Oh.. and be careful when tighening the bolts from the valve cover.... watch your torque spec... they snap pretty easily

 

I didn't mess with those much .. so couldn't tell you.. You can check out the rave and see if it has oil routing diagrams. The oil should be flowing out of those ports so I wouldn't expect much to go backwards (check valve in the oil filter etc... )

I'm by no means an expert... so maybe someone else can chime in here

 

You can use a solvent, let it sit. Air to clear and repeat. A long thin length of uncoated wire with a twist at one end can also be used to help the solvent penetrate. Mother's Top End treatment works pretty good and doesn't mess up your oiling later on.

 

Got the new pushrods in today and in comparing the new to old, notice that the new pushrods are slight longer, see attached picture. Just taking a quick measurement, I'm guessing about a millimeter, maybe a touch less. Is this due to wear and tear of the old push rods and would imagine that after 150k, that may be normal.

I order pushrods with part #603378.

Is it safe to install the new pushrods? I'm replacing the entire 16 rods as I was somewhat thinking that wear and tear may have cause these rods to be shorter or warped over time.

 

New original pushrods would have a ball as well and the fact that they are short is because they are now mushroom shaped. So yes, the new pushrods are correct and will open the valves just that much more. The wear is normal specifically if the top end wasn't receiving enough oil. I'd say they're ready for replacement.

 

Thanks, I'll replace them. Was debating on replacing them all or not, guess it was a good call to replace all 16. And based on the clogged oil ports I found, I'm guessing that best case was that very little oil was getting up there so hope the cleaning will help.

 

It will help, wouldn't have suggested any of this if I didn't think it's the right thing to do. I know from experience. I resurrected a neglected truck almost 6 years ago now and it still continues to pay back dividends particularly in the winter up here.

Depending on the climate where you live another suggesting is using 15W40 Shell Rotella or 5W40 Rotella synthetic. I use synthetic to extend oil changes and when the cold weather hits (from 20F and below) to quickly send oil to the top end at start-up.

 

I just did the change with the 5w40 and the giant purolator filter and my truck is happy happy happy ...

I would suggest one more thing for you ... odds are your oil pan is NASTY too .. including the bits of metal that settled down there from your pushrods, may be a good time to yank the oil pan and get rid of some of the gunk/metal bits that have settled in there..

Granted mine was worse, but i had shavings from the pushrods in the oil pan

 

I live in Denver, CO and run 10w40 during summer and 5w30 during winter. I've only recently switched to Mobil 1 synthetic same weight and have considered switching to Rotella as suggested by you and on this forum. It seems many think 5w30 might be a bit too thin at operating temp for these cars so I might might switch to a 5w40.

I bought a bluetooth reader this year and have monitored the engine temps throughout the summer and on freeway and under normal driving, temps pretty consistent at upper 180s or lower 190s. Stop and go traffic or under heavy engine load, temps will go up to upper 190s but rarely see above 200s. This was after I replace thermostat, water pump and viscous fan.

 

And yes, oil pan will probably be on the list next at next oil change soon.