Just yesterday something happened and the engine developed a massive tick on the right side. Took the right side valve cover off and found a rocker that was a bit lose, and removed it to only find the push rod was stuck. So stuck that I had to remove it with a vicegrip. Took me a good 5 minutes to wiggle it out and with lubricant. Something happened to the lifter where it looks like the cup that mates with the push rod might have broken apart. I'm guessing the pushrod fell off and wedged itself inside that area. I'm guessing that the lifter wasn't working great for a while and finally broke? This is the same side I was complaining about since last year. I ordered all new lifters along with new head gasket and plan to remove the head and replace them all on that side. Hopefully the cam lobe wasn't effected by this. I wonder if I need to buy new head bolts since they are torque to yield bots?

 

Yup new bolts. Hope got genuine lifters or its a hit or miss out there with quality.

 

Last time I did when I changed the cam but I got 8 because my monkey brain thought 8 cylinder = 8 lifters. When I took the heads off to put in the double springs I then realized my math was wrong. I ended up putting the new GM lifters in the back of the engine, thinking that's usually where things go wrong. The failure was more closer towards the front but I'll know when I have the head off. Gonna let the car drain coolant out tomorrow because coolant is expensive and that's practically brand new.

 

Good idea, let us know what you find with pictures if possible.

 

What kind of valve springs require you to removed the heads to install them?

 

None but he needed to because he replaced the cam and lifters 🙂

 

Here they are. Doesn't look like the cam lobe was damaged, but that's my unprofessional opinion. Don't see any damage to the pistons, though I think the engine was running a tad too rich. My guess is the lifter didn't have it's clip and that cup fell off. I have no idea where that little piece of metal came from but it was there next to the lifter. That metal isn't made of steel as it isn't magnetic. I have no idea where that clip went, and I don't see how it could fall into the engine with the lifter and lifter tray blocking it's way. I also have no idea if this is one of the new lifters I put in or one of the old ones. I'll clean the lifter better to see if all that oil is hiding the clip. It was the forth one from the back of the engine, so this might have been one of the new ones. I did buy 8 GM lifters when I put in the cam but this was during COVID where car parts are made of crap.








Also the cam came with dual valve springs.

 

Thanks sucks. Well, out with the motor and tear it down.

 

Wait what? Why tear it down?

 

You have mystery metal in the motor, and you cannot find the retainer. Were you planning on just replacing the lifter and see what happens?

 

I was hoping to find the parts in the oil pan and get them out with a magnet. Would that lifters parts end up in the oil pan? I'm sure there's more than just a clip like springs and ball bearings cause there's nothing in the lifter.

**EDIT**
The upper oil pan looks like a nightmare. If it leaks then at least I have an excuse to remove it and change the gasket. Problem is there's the windage tray which might have the lifter parts. Maybe I can remove the valley cover and see if my magnet can fish them out that way? I suddenly have a headache.

 

From what I've seen in this video is that the failed lifter is missing a disk and retaining clip. If I can find those two then engine should be fine to reassemble. Unless that mangled piece of metal I found is the disk, but I'll have to take another look.

 

Took off the lower oil pan and found what looks like half of that clip. I was even able to put it back into the lifter and have it hold down the cup that goes to the connecting rod. I did some Googling and nothing about these clips failing. There is so much sludge in the Batman lower oil pan that it makes it hard to find anything. Is that much sludge normal? I'll take another look in the oil pickup tube and see if I can find the rest, and wave a magnet in the sludge to see if any more clip can be found. Willing to bet this clip failed a while ago and the rest of the lifter parts finally came apart just now. The other half of the clip, if there is another half, may have been lost to previous oil changes.

What I think I wanna do for now is put everything back together and drive it until winter and wait until next year to remove the entire engine and rebuild the lower half. Better than dropping the engine sub frame and remembering how much I hate being under cars in my driveway. I do have an engine lift that I've used recently to rebuild my nieces CT200h because that thing burned a lot of oil. That way I can replace the oil pan gaskets because the upper certainly leaks, as well as the rear main seal. And of course, an excuse to put high performance parts like pistons, connecting rods, and... the crank? Does the crank matter to replace if it isn't damage? Of course bearings and polishing the crank journals. Gotta look at the glass half full.

 

Damn.....I have other seen that much sludge in an oil pan since the dino oil days. Looks like some serious neglect there.

 

I'm not a 10,000 mile oil change guy. That oil gets changed at 3k or sooner. I change the oil last year and didn't even put 1k miles on it. Even the oil that drained out wasn't that dirty. Maybe because I put the front of the car on ramps and it tilts the oil pan backwards? I wonder if it's because I used 20w 50 oil? I figured with the cam it wouldn't be a bad idea to have thicker oil. I'll go with thinner oil this time. Maybe Mobile 1 15W-40 ESP.

 

Ok..very funny. You got me. I'm out

 

You absolutely did that sludge to yourself. By lifting the front up. All the dirt keep build on the bottom. But that had nothing to do with your problem its just sludge that doesn't even get picked up by oil pump. And 20 50 had nothing to do with the sludge. When you said thinner oil i giggled, that's still thick oil. I thought you were going to say 5 30. or 0 30. LOL

 

At least I know it's from me lifting the cars front. Something to think about next time. So what oil thickness would you recommend? Haven't bought the oil yet.

 

Just 5w 30.

 

How many miles on the car?
Have you owned it since new?
That’s a nasty amount of gook.
I took the bottom off mine after I bought it at 83k miles. Tiny amount of sludge along with the alum seal from an oil bottle.

Ive seen sludge like that in LS engines with the Castek heads that had very slow coolant leaks around the head bolts. Makes a thick dark gray sludge