Why Does My Car Eat Hydraulic Lifters for lunch???

[6cndmbz]

Hey All,
Alright....well its been interesting. After I got my head back from the machinist, it ticked, a new symptom which came from a collapsed lifter for the #1 cylinder.....ok.

.....I bought four new lifters and put two in to fix the problem. Only one lifter was colapsed. I started it up and it purred like a kitten. Took it for a ten minute drive and.....TICK TICK TICK TICK....a second lifter had collapsed. Fine. I had two more so I replaced the pair on the second rocker arm. Again....purrs like a kitten.....took it out on the highway, get back, and TICK TICK TICK TICK AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! three more are now loose. So now I'm gonna grab the remaining 8 lifters to install this week. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY MY CAR NOW EATS LIFTERS????????

[afmcorp]

hello,

did the machine shop remove the hydraulic units when he machined the head? and if he did, did he keep them covered in oil while they were out? and are you sure they had the correct height when they were re-installed? and final are you sure the shims weren't mixed up during the head off work or for that manner the hydraulic units themselves? hows your oil pressure?

it sounds as if you may have done the wrench work yourself. did you before installing the head be sure all the internal oil passages were clear. if he machined the valve seats and valve faces this would cause the valve to rise. maybe only a few thousand of an inch but on my 126's i'm betting that red line on the height measuring tool isn't over .032 wide. and i know you can adjust the height with various shims in 0.5mm [.0196"] size.

just checking. if it isn't some odd reason from above i'd be looking to sacrifice something to the hydraulic god cause that has to be bad luck and lousy timing.

but i would say this. if i had the head off i would be replacing the hydraulic units just for GP. 'cause once i've gone that far i do not want to go back in. point of fact i'm breaking the 87 down this week. doing the chain thing so i'm going to replace the stem seals. no serious reason but... i don't want to go back in there in a year from now.

one note thou if you replace all the hydraulic units and none of the new ones come up ticking then i'd just caulk it up to lesson learned and i'd move on.

good luck i sure hope you get this problem solved.

[6cndmbz]

Problem Solved!!! The Machinist left out an oil plug on the front of the head causing it to not be able to build pressure to the lifters. I had it diagnosed and fixed for $650, the Machinist paid the bill....it runs like a top now.....