Always great seeing you active on teh forum. And thanks for weighin in.

Peace , man

 

Looks pretty easy to remove lifter with the right tool.

 

The tool works with cam sets that do not have lobes that are significantly wider than the factory cams. I have the tool, but it is a no-go with my big Cranes.

If one is using an aftermarket retainer that has anything but a flat top surface, this will cause the tool to slip. Again, it was a no-go with my conical Ti retainers.

FYI

 

^ ah. I see. Don't remember the same of my gsc retainers. Worse comes to worse, I'll just pop the caps off the cams and lift the cams up. Thanks for your input.

 

I made a lifter swap that did not require removal of the cams. Furthermore, I did it without loosening tension on the cam belt as well. Doing what I did requires a minimum of tools and hassle, but it does demand patience, care, and plenty of common sense:

1) Remove cam cover, remove spark plugs (important).

2) Put the car into 5th gear and nudge it forward until the cams rotate into a position whereby at least half lobes are not significantly depressing the rockers.

3) Loosen cam tower bolts and tap each cap until it pops loose.

4) Carefully loosen the cam sensor (3 screws IIRC).

5) Gently manipulate the cams upward (lint-free rag & a big screwdriver or small pry bar) to remove half the rockers and swap their lifters. Inspect the factory lifters for integrity and function as they are removed. Note any that are virtually devoid of oil or otherwise compromised.

6) Snug the cam tower and cam sensor bolts, put the car in 5th, and nudge forward until the cams rotate into a position where the remaining rockers can be removed and their lifters swapped.

7) Re-tighten the cam tower bolts in proper sequence and with correct torque, button it up, and you've done it like a thief - with an absolute minimum amount of hassle.


In my case, I had a single exhaust valve lifter that had internally collapsed until it grenaded. It made no noise, and was quietly nonfunctional. Replacing that lifter (and the rest of them) made a tremendous improvement that I noticed from the driver's seat within the first 30 seconds.

 

Bleed your lifters. After 12years and a ton of no issue head and Cam swap's I bent a valve from valve to valve contact turning a Cam over with a ratchet. Bent one exhaust valve. Now I have to pull my head and replace one valve on my brand new Motor. I have learned the hard way. Ticking does not suck as much as zero compression.

 

So with new lifters out of the box, just make sure they compress smoothly, but they should just be ready to drop in?

 

Correct. They'll be noisy for a few minutes, but assuming one has checked the oil feed passages and lifter bosses to verify they are clear of grit, they should pump up fairly quickly during warmup. Once that's done, they'll quiet completely after a 20-30 minute freeway cruise. It seems the odds of bending a valve from preloading them are far greater than the odds a lifter will beat itself to death while slowly being filled during a 10 minute warmup. As for the third option of filling them with diesel, I understand the rationale, but I'm not keen on having diesel in my engine oil.

 

If you are OK with doing a quick second oil change, which I suspect you have to do on a new engine build anyway, I would fill them with diesel. diesel is oil in a sense and lubes everything as well. It will bleed out and very slightly thin out the oil in the engine. Run it a tiny bit, listen to nothing coming from the head, (or just injector racket), and the change the oil again. I've now done all of the methods, and if I did it again, I will use the diesel again.