Motor dies after startup.

My mechanic friend came over to help me diagnose.

When we pulled plugs 4 and 5 and the plug cylinders I noticed there was a rod sticking out. My friend feeled on the inside, we pulled the valve cover, and realized the reason why 4 and 5 are not firing is because I have two bent pushrods.

So I'm going to pick up a feeler gauge and a couple of pushrods, read up on valve adjustment, and see if I can fix this myself. I'm looking thru the service manual right now but offhand if I can't find it does anyone know the feeler gauge size I need to put it at the correct rocker setting?

Good lord.


Incidentally we swapped 4 and 5 just to see what it would do with a good plug from 2. All 6 plugs appear to be firing. I think the bent pushrod was the culprit. What good is a spark if the valves won't move.

While it was sitting I only had a little in the tank. The tank was more recently filled and the fuel at the pump smells new.