i have an 88 L98 motor and i have a question. when i start my car i have a bad sound as its trying to start like the motor is about to explode its really bad. once the car starts i can hear a hitting/tapping noise on the passenger side of the engine. friend of mine told me maybe rockers are hitting the covers, i have 1.6 roller rockers. i took off my covers and i started up the motor and it still made the noise but it wasn't as bad or loud. so i want to change my covers but im not sure what to get everyone says taller but all the centerbolt tall ones dont have the right amount of holes in them. i need 2 on the passenger side, one is the tube to the throttle and one for the oil cap. and the driver one for the pcv valve unless i can just eliminate all the tubes and use a breather. im having alot of issues with the motor on top of this like car starts up runs for a sec then dies on the first startup, or i turn on my lights and the motor shuts off and i got a new batt and alt, so thats REALLY confusing me. please please help me out here!! i dont know where to start. i just finished building the engine and it has lots of issues that i dont know to fix or what to look for.

 

Sounds like your timing is off. What do you have the timing at?

 

well i had it set with the EST plugged in, at i think about 23 degrees or so but im not really sure.

 

Set it with the EST unplugged. Probably start out around 8* and adjust from there.

 

im gonna have to say timing or the valves need adjusted.

 

check the starter!!

 

im gonna adjust the the timing to 8* but i got an LT4 hot cam should it be any different? also im not sure its the starter cause i have a different noise AFTER the car starts up. also starter is new as well. the valves im not 100% sure how to adjust or set them i tried it myself doing it once and im not sure how to "feel" for the pushrod to be correct. it is VERY possible that the valves are hitting the pistons..

 

The timing should be reasonable around 8*... you will have to adjust it later to get maximum power/response for your application.

I can't remember the order to adjust the valves... I used a Haynes manual and it had the order in there. Basically you want to spin the pushrod with one hand while tightening the lifter nut with the other. Once it is snug enough that you can't easily spin the pushrod, tighten about a half turn more.