I've had my lifters sitting in a container of oil since pulling them from the head. I was not expecting for them to sit for so long, but I chose a vendor for valve springs that is incredibly slow, I'm not saying their name, but you can guess!

I noticed that some do not compress, but others compress ok and extend ok, with relative ease. What should I be looking for? How can I free up the stuck ones?

The Haynes manual says that these need to go back to the cylinder / position that they came from... why? Do the rockers need to be put back to the same positions as well? <----- I'm screwed either way, if they have to be as the lifters are in a container with oil, and the rockers are in a bag, unmarked as I thought that they were all interchangeable.

Ideas?

i've interchanged rockers, lifters, and have had lifters non-compressible, and compressible installed w/ no issues or lifter tick.

then again, don't listen to me, im dumb as shit

For someone who thinks they know so much, you dont seem to know basics.


The lifters that will not compress filled with oil. Remove them from the oil and apply pressure on them to get the oil to squeeze out. You only want enough oil in them to lubricate them.

Why do they go back where they came from? Because all metal parts wear during use. each on has a unique wear pattern and that pattern mates up to the wear pattern on the part it made contact with. Swapping them around will cause additional accelerated wear on each part.

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
For someone who thinks they know so much, you dont seem to know basics. The lifters that will not compress filled with oil. Remove them from the oil and apply pressure on them to get the oil to squeeze out. You only want enough oil in them to lubricate them. Why do they go back where they came from? Because all metal parts wear during use. each on has a unique wear pattern and that pattern mates up to the wear pattern on the part it made contact with. Swapping them around will cause additional accelerated wear on each part.

Thankyou sir! I will remove them from the oil and see what happens.

Lifters have been a bit of a mystery to me... not sure why, but they have been.

We all have our strong and weak points.

Keep then wrapped in a bag and make sure they stay coated in oil.

Will do.

Yeah, I should have known better with the wear patterns, but hind-sight is 20/20.

i have a lifter tick in my car aswell and i was wondering if i took them out and cleaned them would that make it go away or should i just replace them. what makes a lifter make that sound anyway does it have to do with the oil pump up or just from wear and tear.

has anyone ever used seafoam? i heard that can clean out lifters

Originally posted by blkgs
has anyone ever used seafoam? i heard that can clean out lifters

I'll try it on one of my old ones when the replacements come in and let you know.