Re: Hydraulic Lifter Tick

Posted by 53 Cavalier On 2024/1/10 19:52:15

Oh boy, I had a tick in my engine that I couldn't make go away with "medication". Not knowing what it was, and knowing nothing about the car's history, I decided to pull the pan, and then I pulled the head, and then I pulled the pistons, and then I pull the valves and lifters. There were pieces of my car all over my garage!

And then came the fun part! I replaced the valve guides and some of the valves, replaced the rings and had the pistons coated, and cleaned and tested all the lifters. Put everything back together and she's quiet and running well. Lots of work, and lots of learning, but glad that it's done and now I have a pretty good idea of the condition of my engine, which I think will outlast me.

My sound was more of a tap that I'm pretty sure that it was being caused by a severely worn valve guide on #4 exhaust valve.

If you do pull the head to check your lifter, I would go for it and pull them all, and clean and test them. I would also check valve stem clearance while you're at it.

Have you checked your compression? If you're pulling the head, maybe you want to pop in a set of rings?

Fun, fun, fun!