Well I was finally able to do a road test today. The results were pretty bad. There is quite a bit of pinging and the valves are chattering. I had a feeling this thing would end up a giant dilema. So I've adjusted the timing and that doesn't help. I readjusted the valves when hot to fact. spec of .08 and .12. Adjusting the valves actually made the chatter worse? Do I have too much compression and that is what is causing the ping. I just threw some 87 octane gas in there...could this be the problem??? She needs premium? Its pinging pretty bad so I don't think its just the gas? It seems like timing to me but the pinging won't go away no matter how I adjust the timing. Is there anything else that can be causing the pinging. I'm no to turbos so any info would be a great help.

Sundowner... Is this the setup you're running with the 22re bottom end and turbo head? If so did you run into problems like this?

I would definately try premium.

Also, you might make sure your valve cover is not too tight. Sometimes the valves hit the inside of the valve cover if they are torqued down too tight. Especially on the early style valve covers.

Nuclear just got done messing with his rig; yeah, if it's sat awhile, I'd use some good fuel to start.

linky

Well as much as I would love an easy fix I don't think thats going to be it. The truck sat for along time (about a year) so I drained the tank and put a fresh 5 gallon can in to fire her up. I don't think I over tightened the valve cover but I'll double check. I think my problem is way more involved than that. It probably has to do with boost and compression? I'll try the easy stuff first but I'm willing to put money on it that the easy solution won't work for me.

Are the EGR pipes and plate clean? I had to send mine to the hot tank before reassembly. Pretty clogged.

Say, see if you can read any codes. You can log them without tossing the CEL y'know.

The valve cover ins't too tight. I loosened the bolts to finger tight and the clacking noise is still there. Before I adjusted the valves the noise wasn't that bad. I thought that tighting them up should help but obviously it made it worse. I adjusted them to spec though so I don't know what the deal is. When I put my hand on the acorn nut that holds the valve cover on I can feel a light tapping so something aint right. I'm just not sure what it is?
I'll get some new premium gas tomorrow.
I just wish I new how to check the turbo to see if it was functioning properly but my 85 FSM obviously doesn't have anything about that.
Turbo goorus....how do I know if the turbo is functioning properly????

The turbo should not be boosting unless there is a load on the engine...

Turbo function checking is pretty straight forward. You've just looking for boost. The pressure increase should be smooth. You should see a peak value achieved by about 3000 rpm when floored under load, and it should stay close to that peak all the way up to redline.

At this point, I wouldn't be worrying very much about it, and I certainly wouldn't go flogging it if it's really pinging badly. That's a dandy way to blow a hole through a piston.

I doubt your problems are related to the turbo. More likely you're not going into open loop mode, wrong static ignition timing, etc.

you should be running premium in any turbo motor.
regardless, make sure you're not off by a tooth on the distributor install, and I hope you used OEM Sumitomo wires.
every aftermarket wire Iv'e ever tried just doesn't seem to work as well.

I had an 83 Jeep CJ that sat for 10 months before putting it back on the road becuase I put a worked over EFI 4.0L in it . it sounded like someone emptied out a roll of pennies into the cylinders all the way to the gas station. then I put premium in it and all my problems went away.

>>>*One thing to check on the valve chatter is the ends of the adjuster screws. If they are badly worn your result is classic, turning the screw exposes a different worn spot and makes the clicking worse.

Pinging is pre-ignition, this just means the fuel mix is being set off at the wrong time, before TDC. Detonation usually is silent and happens when all of the mix goes off at once, and after TDC. Pinging will increase under load and decrease under light load, if it is always there no matter what then we suspect a hot spot in a cylinder.

This can be caused by carbon buildup that gets hot and is glowing, no amount of timing change will correct this....*EB