Rough running, white smoke

[Jpm10indy]

So I bought my truck in August and it ran okay for $2200. It is a 95 7.3. I now about $6000 into the truck after messing with it since thanksgiving and it still is not running right. I have replaced all of the injectors. IPR. and many other things.
I believe the only problem left is that it keeps bending the #8 Intake Valve Pushrod. I can replace it and it will run fine for about a day then it will bend and run like crap again. I have no idea why it is bending. I replaced the rocker arm and valve spring and it still bends. I dont even have to be driving to bend a rod. It bent the last one idling in park.
I am clueless of what to do now and just need some ideas. I am running out of money and am probably going to have to sell the truck and take the loss to get something else that drives. I would like to fix the truck to keep or get more money for selling it. Please help is you have any information.

[1Dieselman]

Sounds like the lifter is not sitting on the cam correctly, maybe. If you take a straight edge and lay it across the valve stems is it sitting at the same height as the others? How about if you use the straight edge across the rocker arm's where they pivot, it's not sitting lower than the others.

[White95f250]

Is the motor at the correct point when you install the pushrod and rocker? I forget exactly where the timing mark needs to be but if you install it at the wrong point then it won't turn out well. If you are bending a pushrod period then something is not right. For whatever reason there is enough resistance there to bend it which is not good in any scenario. Have you checked to see what the glow plug looks like?

[nccatfan]

How does it feel when you spin the eng. over by hand? Cyl. 8 hydrolocking from oil on top of the piston from the inj. swap? Spin it over a few times with the glow plug removed, see if anything comes out.

[Jpm10indy]

All valve stems are level. And I don't think it's hydro locking because I replaced injectors in November and used vacuum hose to clean out cylinder. The one rocker arm is not level but I have always replaced pushrod at top of top of valves movement. Pulled out a bunch of metal from valve and was told it was the valve guide retainer. I don't think I have experience or money to pull heads and replace the lifter and retainer plate. Is this a tough job because I have service tech manual and pulling the heads does not sound like anything simple. Could the retainer plate being broken cause this problem? And has anyone heard of that retainer plate breaking before and what causes it?

[1Dieselman]

It's not hydro lock. That would have happened on first start. It is a little work to pull the head but if you have any mechanical ability should be able to handle it. Retainer plates don't break very often but when they do it can be big trouble.

[White95f250]

If there is metal in the motor then it will need to be torn apart. It will only be a matter of time before more damage is caused and the whole motor will be trashed.

[Jpm10indy]

Used a really long pick to finish gettin all the metal I could see out and put that lifter back in place and the motor ran great for about 45 min then started doin same thing. I think that retainer plate may be the only problem right now but I'm just gonna sell the trick and let someone else fix it because I can't afford to have any more than 6000 into this 2500 dollar truck. Thanks for all the help though. If anyone wants a project truck for pretty cheap I'd sell it for 2200 firm if anyone wants it. Pretty sure that after replacing the retainer plate it'd run fine.

[1Dieselman]

Whoever buys it may have to put a cam in it also. You might tell where you are located in case someone is interested.

[Jpm10indy]

Yeah I had heard that could be a possibility. But then I talked to a few guys that work at navistar and they told me it wouldn't be something that had to be replaced but that it was probably a good idea. And I'm located in the Indianapolis area