First Boat engine question

[jsfish]

Hello, new to board and a new first time boat owner. I have a question about the engine in my boat I'm hoping some of you experts can shed some light on.

I purchased a 1975 Trojan F26, it has a Ford 351 Mercruiser. There is a tick on the engine almost all the time, the engine is clean and I was told the top was rebuilt the year prior. I've re adjusted all the lifters to make sure there was 0 lash, it quieted down some. Even goes away sometimes. Is there anything else i can do before next winter (going to rebuild the entire thing for ease of mind) to make me more comfortable? Its not loud, and is coming from the #1 cylinder.

Also the engine is mostly stock, is there anything i can do to it to bring it up to date more? Hopefully to help with fuel congestion though it does pretty good as is. I use the boat mostly for trolling.

Thanks ahead of time!

[bjanakos]

A few things can cause ticks... If you addressed the lifters, you can take a look at your oil... Ensure you are using the correct grade for you temperature zone. If it's the #1, maybe your not pumping enough up there.

It could also be an exhaust leak.

[Jimmy]

Ditto on the oil, and oil pressure? Are you over 20psi?

Have you run it with the cover off the valves? Sometimes ( althogh can be a bit messy) it necessary to adjust the lifters while it is running. You may have a bad or leaky hydraulic lifter.

If oil pressure is low, you can put in a bottle or two of STP or motor honey to thicken up your oil a bit, see if that makes a difference. If you are a fisherman and are trolling a bunch, there are two things you can add or upgrade:

High volume oil pump during the rebuild, or external belt drive high volume oil pump. Low idle on stock motors is not ideal for long periods of time especially on those that have some wear.

Good luck!

[jsfish]

Thank you for the replies, yes mostly fishing though the oil is almost always 20psi or higher. Temp is normally good too. I think I need to definitely look at oil, I was told it was changes however it was pretty dirty looking. Filter looked new. I think I'll put some seafoam in it and put a few hours on it then change it out.

[Donhollys]

The 351 ford was notorious for the mechanical fuel pump lever spring to loose tension and cause a single tapping sound. These pumps have a very long arm that contacts the eccentric bolted to the cam which made them susceptible to this problem. Sometimes you could feel it while putting your hand on the pump at idle. Just something to keep in mind.

[jsfish]

The 351 ford was notorious for the mechanical fuel pump lever spring to loose tension and cause a single tapping sound. These pumps have a very long arm that contacts the eccentric bolted to the cam which made them susceptible to this problem. Sometimes you could feel it while putting your hand on the pump at idle. Just something to keep in mind.

Thanks i'll check into that as well. I finally got a chance to change to the oil, also added some motor honey to it in case it was a lifter. Have not had chance to let it run a while yet though. I think the fuel pump is on the opposite side of the source of the tick but i will definitely be checking it.

[32pacemaker]

I
Had the same sound on my f26 with a 351 it was a exhaust leak manifold to cylinder head...