Hello all.
I replaced my head a couple weeks ago (85 GL) and when I went to adjust
the valves, the lifers were really soft and squishy since no oil had
been in the engine for nearly a month.  I let them sit in the oil over
night and adjusted them again.  After running for about 30 minutes, the
valve train quieted down, but then several days later I began hearing
some tapping so I went back and readjusted the valves. This time the
lifters were really firm.  I could hardly tighten the set screws two
turns.  Well, this evening I started the van, rolled down the hill out
of my driveway and along a flat section of road for about half a mile.
Then as I came to a stop sign the engine just died.  When I tried to
restart it there was this really loud clanking sound.  I found that the
push rod for the number four cylinder intake valve had come loose and
jammed in-between the rocker and the side of the head.  The valve was
stuck open.  With a screw driver I was able to move the valve into the
closed position, but it moved with great resistance.  Has anyone ever
had this happen.  I suspect the valve was bent by the piston, but does
anyone know whether the piston can actually contact the valve. If it
can't then the valve must have become too hot, not having it's seat to
cool it.  Anyone have any ideas on what happened?  The cylinder head is
an AVP that only had about 40 miles on it.  Can anyone think of a repair
that doesn't require the head removal.  Also, the lifter is rolling
around in the push rod tube.  Would it be damaged in this course of
events or just have fallen out once the push rod was longed between the
lifter and cylinder head wall?  For a little while the engine was
running pretty well.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

--
James Wagner