Ford Coyote redone heads, timing, now heavy tick from inside valve cover?

Hello everyone!

I'm here for a smidge of advice, where ever I can find it. I have a Gen 1 coyote which I just recently pulled out (mainly for TKX swap). I mostly focused on heads and timing. It got new lifters, MMR springs/retainers, billitt oil pump/crank sprocket, pickup tube, windage tray (truck variant), polished journals, and all new Cloyes timing set, which I thought was very easy to install with the timing marks.

Bad news is after a 5 second test start and getting everything else bolted up, I now find that it has a mechanical tap to it. Passenger side. Runs as fine as it did before, but this noise caused me to turn it off fairly quickly. Got louder when the oil cap was opened. A few things come to mind.

When turning the motor after timing it, I noticed the passenger side chain slapped every rotation, on the non-tensioner side. I chalked this up to be the tensioner not having oil pressure in combination with the strong MMR springs pulling the cams back to a closed position. Perhaps it was a mistake to turn to OEM replacement tensioners with upgraded springs? I am certain I took the care to time the motor properly.

Otherwise, all I can think of is needing to run the motor for longer to get oil everywhere in the system. The longest I've let it run is maybe a minute or two, I am afraid of wrecking my freshly redone heads. It is worth noting I primed the motor every time I turned it (via garden sprayer) and before the first start. I also have an oil pressure gauge that reads normal. Maybe the lifters or tensioners need time during the first start? Unsure if the head shop soaked the new lifters in oil before install.

Already took the cover off and looked for loose parts, none on the head. Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks in advance.

I would pull the cam cover on that side, if possible, with the engine in place.
No hands on experience with the mechanicals on this engine, but would check the followers, springs, etc.
Good luck,
You might find some help here.
https://svtperformance.com/

Installing the timing chains is not difficult, but can be a PITA and Gen I, II, II are different. I used the improved Boss (larger) tensioner and Melling kit. Didn't like the Cloyes stock ones. If the top end cams/lifters etc. are known to be correct, I'd be looking at the chain(s) install proceedure.

Exactly. I don't believe the timing is difficult either, and I went to great lengths to make sure everything lined up as it should. It was slightly weird to me that the pass. tensioner couldn't hold the chain tight without oil pressure but the driver side could. I know many call this normal without oil pressure. I also know the upgraded springs pull the cams hard towards a closed position, hence the slack when hand turned.

Either way, timing cover back off today. Weird to think the Cloyes tensioners weren't up to the job, but we'll see

Yes, true, but the main thing is the chain marks and rotating the assemblies. As long as you chain marks are correct, it should be o.k. I have my video of my GenI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3daOVOBM6M and starting around 7min is the chain(s) install.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weendoggy

Yes, true, but the main thing is the chain marks and rotating the assemblies. As long as you chain marks are correct, it should be o.k. I have my video of my GenI here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3daOVOBM6M and starting around 7min is the chain(s) install.

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You did it the same way I did to a tee, but when you turned over the motor to check, it was difficult to tell if you had any slack on the upper passenger side of the chain

When I timed mine, it felt like the valve springs were pulling back to a closed position, so every time I did a half-rotation, the upper part of the passenger side chain lost tension as the valves sprung shut.

At least, thats what my newbie brain throught. Seems I'm in for pulling the valve cover off today to double check.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ForeverDrivin

You did it the same way I did to a tee, but when you turned over the motor to check, it was difficult to tell if you had any slack on the upper passenger side of the chain

When I timed mine, it felt like the valve springs were pulling back to a closed position, so every time I did a half-rotation, the upper part of the passenger side chain lost tension as the valves sprung shut.

At least, thats what my newbie brain throught. Seems I'm in for pulling the valve cover off today to double check.

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The tensioner should hold the chain taught when hand turning the engine. The key is to remove the slack first, the tensioner is spring loaded to keep it there, via it's ratcheting setup.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weendoggy

The tensioner should hold the chain taught when hand turning the engine. The key is to remove the slack first, the tensioner is spring loaded to keep it there, via it's ratcheting setup.

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The Cloyes timing chain tensioners do not appear to have any sort of ratcheting setup, nothing like what I've seen on the Boss 302 tensioners. Maybe those tensioners are required for these springs.