Maybe I should drain the oil and save it....

 

Not a bad idea. That way if you do end up with a bunch of antifreeze in the pan you won't waste most of the oil.

Did you ever pull the bearing caps on the cams and check them out?

Bob

 

As Homer Simpson would say..."DOH!!!!" I pulled the valve covers and put the damper at TDC. Sure enough, the "V8" is not straight up on the cams. See photos....
The question is....can I just take the cam gears off and rotate them one tooth? Has anyone done this without taking the timing cover off? After looking at it some more, if the main gear is off one tooth, the cams would be a half tooth out, so I really need to take it all the way down.....

 

Sorry, but you pretty much have to take off the timing cover to do this. You need to be able to compress the tensioner again otherwise when you take off the chain it'll extend itself too far, putting WAY too much tension on the chain.

Bob

 

Well, this is getting frustrating....reinstalled the timing chains and everything looks good except the "noise" is still there!!! The noise is definently coming from the right side valve cover area. It is at engine RPM, not at half speed like the cam is rotating. I will probably tear it apart again...got it down to a half day job now, and take a look inside. Maybe pull a compression check first. At least my labor is cheap!!

 

that noise sorta sounds like the flywheel is touching the teeth on the starter, at times? could be the bendix hanging up could be worth a check.

 

idk it could be sorta sounds like that?

 

OK...time to fix this thing!! I did a compression check today and at least I have and average of 155 PSI....the lowest is 145 and highest is 165...all others are at 155 or so. So at least I know I don't have bent valves....yipee!! I have taken the pass side valve cover off and I cannot see any obvious problems. I took the cam bearings off and inspected them, I don't see any issues there either. So, I am wondering if the rocker arms or lifters are at fault? I do notice a lot of lifter noise on the pass side. Thinking to maybe install new lifters and rocker arms to take all those parts out of the equation. Is there a "how to" on those...I can't seem to find it. I will also be removing the timing cover to once again check to see that everything is where it should be..... One of the thoughts I had was if the tensioner on the pass side was not getting oil...maybe trying to blow the passage clear would help. It is Miller time now....continue tommorrow...

 

Going back out to the garage for another fun filled day of taking off the timing cover. One of the thoughts I have is to run the engine with the valve cover off so I can better hear/see the problem. I will take video of that...

 

Did you try starting it without the serpentine belt once? I don't recall seeing it earlier in the thread. This would keep everything else quiet and help you hone in on the noise.

If it's happening at "crank speed" then the only suggestions would be crank bearings, harmonic balancer seal, or primary timing chain guides / tensioner or primary timing chain upper gear set. I'm not sure what it has in there for bearings, but those are the only things that operate at crank speed.

Lash adjusters & rocker arms are a straight pull & replace job. I'm sure that there are specs somewhere for max wear, but I've never looked for them. Noise is somewhat "normal" on the 4.7 valvetrain.
Keep me posted....

Bob