Ford 400 Engine Noise

[UTfball68]

Alright Fellas, finally got the 400 all buttoned back up in my Bronco last night, but with issues.

About a month and a half ago, I regasketed/sealed, new coil, new double roller timing set, etc. to freshen it up. A couple weeks later, the Bronco acted like it jumped time again. After a mile jaunt home, sure enough it was 20+* off. So I tore back in to it doing a little here and there. Timing set is perfect, no debris or metal in the oil pan, and I threw a new remand Motorcraft distributor in last night (which now comparing the old dizzy to the new, I believe was the culprit all along).


So back to the problem, everything is buttoned up, I fire up the Bronco, and I hear a good bit of noise coming from the drivers side, top end I believe. So I shut it down after a few seconds of running. I check to make sure everything is lined up properly, and it was. So I give it a shot again, she fires up...still making the same noise, but I got a light on it real quick and it was holding at 15*...great. I give it a touch of throttle and it dies after running for about 15 seconds. I re-evaluate what's going on and figured the third time is a charm, she fires right up, but didn't wanna idle for shit...so I shut it down after about 5 seconds.


So my thought process is, the cause for me jumping time initially was a fubar'd distributor. Which in turn, because of a 20* timing error, caused me to drop a push rod or two...bend a valve or two or potentially collapse a lifter. Does this sound to be on the right track?

 

[Ron]

if you jump time at the dizzy (ie dizzy gear slipped on cam gar)the valve timing would still be right just the spark would arrive at the wrong time.

This shouldnt bend push rods etc.

Now if you jumped time at the timing set, your cam timing was off, then yes on an interference motor damage is possible not sure if a 400 is an interference motor or not.

But the only way to screw up valve timing is to change the relationship between the cam and the crank.

 

[UTfball68]

Alright...any suggestions on my next steps then or what needs to be checked next? The timing issue seems to have been caused by the distributor. But now I have top end noise. Thanks for the help.

 

[6BangBronk]

Have you done a compression check on the motor?

 

[UTfball68]

Have you done a compression check on the motor?

I was going to do that tonight.

 

[Tim C]

A 400 CAN bend valves/pushrods if it jumps time. I bought a junk truck for parts once that had that exact thing happen to it. I had the heads reworked and they are on my 351M now.