Did he give any clue how that internal spring in the lifter is going to overcome the load of the valve spring..........

I've never heard of it.

If he has a marker, he can number the lifters and return them to the correct positions. Not doing so is probably not critical, but sloppy.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Brian,

I got a demonstration on how to disassemble lifter number one. This guy claims they have attempted to collapse a lifter with an arbor press to expel the oil while applying as much as 8 tons of force, to no avail. The disassembly procedure he demonstrated was holding the lifter in one hand, slaming the lifter onto a thick steel surface and the shock applied, will cause the plunger to fall out after 3 to 4 hits. Then the spring and seat etc. can be removed. We then went over to the parts washer, cleaned the components and put everything back together. The plunger now moves freely since the oil has been removed.

I've tried my best to describe this process. Are you confused yet?

He also said the engine will really run poorly until the lifters finally fill up.

Comments anyone?

Greg

I've heard more than enough about this "mechanic".

If the risk is real yet somehow not mentioned in the FSM, isn't it easier to keep track of which lifter goes over which valve? An egg crate is perfect for this.

I've never heard of slamming lifters to shock the check valve into releasing. In a Mitsubishi I had the FSM said to stick a pin into the lifter to displace the check valve to drain the lifter before reinstallation, but only after pumping them in a bowl of oil to check that they're working.

Sixto
87 300D

X2

Slamming a hardened steel lifter into anything other than wood tells me that this guy is a hack.

The lifter is essentially a hydraulic damper. It fills with oil, the cam lobe will shove it down, the oil cannot escape fast enough to collapse during the very short (1/10 second at idle, shorter at higher RPM) time it is compressing a valve spring. If held under pressure (such as during engine assembly) it will collapse unless there is something very wrong with it. Holding it in your hand, you can press it together and force the oil out.

If he has tried to do so on a hydraulic press, he's an idiot to begin with, and the reason it did not compress is because it was already compressed.

First, I would run away from this shop. If I were so un-concerned with his lack of automotive knowledge and further, his lack of understanding that he might be wrong (which will come back when there is a problem later, and he can't believe the he messed up = you're screwed) to actually let him touch my car, I would tell him to get a black marker and take off his shoes before removing the lifters, so he can count to twelve and write it on the lifters.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

He'd only need to take off one shoe..............

Thanks for your input guys. This oil draining procedure didn't make sense to me either.

I used a Plano tackle box to organize parts as I removed the head. When the lifters were removed, I used a few shop towels, brake clean and a Sharpie.

Greg