Rocker Arm Date Stamps ?

[bob00stroke]

Can anybody shed any light on this "broadcast message" (below).

I don't think it is an actual TSB, just some info Ford put out. This is from intellidog's "Symptoms" page: PowerStroke Diagnosis. It is the 7th one up from the bottom of the list.

My 2000 has some rockers on the drivers side that are not LA stamped, 2 are LO stamped. I need to get a mirror for the passenger side rockers. (edit 11-3-09, once I took them off the passenger side rockers were all LB date stamped)

I have read that the problem is in the pedestal, not the rocker arm itself, but they come together.

They aren't that much money, like $18 apiece with the pedestal, so if I should change them all to LA, I will.


Damaged Valve Train Contact Request:
Some 2000 PowerStroke engine may exhibit bent/out of position pushrods, damaged rocker arms, or damaged valve at low mileage. This may be caused by mis-manufactured rocker arms and/or pedestals. Inspect the suspect rocker pedestal for signs of scraping or breakage. If any rockers are date stamped "LB051" or "LB061", all 16 should be replaced, whether damaged or not, with parts date stamped "LA***". If any rockers are damaged and have an "LA" date stamp, International should be contacted. Have the numbers from the rocker available when calling. SSM #14285, Broadcast Message 1471.

edit 11-3-09
Well, I got the thump thump thump thumping noise that was coming out my intake fixed. Truck is running great now again, although I only have about 1100 miles on it so far.

Was a broke push rod on #3 exhaust. Luckily I got the other half out of there with a telescoping magnet and also luckily, in looking down it there with a snake inspection camera from work, there appeared to be no other damage to the lifter, head etc.

I replaced all 8 rocker/pedestal assemblies and pushrods on the passenger side because these were all date stamped LB 051 and LB 061 which are the suspect date stamps for the year 2000 defective rocker arms/pedestals. All but 2 of the driver's side ones were date stamped LA which are supposed to be OK, the other 2 were LO. It was only about $175 for the parts. I retorqued the driver's side rockers but only found one bolt that budged a little.

I did not find this the 1st time I had the valve covers off even though I used a remote starter and watched all the push rods go up and down. Even though it was broke, it was somehow still activating the rocker. A compression test did not find it either, although I put in the new Motorcraft glow plugs so that was alright too.

I found it by putting the motor at 11:00 like the manual says, this puts all the valves near the top, then once I felt all the push rods it was obvious once I got to the broke one.

I put this project off because I thought I was going to be a big deal taking each rocker off to find the problem, when actually working with these rockers is easy with the motor at 11:00. It is also easy to get the push rods back in the lifters, the holes in the head guide them right to the lifters and you can feel the push rod slide in to the lifter. You can check your work with the remote starter just to make sure you have them in there right. I used Permatex assembly lube on the pushrod ends and the rocker arm balls. I used grease on the top of the valve stems cause the lube wouldn't stay there. Changed the oil and filter after about a 5 mile test drive because of the little bits that seem to get in there now matter how careful you are.