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lifter stick more info

john mitchell

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Kentucky
After searching the board I have learned that I have a sticky lifter.

91 XJ 4.0L cold morning: starts Fine 30 seconds idling tick starts then begins to miss then about 2 min later clears right up.

Tried the usual remedies: Flushing Early oil changes none have helped.

Need more info on what's actually happening. Is the lifter sticking inside the bore, or is the plunger collapsing?
 
john mitchell said:
After searching the board I have learned that I have a sticky lifter.

91 XJ 4.0L cold morning: starts Fine 30 seconds idling tick starts then begins to miss then about 2 min later clears right up.

Tried the usual remedies: Flushing Early oil changes none have helped.

Need more info on what's actually happening. Is the lifter sticking inside the bore, or is the plunger collapsing?
plungers collapsing or valve is sticking open.
 
Put a can of Rislone in the oil. If the lifter is gummed that may help clear the problem.
 
john mitchell said:
I've tried Risilone, it seemed to help a little.
Question: If the problem is collapsing plungers then how does the oil additives help?
Lots of the time, lifter problems are caused by gum and varnish buildup in the lifter. Oil additives can remove them.
 
more info:

put a can of CD2 in about a week ago, no change. Today was cooler than normal, and the tick continued much longer than other mornings, should I add more engine cleaner? What about Having the engine cleaned professionally? Is there such a thing? Where do I go for that? What would it be called?

Sorry for the idiot questions, I'm a suspension/body man, and the engine is so reliable I've never ever thought about it till now.
 
I had an engine that the lifters were sticking so bad that it was beginning to "pop" thru the carb and gradually lost most of its power. Tried an old time remedy...."Marvel Mystery Oil", changed the oil and added a quart(to crankcase), thought I noticed a little change after about two weeks, changed oil again, more MMO....about a week later definate improvement....waited a week, repeated same process, thing started runniing on all cyls. again and tons of power, no more "pop" , ran great,,,,added MMO at every oil change after that.

I don't believe in a "mechanic in a can", but it worked.
 
Last edited:
this seems to be working.
Put 1/2 quart trans fluid in and ran it for 500 mi. Changed oil put synthetic oil in plus a can of MMO drove it 1000 mi and changed again.

much better now.

must have cleared something out.

Thanks guys

jm
 
A "sticking lifter" is the lifter sticking in the bore, usually caused by crud build-up. This prevents the lifter moving freely, and keeping in constant contact with the cam lobe. The noise you'll hear is the lifter foot tapping against the camshaft lobe. This can be caused by using crappy oil or not keeping up with your oil changes.

A "flat" lifter is caused by a check valve failure. Hydraulic lifters (solid lifters don't have them) are self-adjusting, as long as they have oil pressure. The lifter actually "pumps up" when oil pressure is supplied, and this helps take the "lash" (operating clearance) out of the system for silest operation. In the case of the "flat" lifters, the noise you'll hear is upper valvetrain components striking each other. The check valve also helps to pump oil to the upper valvetrain (via the pushrod,) so you could end up with either too much or not enough oil reaching the upper cylinder head. Too much oil? Could cause oil consumption out the tailpipe. Not enough oil? Rocker pivots would go first.

Sticking lifters can usually be cured, in the early stages, by the addition of some sort of detergent - my favourites are Marvel Mystery Oil (for light cases) or substitute oil for Dexron II/III ATF (for heavy cases.)

Flat lifters require replacement.

5-90
 
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