New lifter install help me understand

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MikeG69

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'69 318.

I bought a new lifter to replace a suspect bad lifter and I need some help understanding this.

When a lifter is working properly there should not be any give when pressing on it, correct? The one I pulled out could be depressed a bit. When I pulled the new one out of the box I could depress it very easily. I dumped it in a cup of oil pumped it, left it there for a while, pumped it some more and it did not seem to get "right". I put the new lifter in the engine started it and it was super noisy. So what gives? I have read that it takes a while for the lifter to load with oil and get "right". I think I have another bad one as another rocker I pushed on has some give and the others are super tight.
 
Is it possible that all or part of the top end isn't getting oil, or pressure is low? Worn / bad bearings can bleed off oil pressure, as well
 
With the valve cover off there is plenty of oil flowing and all the other lifters seem to be fine.
 
I'm wondering if you have enough preload with the new lifter. Was the lifter you replaced an original? There's been some talk here of there being a different height on the plungers between big and small block lifters and now they pretty much just sell a universal size for everything. Don't remember exactly, but a thread search may turn something up. If you do have enough preload then 67Dart273 has a point about oiling.
 
If you bought the lifter locally you could stop by the store with the old one and compare it to a new one.
 
I did purchase it locally. Should the plunger be tight out of the box?
 
Does preload come into play since mine are not adjustable?
 
MikeG69 said:
I did purchase it locally. Should the plunger be tight out of the box?
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You should be able to compress a dry lifter some, but in my experience it shouldn't be easy. I haven't personally installed any new lifters in recent years, but it seems more people now days are having issues. Not sure exactly why, where there made, quality control, who knows. I do know something as basic as a hyd. lifter shouldn't have manufacturing problems.

I would suggest, if you still have the cover off, to bring one of the other cylinders to TDC on that cyl. and feel for how easy it is to twist the pushrod and then do the same on your replaced valve and see if it feels loser?
 
MikeG69 said:
Does preload come into play since mine are not adjustable?
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Absolutely, it's determined by the length of the pushrod. Now if by chance the lifter plunger is further down in the lifter bore effectively your pushrod would be too short resulting in less or no preload.
 
I just read another post and it says "the lifters will quiet down after a few minutes". Is this literal? I shut my motor off after about 15 seconds thinking something was very wrong. Should I just let it run?
 
It does take a bit to get them to pump up. Are you sure you got a hydraulic lifter or is it a solid.
 
I was able to move it (the new lifter plunger) with my fingers. I'll try to run by tomorrow and look at another one.

So it seems that the preload is excessive due to the plunger depressing.
 
MikeG69 said:
I just read another post and it says "the lifters will quiet down after a few minutes". Is this literal? I shut my motor off after about 15 seconds thinking something was very wrong. Should I just let it run?
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If the noise is basic lifter/rocker tapping and not extreme then yes let it run for a little while. I would bring it up off idle also, say 2000/2500 rpms a few times also during the run and see if there's a change in sound as it runs. Just don't rev it way up. 10 min. of that should surely quiet it down if it's just a pump-up problem. But as i said earlier, if the cover is off i would check for that pushrod to be loose at TDC on that cyl first. If the cover is back on then go ahead and run it.
 
MikeG69 said:
'69 318.

I think I have another bad one as another rocker I pushed on has some give and the others are super tight.
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Not trying to be critical Mike, but if i don't say it someone else will. 99% of us wouldn't go to the trouble of pulling a intake and just replace one lifter, we'd do them all. Reason being if one is bad the others are close to it.

Another question i have is what did the face/bottom of the lifter you removed look like? Was it smooth, did it have unusual looking wear or cupping kinda like a dent. And did you look thru the lifter bore and see what the cam lobe looked like?
 
Snap a photo of the lifter face and show us (the part that rides on the cam). Is it flat or dished in? You may have a bad cam with a flat lobe. tmm
 
I didn't pull the intake. I pulled the lifter out with a magnet so just a matter of pulling the rockers and rods.

The existing lifter looked fine, nothing looked wrong with the wear.
 
MikeG69 said:
I didn't pull the intake. I pulled the lifter out with a magnet so just a matter of pulling the rockers and rods.

The existing lifter looked fine, nothing looked wrong with the wear.
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Alright, run that baby and let us know how it goes:).
 
The worst that could happen is it will expedite my desire/plan for new heads and cam.
 
MikeG69 said:
The worst that could happen is it will expedite my desire/plan for new heads and cam.
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I like that, always a silver lining.......lol. Seriously i don't think you'll hurt anything running it at idle to a little above.
 
I'll bring up one more thought. Are you sure it's a lifter that's making the noise? Are you running headers? Reason i bring this up is a blown out gasket, exhaust leak, can sound a lot like valvetrain noise.
 
Yeah....I had those too but fixed 'em, new gaskets, removed the manifold "flapper" and plugged the holes.
 
Had that problem from NAPA; lifters wouln't even pump up on the bench. NAPA ordered a set of Clevites- they worked.
 
I stopped bythe store this morning and looked at the others they had. All were the same, able to push down on the pluger with my finger.
 
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