1995 Ultra Classic. I installed new lifters this morning. I also took the nose cone off to get a look at the cam, as the motor has developed a constant tick. Also checked the rocker arms for wear. Everything looked ok so I put in the new lifters, aligned the dots on the cam, pinion gear, and plastic oil gear, then reinstalled the adjustable pushrods to 2.5 turns. Turned the motor over and I have absolutely no compression on either cylinder. Took the push rod covers off and bumped the starter over and they seem to be going up and down like they should, but no compression. I put my finger over the spark plug hole and turned the starter over and I can feel some air coming out, not very hard though. Not enough to register on the compression guage. Starter seems to be spinning faster for some reason. I've replaced the lifters before and never had this happen. Could I have messed the timing up somehow? I'm stumped. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

My first thought is you have your pushrods adjusted too long and they are holding open the valves.

Redo your pushrods and see if that helps.

 

I hope you have a manual and bleed down your lifters first and then you should be able too get 3full revolutions

 

And make sure you're on the base circle of the cam lobes when you do the push rod adjustment.

 

One thing I forgot to mention, when I had the cam out, I rotated the engine a few times with a socket on the pinion nut, trying to find the alignment mark. Is it possible that I could be 180 degrees off and the dots still align??? I readjusted the pushrods and still have no compression.

 

sounds like your cam is out of time

 

How can the cam be out of time if the dots line up?

 

Yep, that picture is the way I have it aligned. These "new" lifters I just installed had been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. I did soak them in oil overnight though before installing them.

 

take the pushrods out a do a leak test on both cylinders see if your valves are sealing. if they are and your cam is timed correctly then its got to be the lifters or the pushrods are adjusted wrong

 

Readjusted the pushrods again and the bike started, but only running on the front cylinder. This is the second set of lifters I have installed. No trouble with the other set. Bike was running fine Sunday. This problem all seems to have started when I removed the cam and reinstalled it. I didn't check to see if it was aligned properly before I removed it. This may be a dumb question, but could the previous owner have had the cam installed with the alignment marks off by a tooth or two for some reason. I think it is a Sreamin' eagle-4 camshaft. Also has JE 9.5-1 pistons. Today I installed new plug wires and plugs and it's still only hitting on the front cylinder, back cylinder is cold. I've been working on this thing for 3 days and still can't get it to run right. I've got a Harley service manual, even watched a youtube video on installing lifters and aligning camshaft on an evo. I've got the rotor installed correctly in the slot and I scribed a line on the timing plate before I removed it and reinstalled it the same. The only thing I'm not sure about is the alignment of the camshaft before I removed it. I didn't mark it, just pulled it out, thinking I would just reinstall it with the alignment marks, which I did, but now running on just the front cylinder. I took the rear spark plug out and turned the motor over, it's getting fire to the cylinder, but won't kick in. Anyone with any advice, I'm all ears. Thanks.