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Engine Mechanical TopicsDiscussion for motor builds, cams, head work, stripped bolts and other engine related issues. The good and the bad. If it goes round and around or up and down, post it here.
I just got back from a road trip where what I thought was one of my lifters kept bleeding down and making a hell of a racket after sitting for a period of time. Initially I thought the problem was a collapsed lifter as it would eventually pump up after a minute or so of driving. I had a shop replace the lifters and well that only lasted half a day before the issues came back. So now I am chasing down an oil flow/pressure issue. Upon removing my lifters I noticed one bore had some scoring on it. What I don't know is if this is an issue or not. I will admit my knowledge of lifters is limited but I understand their principal operation. I know these are only pictures but I thought I would see what the community has to say. It is only in this one spot but I can feel it with my finger. Is this block toast? Bike is a 2013 Ultra limited 103 twin cam with 40,000 KM on it.
It's not good. What brand of lifter was in there? And was the damaged bore already there when the lifters were recently replaced? Does a lifter still fit in the bore and move freely?
How is the oil pressure hot? Have you checked flywheel runout?
One problem for repairing this is the lifter bore is part of the right engine case. It can be repaired, but the job isn't trivial.
Thats what I feared. It was the stock OEM lifter in there. I can't speak to the damage being there prior as it was a shop that did the work just to get me back on the road. I supplied the lifters thinking it was a collapsed lifter initially. Removed stock and replaced with stock. it does fit in the bore and move freely yes. Oil pressure hot is showing on the gauge on the bike was 32. It seemed like during normal operation the bike ran fine, but on initial startup it was ticking a lot the ticking came from this cylinder too. I haven't checked runout yet, but its on the list. After pulling the oil pump apart, it looked to be in good shape surprisingly. I'll be pulling the oil pan and following the oil system more to figure this one out. Do you know if replacing is cheaper than repairing with these cases? It certainly doesn't look like a trivial job, that's for sure.
Nick
Last edited by RockiesWanderer; Jul 27, 2024 at 10:18 AM.
Repairing will be cheaper, but you will need to send the cases to a competent shop. There are a few on this Forum too. But I'd use non HD branded lifters. I'd use lifters from WFO Larry who comments on this forum regularly.
I appreciate it. I only went with OEM lifters because we were stranded out of country and it was all I could get. I plan to replace it all once I get to the rebuild stage. I think I will be chatting with Darkhorse. Hopefully they ship to Canada.
Last edited by RockiesWanderer; Jul 27, 2024 at 11:04 AM.
Can you elaborate why you don't think I need it? Like I said in my original post, I don't really have experience with lifters. I don't want to go through all the work of rebuilding what doesn't need to be rebuilt, but I certainly don't want to skip out on something that requires attention.
Stock lifters normally don't fail. But I have been hearing about it for M8s, did they switch suppliers for TCs? I am not sure if they use same lifter. I am not telling you to replace them, I don't know.
But if you needed to do tensioner pads and breather, I would think about it. But I also get they aint cheap, and even more money up there.
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Lifter Bore Scoring
