Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

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BlackoutSteve
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by BlackoutSteve »

My capacity is 4.5 quarts.
3.5 quarts diesel fuel to just one quart motor oil?
Did I read that right?
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af2
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by af2 »

Yes you read it correct.
I would try less than that, like 1 quart diesel to 4 oil..
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by BlackoutSteve »

Before adding anything except the carb cleaner trick, the tacking is mostly gone. There is a slight hint of it at times but far less than it was initially.

I replaced a liter of engine oil with some ATF today and will run it till the next oil change as suggested which will be a few thousand miles from now.
Thanks again everyone for the advice. It was certainly worth asking for sure, and early days yet, but (with fingers crossed) may have saved me several hundred bucks in replacements. :)
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by BlackoutSteve »

Crossing my fingers didn't work at all. :|
Tacking has come back loud and clear so replacements are now on the way.. I'm not holding my breath on it clearing up and am worring about damaging associated parts.
Oh well. Shit happens. Thanks again everyone. :)
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by barnym17 »

worth a shot, when you change your lifters be sure and examine the cam for signs of wear.
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by fdicrasto »

Are you ready for this one? Go spend 3 or 4 dollars for a can of STP, if you can find it, and put it in. I am not joking and if it stops the noise then you can attribute the noise when oil is warm to WEAR. Phil D.
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by BlackoutSteve »

It can't be a result of wear.. It's just one lifter that's now clacking away bad enough that I'm somewhat scared to drive it.
There is no oil is coming up the pushrod and dripping into the rocker fulcrum like the 5 rockers next to it.
The lifter is blocked with crud I'm assuming. :)
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by Hectori »

Take out that lifter and take it apart. Usually they can be disassembled.
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by BlackoutSteve »

I will but it will just be for the photo op before it's in the bin.
I bought a GM set for us$110 from Intense-Racing (plus post). GM Holden down here want au$48 for just one.
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by ProPower engines »

BlackoutSteve wrote:I will but it will just be for the photo op before it's in the bin.
I bought a GM set for us$110 from Intense-Racing (plus post). GM Holden down here want au$48 for just one.

Just be sure they are not offshore junk. I have seen the likes of them here lately in customer supplied parts and the quality of machining is bad.What I am saying it varies quite a bit and internal lifter body sizing is the most critical thing for correct operation. I have also seen the burr from machining holes etc. get stuck in the check valve in the bottom of the lifter and cause the ticky issue you have
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by fdicrasto »

I just can't understand why only after engine is warm? My common sense tells me that if there is blockage then the noise would be there when the engine is cold also. My sense still says that the warm,thinner oil is not cushioning as it does when cold. I still think you should take 5 minutes to try my suggestion, tell me I am an idiot, then change lifters anyway. That price for the lifters is awfully good, hope they work well for you. Phil D.
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by 6sally6 »

Sounds like the deal I had with my SBF junkyard engine.
Re-built and modified everything in it put in a hotter hydraulic roller cam and used the old roller lifters.
Couple of years later on a trip to Texas from Atl. I could hear the clacking.
Broke a rocker arm stud in Alabama and replaced. Still had the clicking. Figured just needed to check lash. Got to Texas and back home with same noise.
Finally pulled off valve cover and a couple of rockers were just barely moving.
Pulled intake and found two lifters HAD NO WHEEL! 3 or 4 of the others had 1/2 a wheel!
Knawed the lobes on the cam pretty good too. Had cam re-ground and installed new lifters(FoMoCo replacements)....ONE bent pushrod replaced thanks to Craig on this site. (Soo I got an Aussie pushrod in this Yank built Ford!) Yee-Haww!!
Moral of the story........ replace the lifters. Do it sooner..rather than later.
Stupid thing is....old Mustang still ran great..@70/75mph....somehow. I guess the lumpy-rumpity idle must have masked any low speed miss?!?
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by BlackoutSteve »

I obviously regret not throwing in a set of lifters when I did the head swap just 2 months ago. (The timing of the ruptured intake gasket f-ed me anyway) and I kinda had the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" idea and just did what was required at that time to get it up an running again. With a near 250,000 mile engine, I knew if I started looking, I wouldn't be able to stop until it was a full rebuild.

The lifter is clacking like mad now and the car is parked until I get the bits to fix it. It went from a tack to a tick to being completely quiet after the carb cleaner, where I thought I got it, then all of a sudden to a loud tack and now a very loud and metallic clack! :D
The replacement lifters are through Intense-Racing and are said to be a "Genuine GM part".. My first concern was off-shore crap. Maybe the price is too good to be true for expecting USA made.
Here.
http://intense-racing.com/Merchant2/mer ... e=3800_HCV
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by beaker60 »

OK Steve,,I'm going to post an opinion,,key word being,,,OPINION,,not a solution,,so,,here goes

I have rebuilt,,worked on,,,a lot of Buick v6's,,,3100's,,3400's,,and the 3.8's,,the 3100 and 3400 were notorius for eating intake gaskets,,as most everyone knows,,and,,out of all the engines I worked on,,not one of them had bad lifters,,however,,you stated that there wasn't any oil coming through the pushrod,,NOW,,here's the silly question,,Have you pulled the pushrod and tried cleaning it out,,,,OR,,,another silly question,,,did you make sure you have the right pushrod in that hole,,as many as I have worked on,,I have at times got distracted and installed the pushrods in reverse,,obviously,if you have a longer or a shorter pushrod installed in that hole,,you're not going to get the right oil pressure through the rod,,anyway,,,just some ideas and again,,,,OPINIONS,,i'm not an expert when it comes to the mysterious minds of the engineers at GM.Let me know what you find

Arthur
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Re: Noisy Hydraulic Roller Lifter.. Causes?

Post by BlackoutSteve »

Thanks Arthur. The rocker arms are a new Yella Terra set that come with pushrods bevause they require ones that are longer than stock, so yes, the pushrod/s are definitely clean.
I removed the pushrod on the failed lifter and when attempting to inspect the lifter for destruction and blew it clean of oil. I also used the pushrod to direct carb cleaner to the lifter and later in desperation, used it again to blast compressed air in any hope that whatever is blocking the lifter would/could be dislodged. Needless to say that didn't work, but at the moment, the inside of the pushrod is probably the cleanest part of the entire engine!
I also am confident that the failed lifter is a result of built up crud getting loose and not design, quality, materials or abuse (with the exception of neglegence pre my ownership).
When clean, like you suggest, I'll bet they are quite reliable.
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