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Collapsed Lifter Repair

Ayuh.

I'm told that most new lifters don't need to be primed (submerged in engine oil and then pumped manually,) but I've never lost the habit - I consider it a good one.

Might as well change all of them while you're in there. REMEMBER - if you change a cam, you must change all lifters. If you change the lifters, you need not change the cam. Funny little dichotomy, that - but I've run across people who tell you you need to change everything both ways...

5-90
 
A little free play is normal (lash is self-adjusting on the 4.0 - you just torque the rocker pivot screws,) but too much is not. You should be able to turn the pushrods with a bit of effort with the lifters primed and the valve closed.

A "collapsed" lifter is, of course, one that won't pump up and take the lash out - so it ends up sounding like an old-style solid lifter with too much lash. It can be fairly loud, and you should have no trouble isolating the area with a mechanic's stethoscope without opening up the engine.

5-90
 
Sometimes it can be a clogged lifter. Just a gentle rap of the rocker while the engine is idling is often enough to push the crud out of the inlet and allow oil to pump up (done this many times on AMCs and Chevs)
If the motor is in so so condition (like you don't really care about it) I have knocked a hole in the side of the block (with the ball of a peen hammer) above the lifter valley in non-strength critical areas and fished out the pieces as well as the dead lifter and put a new one in. Then glue a patch over the hole.
 
If it's running ok othewise I'd add a quart of engine flush, marvel mystery oil, quart of kerosene, something to flush out the system, thats the quick way. A slower way is to put a 50/50 mix of regular oil and synthetic oil. The syn will break the sludge down and should clean the crud out, just takes longer. Also keep an eye on your dip stick, the syn and the cleaner will get the oil dirty real quick so you need to change the filter as soon as you can no longer read the hash marks or writing on the dipstick, otherwise the bypass will kick in and you will be pushing dirty oil thru the engine.
Also you may see some leaks start to develop, thats the cleaners cleaning the sludge that has built up around the gaskets and allowed the gaskets to dry out and more or less dry rot. Thats a seperate issue.
 
If the motor is in so so condition (like you don't really care about it) I have knocked a hole in the side of the block (with the ball of a peen hammer) above the lifter valley in non-strength critical areas and fished out the pieces as well as the dead lifter and put a new one in. Then glue a patch over the hole.[/QUOTE]


That a new one...otflmao
 
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