8 replies to this topic

[Harryracinggreen1990]

hi there , i have a 1990 rover racing green with the 998, when i say "with" its not acctually in the car , so ive come to put the engine togther and i have found that all the push rods havnt been stored in order, why is it important to store them in order and what should i do now? possibly buy as new set of rods and a set of cam followers? new to all this so any help would be great! many thanks harry

[Ethel]

The ball sockets on both ends wear together, but it's not as bad as mixing up other bits, like cam followers. If there's no obvious wear (ridges etc.) on the ends I'd put 'em back in and keep a bit of a closer eye on the tappet clearances - say after a few hundred miles and then a few thousand more.

[KernowCooper]

You may need to adjust the valve clearances after a couple hundred miles but other that that its not as important as cam follers as Ethel said above

[bmcecosse]

Inspect the followers -ANY sign of pitting or crazing - fit new. The rods matter not a jot! Just use them - provided they aren't bent of course.......

[carbon]

As mentioned by the previous posts if you have taken the cam followers out and cannot work out the exact order then you should bin them and replace with new.

Even if the faces look OK, these are one of the most heavily loaded parts of the engine and they are cheaper to just replace with a new set.

[BritishRacingGreen]

For the price of a new set would it not be worth the peace of mind?

[tiger99]

No, there is no point in replacing the push rods. As others have stated, the cam followers are very heavily stressed and need to be kept with their original cam lobe (and ALWAYS a new set of followers with a new cam or vice-versa, as they work harden and new on old will ruin the new in a few hundered miles or less). But push rods only move through a very small angle on their ball ends, and will polish themselves against their new cam follower and rocker screw quite quickly. New parts would not really do any better.

I have mixed up push rods on occasion, and whatever minor consequences may have happened, they were all taken up by adjusting the valve clearances after a few hundred miles, as is necessary after retorquing the head, and I never saw any signs of accelerated wear. Not just on Minis, my Triumph Herald also survived mixing the push rods. But I usually do try to keep them in correct order.

[Cooperman]

It's not an issue so long as the push rods are not bent, which can be checked with a straight edge.

[carbon]

One other thing which may be worth doing to the pushrods before replacing.

After a high mileage the lower end of the push-rod may have a slight 'pip' in the centre. This may only be 0.25-0.5mm high and 1-2mm diameter and can easily be removed by dressing with a light stone.