97grand4.0

Absolutely not, strongly disagree. This is what you do NOT do. Machinist said good break in oil and hold a high idle on initial start up. If you pump them up and put them in, you will either not start of backfire like crazy because the valves are held open.
What you can do is spin the engine with no ignition / fuel for a few times. Might have not damaged a chevy because you can fiddle with the adjustment.

dave1123

You are right. After everything is assembled on a Chevy, you adjust the rocker hold-down nuts for a preload on closed valves, one cylinder at a time. This presets the plungers at the point of supply port closure where they become solid. On fire-up, if any are noisy, you take them down another 1/4 turn after warmup. My mechanic didn't fill them when he put the head on with the new lifters and they quieted right away. It really sucks not to have any adjustment.

97grand4.0

My buick 300 v8 non adjustable also. so I knew a little of that beforehand. Did you get a check from Andrew Coumo? I just got $256.

dave1123

Not yet......did you hear what he just said about America not being great again because it never was? So much for his dreams of running in 2020!

97grand4.0

yea..not until all people are equal...like in....oh off topic!

dave1123

Well....YOU brought up the governor!

97grand4.0

Somehow my transmission dipstick got clocked and looks like I need to take it out and see what the problem is. Leaking at the top of the pan where it goes in. Found fluid all over the floor.
UPDATE: So this was a blessing in disguise. Turns out I have the wrong dipstick, a 52118641 which fits the 01-03 GC. Correct stick for the 97 or 98 and more is the #52118628. Overfilled my transmission for the last 6 years by what appears to be 3 quarts or so. Hopefully explains the non shifting when I get off the highway., which then settles down again later. Frothy fluid will do that. Ugh. Oh well, good thing I found it.
Drove out the exhaust studs now just drive in the new ones from NAPA. Coming up with a flange for the front pipe will be a challenge, short of replacing the front pipe which ain't happening.

UPDATE ON TRANSMISSION DIPSTICK/ OVERFILLING ISSUE = NO UPSHIFT WHEN FLUID AERATED :
I do NOt have the wrong dipstick, yet problem remains that it does not go in all the way, giving false reading which leads to OVERFILL. Overfill was causing FLUID to become frothy and then shift problems when in hard use would not want to shift up.
The stick is #52118641 and the TUBE is #52118628. Called the Dealer for this info.
So now I measure down the stick about 5/8" to obtain the true readings. The 42RE tranny pan has a dimple in it from the factory that the stick is probably intended to go by, but it won't. Shifts "normally" now even after a romp up a hill or on the highway,

97grand4.0

Cylinders and piston tops all cleaned up. Everything clean room clean, ready to go together.. Pistons were cleaned with green scrubber, lots of brake fluid, toothbrush and a wee tiny bit of judiciously applied gasket scraper, careful here, that aluminum is soft soft soft. All it really takes is a light drag across the stuck carbon and then a little brake fluid and more scrubbing with the dish pad. They shine like the day they were put in, which was 12/13/96 per the engine block ID. As mentioned , no discernible damage to the cylinder walls so think the skirts are OK.

Oldbaja

Pictures please or it never happened.

97grand4.0

Well today the head went back on. 14 new TTY bolts and a new torque wrench. Yes, Dave, got the 592 locktite on bolt 11, which only goes to 100 lbs vs 110 on all the others in the final round. That was a chore.

dave1123

Yeah, those rear ones are a beyotch, ain't they? Almost as bad as the manifold bolts! That last manifold bolt I could only get with a box wrench. On the WJ, you have to put the rear 2 bolts into the head BEFORE you put it on because of the overhanging cowl. I mean Dave P did it while I watched. He set the head using a cherrypicker because he's as old as I am with a bad shoulder. He was nice enough to let me "help" by sitting on a stool nearby out of his way! He was funny when I asked questions saying "This ain't my first rodeo!" Suitably chastised, I shut up! I felt honored because he did it rather then have Robert or Angel do it. They finished it up though. He's made a boatload of money off me, but I trust him to do it right.

97grand4.0

Yeah the FSM says to tape the #14 bolt up and then put the head on, but, I had no issue with that, plenty of room. I used the old fashioned "pick the dam thing up and throw it on there" method, no cherry picker. Nice thing about having your head done is they run all the threads and bolts clean and oiled like new. Also they replace the freeze plug, blow out the coolant passages, and pull the 4 round plugs that have the 1/2" drive heads on and replace them, they sit in the rocker galley. Have yet to put the manifolds on.

97grand4.0

Spent a couple hours and 2 cans of brake fluid trying to clean out the intake manifold today with a gasket scraper and a toothbrush. Anyone that thinks seafoam or anything else is going to scrub out 200k miles of crud, I have news for you. Ain't happening. The amount of black goo in there is staggering. I wonder is it from fuel or what, I don't honestly know, but it does make me want to change the front O2 sensor. Could also be valve float from the weak springs, bad compression on the valves, or valve seals themselves. I’m going with a combination of all three.

UPDATE: TPS DOES NOT LIKE TO GET WET WITH ANYTHING.
Idle problems after the rebuild, thought to myself, well, I did put a TON of various brake cleaner and carb cleaner through that manifold, as in like 2 cans of it, and with the tps still on it, let me change the tps and see if that helps. It did.
So if you are using Seafoam or Cataclean whichever , you do NOT want to spray down the throttle body, feed it in through a vacuum line or some way that won't let it near the TPS.

dave1123

That black crud in the intake manifold is just dirt that was too fine for the filter to remove mixed with oil vapor from the CCV system, then baked from engine heat. What I found amusing was the clean washed fuel spray patterns just before the valves inside the head. Last time I checked live engine data while it was running, the air temp outside was 68* but the manifold air temp sensor was showing 159*. You could probably get more power, but less economy, if you moved the intake temp sensor to the throttle body air box on top. The only problem with doing that is you'd have to disconnect it to remove the air box and if you ran the engine with it off, it would set a trouble code.

97grand4.0

Exhaust manifold IS cracked, after all. Classic hairline crack around the collector, maybe inch and half long. Drilled and welded, easy. Doh!! Thing is you really cannot see it unless you do pull the manifold.