302 lifter tick

Need some guidance guys.. Finally had my 302 ranger running good and notice a ticking the last couple times I took it out. I pulled the valve cover off on the side that the noise was coming from and started checking the rockers for play. First thing I noticed as I moved each cylinder to the firing position was that the rockers had no play except for the number 7 exhaust. It was like it wasn't pumped up (the engine hasn't ran for a week or so now fyi)
I pulled both rockers and noticed the wear pattern in the picture below. Any idea what the issue could be? The lifters were brand new Comp hydraulic rollers.


I pulled the rockers off the #6 cylinder and the wear pattern is normal. fyi.

Does the ticking change frequency with RPM's? As in if you rev the engine up does it "tick" faster?

wickettoby1 wrote:Does the ticking change frequency with RPM's? As in if you rev the engine up does it "tick" faster?

Yes the frequency changed with rpm.

If all of the valve train is adjusted correctly and nothing seems out of place Is there a possibility that it's an exhaust leak?

That was my first thought. Especially since the shorty headers have a ball flange which I have heard are notorious for leaking. I just took the valve cover off as a precaution. I am confident the valve train was set correctly. I just was concerned when 7 of the lifters were firm and the one wasn’t. It acted like like it did when I first installed them. Ie you could collapse the plunger by pressing down on the pushrod.

If the lifter isn't pumping up then shouldn't the rocker be "loose" compared to the others? It's been a minute since I've worked on any pedestal mount rockets.

It was “loose” that is what tried to describe above. It was the only one that felt like when I first installed them..

Ah! Was there any damage to the pushrod? Is this a hyd roller or flattie?

Ends are good and it seems straight although I haven’t yet put it on a flat surface. Hydraulic roller

The picture of the wear pattern indicates that while the intake valve stem seems to be rotating the exhaust valve is not,if you cannot find an obvious cause for your tick you may want to pull that valve spring and check that valve and guide and try to determine why its not rotating.Disreguard my statement just looked at the picture again and it looks like you have lash caps.