Pre-Cup Needed

[19887.3IDI]

This says a lot right here: "that came with the engine from jasper" Being a production line rebuilder they have a reputation for things that work but cause issues like this. For one thing the rods came from a pile of rods, not from one engine. And they have been caught boring cylinders different sizes. So it could be you can't solve it without a teardown.
On another note my 6.9 was rebuilt by me, and the only thing that didn't get done was balancing. It has this exact shake you are describing and I have been through everything. It has been sitting around with 3,000 miles on it but I have done everything short of tearing it down again and it still does it.

I checked all the pistons while I had the heads off and they all said .040 on them and .040 was stamped on both sides of the block. It does kind of seem like a balance issue. If I disconnect the fuel shut off solenoid and have a helper crank the engine over while I hold my hand to the exhaust it feels even then.

What about a torque converter could that cause this? Would it hurt anything if I unbolted the trans and start the engine to see if that is the cause?

 

[OLDBULL8]

On cylinder #5 the exhaust rocker arm was a little loose so I took both off that cylinder to check for wear and it didn't look too bad so I put it back together and torqued it to speck. I decided to reseal my leaking dipstick tube while I had it loose and when I finished that I went back to check the rocker arms on that same cylinder again and I could push the intake rocker in towards the lifter about a 1/4'' and the exhaust rocker was solid. I even took the push rod out of the exhaust side to make sure it wasn't bent so if any of the lifters should have been drained of oil I would have thought it would have been the exhaust not the intake.

This quote is from the FTE forum. I read every post on here and didn't see that mentioned.

But I see you have installed new lifters. Have you checked that #5 rocker that was loose before?
Are the old lifters all the same length?
Are the new lifters the same length as the old ones?

It just seem's strange that #5 intake was 1/4" loose, you could Take #3 intake rocker off and #5 intake rocker off, turn the engine over by hand and check if both #3 and #5 lifts the same distance, that would check the cam lobes.

 

[OLDBULL8]

What about a torque converter could that cause this? Would it hurt anything if I unbolted the trans and start the engine to see if that is the cause?

Sure you can.
Do you have just a flex plate or the heavy fly wheel?

 

[19887.3IDI]

This quote is from the FTE forum. I read every post on here and didn't see that mentioned.

But I see you have installed new lifters. Have you checked that #5 rocker that was loose before?
Are the old lifters all the same length?
Are the new lifters the same length as the old ones?

It just seem's strange that #5 intake was 1/4" loose, you could Take #3 intake rocker off and #5 intake rocker off, turn the engine over by hand and check if both #3 and #5 lifts the same distance, that would check the cam lobes.

That #5 rocker was loose before I replaced the lifters and after I replaced them I ran it for a little while and rechecked all the rockers and they were all good and snug.

The old lifters looked all the same length and the same as the new ones.

I thought it was strange too. That is why I went ahead and put new lifters in but it still shakes the same.

 

[19887.3IDI]

Sure you can.
Do you have just a flex plate or the heavy fly wheel?

It has the heavy flywheel and a metal plate that bolt to the crank. The converter bolts to the plate.

 

[OLDBULL8]

After calls to Jasper to find out that injector cups are considered part of the fuel system and were not covered by the warranty.

This is an excerpt taken from a members post on the TDS, just today.

 

[OLDBULL8]

It has the heavy flywheel and a metal plate that bolt to the crank. The converter bolts to the plate.

IIRC, that is correct, the flywheel is next to the crank and the plate is next to the TC, you have to go thru holes in the flywheel to install the TC nuts. You also should have a large stress washer under the bolt heads.

 

[19887.3IDI]

Yes if I remember right there was a large washer under the bolt heads too.

Do you know if that set up has been known for causing balance issues?

 

[OLDBULL8]

It's been about five years ago since I worked on a 90 F350 that had that flywheel on it with an E4OD.

IIRC, it had a dowel pin in the flywheel to crank hub for location. You could have someone crank the engine over with the FSS on the IP disconnected, so it don't start. Then look at the flywheel for wobble, they are awful heavy and possibly misaligned or bolts to crank are not tightened to torque 50 ft lbs., runout is 0.008. There are nine holes in the hub, one for a dowel and eight for bolts. IIRC

Edit: if you didn't use the original bolts, they could be to long and hit the rear main.

 

[19887.3IDI]

I did take the inspection cover off and start it then I just looked under at the flywheel and I could hardly tell it was even moving. But that was just eye balling it.

I don't think it has a dowel pin in it but I'm pretty sure there is a place for one. Maybe that is the problem.

I did use the same bolts too.

 

[OLDBULL8]

If you can't see any wobble, I would say it's OK then, but 8 thousanth is damn little. But to eliminate the TC and trans. probably be best to disconnect it.

Edit: Just a thought, bent blade on the engine fan?

 

[icanfixall]

At this point I feel you need to check the lift on the cam lobe that showed a loose rocker. Really only 2 things can cause a loose rocker like you described. Thats a bad cam lobe or a ruined lifter. Now seeing you replaced the lifters I'm thinking you need to check the total lift on that lobe. Be sure to check another same type lobe be it intake or exhaust.. This thought of a bad cam lobe is a stretch but its an informed guess from what you have posted. Generally a lifter or cam issue comes with a ticking or chuffing sound out the intake or exhaust. your posts talk about the chuff sound. Being 40 over is not an issue but unbalanced rods can be. many years back I bought a set of Mahle turbo pistons directly from Mahle. They were as much as 20 grams difference from piston to piston and attempting to balance them was not possible to remove that much weight. I talked directly to the Mahle engineer named Eric. He explained we don't turn high rom and can live very long engine lives being as much as 14 grams out of balance. I did not believe this and requested a new set of pistons with a closer weight difference between pistons. That took several months for them to "make" a set for me. Seems they needed to run many sets and mix and match a set for me. But I finally got what I wanted. Those pistons now are within 1/4 to 1/3 gram of being the same exact weight. then the crank and rods and flexplate were balanced with the pistons. you hear my engine running but an't feel it run.. Its an odd thing too. Can you recall in your cam gear has the 2 drilled and threaded holes in it. If so thats a known balance issue cam gear. The newer cam gears have a balance lug cast into them and run much smoother and will not have any drilled or threaded holes in the gear. To remove those gears you use a 3 leg puller revered to fit thru the slots to pull the gear off the cam. Its a much better cam gear all the way around oo.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Posted by Oldbull8.

It just seem's strange that #5 intake was 1/4" loose, you could Take #3 intake rocker off and #5 intake rocker off, turn the engine over by hand and check if both #3 and #5 lifts the same distance, that would check the cam lobes.

That's what I said long ago. Check the cam lift.

 

[typ4]

A bent valve will cause a loose rocker, redo the compression test.
That jasper statement sure is a cop out.

 

[19887.3IDI]

Ill redo the compression test and check cam lift.

I was just out letting it idle and sitting in the drivers seat it kind of feels similar to when a tire is out of balance. If I bring the rpms up slowly the shake comes and goes up until about 2,000rpm then it smooth's out a little and stays the same till 3,000. 3,000 is as far as I went. Out driving the only time I can feel it is when I'm stopped or coming to a stop under 20mph other than that it is smooth.