Lifter???
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 5,943
Likes: 3
From: Wildwood IL
Lifter???
On a cold start, my high millage stock '72 L-48 valve train sounds fine. (adjusted 1/2 turn past zero lash) After a few minutes a faint ticking comes from the #7 intake lifter/valve... gets progressively louder...then goes away. A few minutes later it starts doing this again. Faint....louder...goes away. When the engine is up to opperating temp, (10-40 oil) it happens less frequently. Lifter??? If so, would pulling it out and soaking it in a cleaning solvent help, or is it shot? I'll be replacing the valve seals this winter, so I can soak or replace them all.
Thoughts...advise???
As always....thanks
Eddie
Thoughts...advise???
As always....thanks
Eddie
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,711
Likes: 43
From: San Antonio TX
Probably a sticky or restricted lifter. I'd put a pint of Marvel Mystery Oil in the thing a run it for 1k or so miles to see if that makes it go away or helps.
If that doesn't help and you decide to go invasive, rather than trying to ressurect the lifter, just replace it with a new one. I'd do the whole set, though, since whatever caused that lifter to have problems may visit the others.
But wait! There's more!
Before you dump money on new lifters, run the engine without the valve covers on. If you can isolate the bank the ticking is coming from, just pull that cover, get some rocker oil clips and an old steel valve cover. Cut the top out of the cover, put the clips on the rockers and run the engine. The cut cover and clips will help you and your engine from taking an oil bath. Observe the valvetrain while the engine is running. Once the ticking starts, look at all the pushrods to see if they're all spinning. If you find one that's not spinning, chances are that the hydraulics in the lifter are not your problem but that you have a cam going flat or a severely concaved lifter.
You can also put pressure on the rockers to find the bad actor since just pushing down on the pushrod side of the rocker will affect how the tick sounds.
If that doesn't help and you decide to go invasive, rather than trying to ressurect the lifter, just replace it with a new one. I'd do the whole set, though, since whatever caused that lifter to have problems may visit the others.
But wait! There's more!
Before you dump money on new lifters, run the engine without the valve covers on. If you can isolate the bank the ticking is coming from, just pull that cover, get some rocker oil clips and an old steel valve cover. Cut the top out of the cover, put the clips on the rockers and run the engine. The cut cover and clips will help you and your engine from taking an oil bath. Observe the valvetrain while the engine is running. Once the ticking starts, look at all the pushrods to see if they're all spinning. If you find one that's not spinning, chances are that the hydraulics in the lifter are not your problem but that you have a cam going flat or a severely concaved lifter.
You can also put pressure on the rockers to find the bad actor since just pushing down on the pushrod side of the rocker will affect how the tick sounds.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 1999
Posts: 6,134
Likes: 46
From: Raleigh North Carolina
... and I'll add...
You can disassemble lifters & clean them out. Soaking them is a 50-50 proposition. I never bother to soak them... if I have gone through the trouble of removing them, I take them apart and clean them manually. Just have to be sure to put each one back where it came from. Each lifter/cam lobe has its own unique wear pattern. If you mix them up, there is a good chance you will murder your cam.
I murdered my truck 305 cam exactly this way recently... I was working on the engine on a stand and I accidentally rolled it over with the lifters in it. One entire bank fell out on the floor. Had to make a decision... replace them all or drop the engine in that day. I was on a very tight schedule, so I took a chance since it was my own truck. Got 40K miles out of it, but the cam eventually wiped (as expected).... on the side where I mixed up the lifters.
You can disassemble lifters & clean them out. Soaking them is a 50-50 proposition. I never bother to soak them... if I have gone through the trouble of removing them, I take them apart and clean them manually. Just have to be sure to put each one back where it came from. Each lifter/cam lobe has its own unique wear pattern. If you mix them up, there is a good chance you will murder your cam.
I murdered my truck 305 cam exactly this way recently... I was working on the engine on a stand and I accidentally rolled it over with the lifters in it. One entire bank fell out on the floor. Had to make a decision... replace them all or drop the engine in that day. I was on a very tight schedule, so I took a chance since it was my own truck. Got 40K miles out of it, but the cam eventually wiped (as expected).... on the side where I mixed up the lifters.
