So as the title says guys I went into the bike to do an initial service and check on the parts I installed this spring(this spring I installed new cams, adjustable pushrods, CYCO tensioners, CYCO lifters, all new bearings etc.) I put on about 1500miles and I was at my next service interval so I thought it would be a great time to check things out.

About the last 200 miles or so I noticed a little valvetrain noise coming from what sounded like the heads, it wasn’t their before and got worse as the engine got noiser. Again perfect time to check things out.

So I opened then cam cover, removed my pushrod tubes, did a full service etc. Everything looked great in there but then I got to thinking why the noise? So I went ahead and checked out the lifters, at this point I noticed that on the CYCO lifters the pushrod seat orifice was considerably smaller then the HD “B” lifters I took out, and as we all know smaller means less flow, so I thought for the hell of it I swapped back in the stock “B” lifters(14,000km on them) and installed a LMR-002 Baisley Spring at the same time while the chest was open.

After getting it all back together I primed the pump a bit by turning the engine over with the plugs out then fired her up. And what do you know a REALLY BAD tap coming from the rear cylinder. I popped the clips off and checked my pushrod adjustment, they were fine, set to 0.125. If I were to guess it’s the exhaust valve tapping but not that it makes much of a difference.

Where should I point to next? Pushrods are good, everything in the cam chest seemed fine, timing is good. The chances of the lifter going bad when they were perfectly fine when I took them out seems rare. But they were also dry when I put them in. Do I risk taking her for a short ride to see if the lifter pumps up and it’s all good? Thanks.

 

Here’s a picture of the lifters in comparison, the hole in the seat may not have ever made a difference but it’s too late now haha.

 

I've seen it take a 5 mile ride for new lifters to fully pump up & quiet down... a little unnerving for sure.

You might also try running the pushrods a little deeper.... .140 is common. Also, dino oil (I prefer Spectro 25-60) is always quieter than synthetic.

And then there's rocker shaft tapping

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Put your pushrod to .140...in the lifters..install the rockit rocker lockers..quiets the top end alot

 

Thanks guys. I guess i’ll Start with re-adjusting all my pushrods and taking it for a ride and going from their, hopefully it’s just the lifters that need to pump up and it will cure itself. My adjustable are 24:1 so by my math 21 flats should put me around 0.145. Thanks again.

 

Pressure goes up and volume (or amount) goes down, when you take the same pump and rpm and restrict the flow. So it is possible the smaller hole lifter is reducing the cooling oil to the head.

However, the plunger tolerance and leak down valve in the lifter should be designed to pump up and take up lifter range so there is no gap when the lifter runs on the base circle. Stock cams have a very small ramp at the end of the base circle before the valve lift part of the cam. Performance cams do not have this.

You probably are hearing piston slap. If the noise does not go away when you come up with RPM, it's probably not the lifter. Watch the high oil pressure you engineered in on idle rpm. TCs are not designed for above 15lb pressure at idle. The oil injectors have pressure relief valves that keep them from working at idle so you do not cook the oil at a street light in hot weather. Short term, the engine can take the heat. Oil cannot.

 

What do you recommend then? Correct me if I’m wrong but your basically saying that you think that with the install of the Baisley LMR-002 spring that you believe the engine now has too much oil pressure at idle? Which would in turn cause the oil injectors reliefs to come into play and develop piston slap?

An oil pressure gauge would be ideal at this point but unfortunately I’m SOL in that area(bike is FLHRS and I have not installed aftermarket one yet). It would help to diagnose for sure. I could wrong but I find it very hard to believe the engine would have developed piston slap just from me swapping the stock lifters back in and changing the oil pressure relief spring to a well known product that many riders use on both stock and modified engines.

As we all know these engines need oil flow more then they need pressure, true they work hand in hand without any pressure there would be no flow, but proper flow of the oil is needed none the less(hence why I swapped back in the HD “B” lifters that I believed would have better flow with the larger hole in the pushrod seat). In saying that there are still thousands of Harley riders and forum members that have installed the Baisley LMR-002 spring without much issues of too much oil pressure at idle. Not to mention when i checked my pushrods immediately after start up and first heard the noise, i readjusted them and noticed zero lash was difficult to find(dry lifters/not pumped up fully) and even after proper adjustment I could turn the pushrods with my fingers immediately after adjustment(which tells me there was very little bleeding if any at all, another reason to point to the lifters).

Honestly I’m at a bit of a stand still. I’d love to just take her out for a little cruise and hope that the lifters pump themselves back up and all is well and goes away, but in the other hand if it is piston slap then the more I run it the closer the cylinders/pistons get to wearing/failure.

 

Go with S&S lifters. I went with some Johnson lifters and would get a few seconds of tapping at start up. After 17,000 miles changed back to S&S lifters and all is well again. Would also make sure the oil passage are clear to lifters.

 

This was my plan this winter. Just don’t want anymore downtime this summer and wanted to atleast get through this weekend, got a rally to go to

 

You might think about tearing it back down...at least so you can check the oil pump gerators for alignment or damage. Then you can also check the oring on the pump and cam plate for damage and make sure you have a good seal...if anything is not right there you will get little or no oil going up top and your lifter/ lifters may never pump up. Make sure you align the oil pump properly too. I don't remember what year your bike was so I hope my info pertains to your year