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I need help with lifters

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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 08:34 AM
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Default I need help with lifters

I removed the lifters and placed them in a box facing up . Then filled the upper cups with oil and two of them will drain down . One in about 3 minutes and the other in about 6 hours . So is this normal or a bad thing ? Should I disassembled them and clean them to get them to seat ?
I can’t compress any of them with a pushrod and they where not giving me problems or making any noise when in the bike . I just remove them to do the cam tensioner shoes . There’s 35,000 miles on them now . And the service manual has no replacement interval for them . So how do you guys determine when or if they should be replaced ?


 
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 08:46 AM
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That is not how they work. You just happened to get them in a little different stage of pressure. There is a check with a load that compresses the pumped up piston. It falls in say 1 minute. (Just an example). That way it is not worn to the point that it would collapse during valve opening cycle. I would not worry about them if they were fine. But I have pulled my Jeep ones apart and cleaned and inspected them. No problems. Just make sure it is in exactly correct order, that retainer did not get bent and is properly in groove. YouTube is your friend here.
 

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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted by RIPSAW
That is not how they work. You just happened to get them in a little different stage of pressure. There is a check with a load that compresses the pumped up piston. It falls in say 1 minute. (Just an example). That way it is not worn to the point that it would collapse during valve opening cycle. I would not worry about them if they were fine. But I have pulled a Honda and my Jeep ones apart and cleaned and inspected them. No problems. Just make sure it is in exactly correct order, that retainer did not get bent and is properly in groove. YouTube is your friend her.
100% correct. In addition, if the rollers have no signs of pitting or grooving that you can catch a fingernail on, run 'em.
 
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 08:58 AM
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Yeah the weak point on them is the roller and the roller bearings, not the hydraulic part. I recently decided to replace my Dyna lifters because engine had 85,000 miles on it. Old lifters looked like new so basically i fixed something that wasn't broke.
 
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 09:56 AM
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The last time I replaced lifers, it was because the roller was sloppy and the needles were falling out in my hand.
I counted them to make sure none of them went into the bottom end. (The hydraulics were fine)
 
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 10:01 AM
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As an added info, it takes pressure in the range of the valve spring to actually bleed it down. If they didn't work like that, they could pump up and hold valve open. They stay pumped up to the base circle of the the cam so there is no tap when they hit cam lobe to open valve.

They probably bleed off a few .001 during cycle but catch back up before the next opening. My guess anyway or it would be no advantage of solid lifters in a full race engine that wanted ever HP.
 

Last edited by Jackie Paper; Feb 12, 2020 at 10:09 AM.
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 10:43 AM
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Ok , so I wiped off the one that was draining down in 3 mins . And when I blow air into the top with my mouth the oil comes out the hole on the side of the lifter body . Because of this , I decided to disassemble and clean internal parts . What I saw was the very small hole for the ball check had a lot of hard gunk built up in the hole and at the bottom of the body where the large spring seats also had a good amount of firm gunk too .
 

Last edited by Iron lHorse; Feb 12, 2020 at 10:45 AM.
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 11:44 AM
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So after cleaning it and trying to put it back together I determined that the ball check was not seating well . Here why , when I went to disassemble it and remove the inner body that holds the small spring and ball check . It came out with no effort, it almost fell out on it’s own . If the ball was seat was properly seated the vacuum would not let you pull the inner body out .
I found this out because, I fill the lifter to the top of the large spring before putting the inner body back in . This was to much oil so I push in on the ball to remove some if the oil, to get the inner body to seat at the bottom of the main lifter body . When the ball check is working properly it is very hard to put this thing together with the oil in it. Little Learning curve there . The next three should be cake . And I do think this fix it .
 

Last edited by Iron lHorse; Feb 12, 2020 at 02:57 PM.
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Iron lHorse
So after cleaning it and trying to put it back together I determined that the ball check was not seating well . Here why , when I went to disassemble it and remove the inner body that holds the small spring and ball check . It came out with no effort, it almost fell out on it’s own . If the ball was seat was properly seated the vacuum would not let you pull the inner body out .
I found this out because, I fill the lifter to the top of the large spring before putting the inner body back in . This was to much oil so I push in on the ball to remove some if the oil, to get the inner body to seat at the bottom of the main lifter body . When the ball check is working properly it is very hard to put this thing together with the oil in it. Little Learning curve there . The next three should be cake . And I do think this fix it .
in your original post- you said they werent giving you any problem in the first place.... how can you fix something that wasnt broke?
 
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Old Feb 12, 2020 | 12:15 PM
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That is some dedicated maintenance, right there.
 
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