Hello everyone,

I am in the middle of replacing my hydraulic lifters as it appears I had a couple go bad in my 70 El Camino SS 396. Before I go reinstalling the new lifters, is it true that you need to soak or pump new oil into the hydraulic lifter? Or should they go in dry and let the engine prime them as it gets fired up? I know that I will have to use assembly lube on the cam where the lifter meets it and I will also be putting assembly lube on the sides of the lifter to prevent any scoring on the bore of the lifter valley. Anything else I should need to do to prevent wiping out the cam lobes or causing engine failure?

The factory repair manual says once you get the play out of the push rods by spinning them, it is one full turn tightening after that. Is this the correct method for a stock engine???

Any help is greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance,

Brian

I heard you should soak them, I soaked mine for 24 hours before I put them in.

Brian,

Most lifter and camshaft manufacturers do NOT suggest soaking, or pumping up lifters. It can pump the lifters up too much and not allow the proper adjustment. As far as the adjustment method goes I will only say one thing .... forget about spinning the pushrod. "jiggle" it up and down as you tighten the adjustment until all the slop is out, then add your 1 turn, or 1/2 turn or whatever your camshaft instructions say. Seems like everyone overtightens the valves when they use the "spin the pushrod" method.

Yeah we bent 4 pushrods on teh spin method, had no clue that hte lifters were too tight until the motor wouldn't start, it ran fine for months, than one day it started misfiring thanks to a broken pushrod on the #1 intake valve, when we rebuilt the top end we found 4 others with bends. Deffinately do the up down and do a 1/2, than if they rattle add another half..

BillK,

I am reusing the cam as the lobs appear to be in excellent shape. The engine only has 44,000 miles on it and it seems that only one or two lifters on the passenger side started making some noise. Anyway, the instructions on the boxes for the lifters say to consult the repair manual and came with no other instructions.

I disassembled one to see if there was any oil in it already and there was a very tiny bit compared to the old one I just removed. I may just squirt some oil in there from the top so they have at least a little bit of oil to prevent damage during start up.

How fast should the lifters pump up once the engine has cranked over? Should I reassemble everything and disconnect the coil to prevent the engine from firing up and just let it crank to build up the pressure?

Any thoughts???

I usually let mine set in oil, but do not pump them, don't know if this really accomplishes anything or not, but it gives me peace of mind. Then apply cam break in lube to the face of the lifter only.

I have found the most fool proof method of adjusting new hyd lifters is done with the intake manifold off. Get your cam on the heel for the lifter you want to adjust, then tighten the adjusting nut until the point where the lifter plunger just starts to move. You can get absolute "0" lash by both checking for slack in the pushrod and verifying that the plunger has not moved. Get "0", then add your preload. I usually add 1/2 to 3/4 turn.

.0015" feeler gage works pretty good instead of trying to wiggle or spin the pushrod.

I usually let mine set in oil, but do not pump them, don't know if this really accomplishes anything or not, but it gives me peace of mind. Then apply cam break in lube to the face of the lifter only.

I have found the most fool proof method of adjusting new hyd lifters is done with the intake manifold off. Get your cam on the heel for the lifter you want to adjust, then tighten the adjusting nut until the point where the lifter plunger just starts to move. You can get absolute "0" lash by both checking for slack in the pushrod and verifying that the plunger has not moved. Get "0", then add your preload. I usually add 1/2 to 3/4 turn.

GRN69CHV,

What do you mean by the cam on the heel for the lifter? Is this when the lifter is on the top part / highest part of the lobe or on the farthest/flattest part of the lobe????

Flat (if you want to call it that) of the lobe. Look up the intake closing - exhaust opening method for setting the valves.

here you go...
http://www.thedirtforum.com/chevyvalves.htm
david