cam towers and shafts are new, but after 175K miles and multiple rebuilds, it takes more torque to keep the shafts from sliding. Once the shafts have slid from their correct location, you can adjust the valve lash all you want and it will still tick. Once I moved the three exhaust valve rocker shafts into the correct location, re-torqued them all to 20 in-lbs and readjusted the valves, the obnoxious tick went away.

[Walt Fricke]

Hmm - the symptom for me of loose rocker shafts is an oil leak. And it is a good warning, as running that down can reveal the shaft that is coming out of its hole before it gets too far out and things really start to go wrong. But these are race motors, so you'd never hear a small tick.

[Black 993]

Thanks guys. I did check the rocker shafts and they were all in the right place. I used RSR seals in the rebuild. Really stumped on this one.