Would be a pretty good deal, unfortunately mines an '07, so it's $320 and not on sale. So, it will have to wait a bit. I will have a look at the lifters on Tuesday. Try n post a pic as I don't know exactly what to look for.

 

Fortunately, I have never had a lifter fail (yet). My 2000 Dyna came with the superior HD/Johnson Hylift lifters from the factory and I replaced them with Feuling HP+ lifters during the third build at approximately 10k miles (probably unnecessary). Unfortunately, the only pics I could find of failed lifters are on other forums (not sure about the rules here on linking to other forums).

Basically, the first thing that you are looking for is scuffing (appears "frosted") on the roller surface where the roller contacts the cam lobes (should look smooth and unscuffed) indicating that the roller is not rotating freely in synch with the cam lobe, causing wear and noise. The second thing to look for is the smooth operation of the bearings in the center of the roller under firm finger pressure through the entire 360 degree rotation of the roller. If the bearings do not move smoothly and effortlessly throughout the entire 360 degree rotation (there is a glitch/roughness during the rotation or detectible noise under firm finger pressure while rotating), then there is an issue and the lifter should be replaced. The third thing to look for is scuffing on/grooves in the outer surfaces of the lifter housing where it rides in the crankcase lifter bore. The fourth thing that you are looking for is movement of the piston inside the lifter housing when pushing on it with a pushrod. Pumped-up lifters should not allow the piston to move at all with the force that you can apply using a pushrod, unless you are Superman. A lifter that allows you to move the piston with normal human strength indicates that it is collapsing while in operation.

Depending on the type of lifters in your bike now (HD "C" lifters should be replaced regardless for your build IMO) and the results of the above testing (fail), all four lifters should be replaced IMO.

Re: new lifter selection:

I used the AMS (Johnson Hylift) A2313SE lifters:
http://amsmotomachine.com/index.php/hdparts

Almost everyone else swears by these:
http://www.sscycle.com/go-fast-showc...mance-tappets/

Some recommend these:

Or these:

Comp Cams lifters are Chevy lifters and are much less expensive than the other two but have a smaller orifice to feed oil up through the pushrods to the top end than the AMS/Johnson Hylifts or the S&S lifters. Whether that is a big deal or not is your call (much disagreement about this).

 

I have recently experienced a lifter that would not hold a pump at higher rpm's. worked fine at rpm's less than 2k and i could not physically collapse it by hand but when in demand at higher rpm it would get noisy (real noisy). Unfortunately when it's like this all you can do is replace them all or if by chance they are still under some kind of warranty send them all back to the manufacturer and let them sort it out...

 

Unless the OP has changed lifters, he is running the OEM "B" lifter; the best the MoCo has made. There have not been many reported issues with the B lifters, even in performance applications; however, that does not mean that they can't go bad. Of course the OP should inspect the lifters as dynawg1 suggests but I would not worry about scuffing on the outer surfaces; "grooves" yes but not scuffing that could be polished out. There is no way that I know of to check a lifter that bleeds down at higher rpms as in the case of 98hotrodfatboy. One would just have to guess which lifter is losing its prime at higher rpms and replace it.

The OP has referred to a "ticking" sound that turns into a "high pitched squealing or whirring sound". That indicates to me that the sounds are two different sounds with two different sources. The ticking is most likely valve train noise that can be reduced or eliminated with more preload on the lifters. The squealing/whirring sound is most likely coming from something rotating in the cam chest or even the primary but the OP seems to be focused on the cam chest. So, he should be looking at all rotating components in the cam chest for the source of that noise.

I hope the OP posts some pictures of the cam chest and components as he tears into it. I am also interested in his compression numbers.

 

Thanks a lot for all the detail, will definitely come in handy when I get them removed. New S&S lifters come with the 106" Hot Set Up kit, so they are new, not to say that they couldn't be bad. If they are, at least S&S should replace them. Unfortunately, looks like the project will be on hold for 2 weeks as I'm getting sent out for work....again.
I picked up a compression tester the other day, problem was, it didn't have an attachment that fit my plug threads, so I'll have to pick up another.
Thanks again guys, I'll post pics of everything when I return.

 

Well, I'm a bit surprised by the compression test results. You said you expected around 200, I didn't get near that. The rear cylinder came in at ~152, the front came in at ~163. This is with both plugs pulled, fuel pump fuse pulled, cold, and throttle wide open for 8 plus cranks. Does that make you think cam timing? I don't think I will be able to get at the cam before this deployment, it may have to wait two weeks.....





Rear





Front

 

The cam will not take away from your effective compression however it's very possible that those flat tops are 9:1 and if the heads you got with the kit are the 89 cc heads then your ccp will be right about where it is, You need to get all the specs on all your parts and put them into a calculator to see where you should be. Contact the people that put it together, get all the part numbers and research the specs.

 

IIRC, your S&S cams are Easy Starts? If so, that would account for the low CCP. At sea level, your CCP, according to my calculator should be right at 200psi with 89cc heads, flat top pistons, OEM head gasket and 583 cams. The EZ start cams bleed off 20%-30% of CCP, which would mean the your actual CCP would be somewhere 185-195/rear and 195-210/front. The 10psi difference does not indicate that cam timing is off so, it doesn't appear to me that cam timing is the issue, unless the cams are not EZ start.

Can't do a compression test but can do a leak down test which is a better indicator of top end condition anyway. However, as I said, if cams are EZ start, no need to go there.

 

very good point. Forgot about that feature in the e-z start cams... They're working obviously...

 

The cams are ez start. So, I guess I'm still looking for the smoking gun. That noise I hear is bothering me more all the time, wondering if it isn't the cam plate. Won't know for two weeks or so. Still have to check that and the lifters......