Ideas on Checking Cold Lifters?
 

My poor ole '87 300TD is starting to feel neglected. I have it partly torn down and need to check a couple of lifters (suspect they are weak). Does anyone know of a method I can use while the engine is cold?
Steve

Well, this post made it to the second page with no answer... so I will bring it back to the top .... and guess as to the reason...
Most of the guy's engines on this forum don't have lifters... I am assuming you DO......:D
In the past what I have seen for checking lifters had to do with measureing the size and then placing it in a can under oil... on something like a drill press ... they usually have a check valve and a spring in them... so you can check the amount it takes to push the spring down... and you can " pump them up" before reinstalling them in the bore.. and you should be sure you put them in the same hole they came out of ...
Maybe someone will wander by with actual info on your MB engine.. all my manuals are only up to 617.952.

gsxr must be on vacation, or he would have answered this. I know he's posted at least a couple times on OM603 hydraulic lifters. So try searching for "lifter" with "gsxr" as the username criteria.

I've never had to check the lifter on an OM60X engine but as I recall all you have to do is push down on each lifter with a wood stick - each lifter should be rock-hard. Any collapsed lifter will feel spongy. I don't think hot vs cold testing is an issue.

I'm sure GSXR will be here shortly....

Tim

Kinda hard to do on a cold engine, as they will drain eventually no matter what kind of oil is in there.

Basic test is to depress when unloaded (not depressed by the cam lobe) -- if you can push it down with a stick or screwdriver by hand, it's bad. However, if the oil is drained out, it will test bad even though it works fine.

Peter

Thats what I thought.... But the OM602/OM603 procedure for checking valve timing does not mention that the engine should have been recently run before setting up the dial indicator positioned on top of the lifter. I have checked my valve timing with a stone cold engine and found that the lifter had not leaked down a bit. Where is gsxr????

Tim