When you have a bad pushrod there will be a few different things you will notice. You may notice a lack of power combined with backfiring. You may also notice a loud ticking sound coming from your rockers. These are the typical sign that you have a pushrod problem. If you have a bad pushrod, it is possible that you have damage in your valve train. If you have these symptoms, unfortunately you will need to break out the tool box and do some work to get things functioning as they should.