My GS has some serious lifter tick at the moment, probably due to the fact that I have 124,000 miles on the head. I have a set of Eaton PT Cruiser style lifter/lash adjusters on order with Howell right now. They should be delivered sometime this week.

But I am kinda nervous about installing them. I know I'll need to remove the valve cover, timing belt, cam gears, cams, and rockers to get to the lifters. Anything else I'm forgetting? A friend of mine said he had to remove the crank pulley from his Neon to get the timing belt cover off. Is that the same with our cars?

If you guys have any tips or hints to help me with this project, they would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!!

>My GS has some serious lifter tick at the moment, probably
>due to the fact that I have 124,000 miles on the head. I have
>a set of Eaton PT Cruiser style lifter/lash adjusters on order
>with Howell right now. They should be delivered sometime this
>week.
>
>But I am kinda nervous about installing them. I know I'll
>need to remove the valve cover, timing belt, cam gears, cams,
>and rockers to get to the lifters. Anything else I'm
>forgetting? A friend of mine said he had to remove the crank
>pulley from his Neon to get the timing belt cover off. Is
>that the same with our cars?
>

yeah you have to remove the crank pulley to get the timing belt cover off. somebody here has a write up for doing it without removing the cams. if your gonna go to the trouble of changing your hydrolic lash adjusters, you should replace the rockers too if you have the extra cash. if you take the cams off you might as well do the timing belt and waterpump if your car is in need of it since it would only take an extra 5-10 minutes.

I have
>a set of Eaton PT Cruiser style lifter/lash adjusters on order
>with Howell right now.

whats the deal with these? everyone seems to use them.... do they do anything special or what? im trying to figure everything out that i can about replacement head parts since im getting the AFX ecu and i wanna rebuild my head to rev.. right now im gona pick up some crower valve springs and retainers... should i get these too?

> I have
>>a set of Eaton PT Cruiser style lifter/lash adjusters on
>order
>>with Howell right now.
>
>whats the deal with these? everyone seems to use them.... do
>they do anything special or what? im trying to figure
>everything out that i can about replacement head parts since
>im getting the AFX ecu and i wanna rebuild my head to rev..
>right now im gona pick up some crower valve springs and
>retainers... should i get these too?

I think they have larger oil passages which keeps them better lubricated. That's what I've heard anyway.

oops, double post. :rolleyes

>>yeah you have to remove the crank pulley to get the timing belt cover off.
>>somebody here has a write up for doing it without removing the cams.

Do you mean a write up for removing the crank pulley without removing the cams, or replacing the lifters without removing the cams???

>>if your gonna go to the trouble of changing your hydrolic lash adjusters,
>>you should replace the rockers too if you have the extra cash.

Unfortunately, I can't really afford to replace the rockers too. I didn't see an option to buy just the rockers on Howell's website either. It was either just the lash adjusters, or the whole top end kit which included rockers too. What would be the benefits of getting new rockers?? Can I just clean mine while I have them out?

>>if you take the cams off you might as well do the timing belt and waterpump
>>if your car is in need of it since it would only take an extra 5-10 minutes.

Belts and water pump were changed 7,000 miles ago when my engine was rebuilt.

in order to fully use the new larger oil passage you have to get new rockers too, since they have a hole in them that allows the lifter to squirt the oil through, so basically without upgrading the rockers its pointless to install the lifters to get that extra oil.
The bottleneck is the rocker hole, or you can just drill it larger while you have them off

>
>Do you mean a write up for removing the crank pulley without
>removing the cams, or replacing the lifters without removing
>the cams???
>

the lifters


>Unfortunately, I can't really afford to replace the rockers
>too. I didn't see an option to buy just the rockers on
>Howell's website either. It was either just the lash
>adjusters, or the whole top end kit which included rockers
>too. What would be the benefits of getting new rockers?? Can
>I just clean mine while I have them out?
>

its just if your gonna go to the trouble of changing the lash adjusters you gotta take the rockers off anyways so might as well upgrade them if you got the cash.
you can get just the rockers here.
http://www.blackdogmotorsports.com/headparts.html

I am VERY interested in finding out how to replace the lifters without removing the cams!! It would save A LOT of time if I didn't have to redo the timing on the car!! Where can I find this write-up??

http://www2.cesa12.k12.wi.us/brent/personal/neon/pic/valvetrain.html

Your welcome :-)

Thanks much.....2 points for you! :)

Would you advise drilling out the hole in the stock rockers? Any idea how much I should drill it out? Or should I just leave them alone and replace the rockers at a later time?

I hope you noticed that you do NOT have to remove the timing belt or anything like that to replace the lifters/rockers. Here's some good pictures of how to do it with 2 big screwdrivers. Just make sure that the cam lobes are pointing up on the ones that you're changing out.

















95 Eclipse RS : 5 speed
Jeep TB writeup - http://www.dimensia.com:81/jimbo/JeepTBfor2gnt.html

about drilling out the hole in the rockers, I was just thinking about it and im not sure if you really have to (just something that popped into my head as I was replacing the valve cover this weekend), I would just check the hole size on the new lifters and compare it to the hole in the rocker, but for another 100 bucks or so (price on new rockers) you might as well just change them out in the process. Just wait a couple weeks if you dont have the funds.

I would ask around about the hole in the rockers vs. the new lifters and see if it really does make a diff. Im not really sure...

My motto is that you might as well do it right the first time around...

Yeah i've replaced my rocker arms and lifters about 5 times with the big-screwdriver method.

If you want even more instructions, check asog.net under their vhow-to. I did a write up with pages from Mopar Now magazine who featured this method.

_________________
Vinnie Lima
vinnie.lima@jvllogistics.com
AIM: Kiku888
1997 Chrysler Sebring "Silver XTC"
I4 420a w/ HRC Stage 2.45 w/ FMIC
14.7@97 mph@6psi
Proud member of the
ASOG BoOsT JuNkIe Crew

The oil hole is to prevent oil airation to ensure that the lifters pump up fully. The upgrade in the rockers is a beefioer roller assembly, a smaller hole is okay because all you need to ass through is the air.



15.9 @ 86.7mph
97 Eclipse RS

Injen CAI, 55mm TB, P&P Intake, Crower Stage 2 Cams, Hooker Header, GS-T Muffler, AFX UDP, Crane Ign Amp, S-AFC

Thanks for all the help guys. This is gonna save me hours of work! And for now I think I'll just go with the stock rockers unless they look to be in bad shape. Since it's not really a bad project like I thought, it wouldn't be too hard to replace the rockers in a couple of months when I have the extra money to spend.

Yeah, I kinda decided against trying to drill out the stock rockers. They are under so much pressure that drilling them out might weaken them and I really don't want one to break!!

I am really interested in doing this myself. It seems that because the post is so old, that the pictures are gone and many of the links do not work.

If anyone has any current information, pictures, or guides for this process please post them!

Thanks!

-Brandon

Woah this post is like helllaaaaa old..

yeah, he mentioned that. he bumped the thread to try and get more info since all the pic links are dead.

Originally posted by bzoss
I am really interested in doing this myself. It seems that because the post is so old, that the pictures are gone and many of the links do not work. If anyone has any current information, pictures, or guides for this process please post them! Thanks! -Brandon

Because I like to whore myself out, you can see how everything goes together on the timing side with the motor out of the car. I have since cut part of the timing cover off, but only on the out piece so that I could adjust the cam gears.

You and I are talking about two completely different subjects... I am talking about replacing the lifters without having to remove the cams. You are talking about cam gears?...

Thanks for at least throwing your advice out there though.

Originally posted by bzoss
You and I are talking about two completely different subjects... I am talking about replacing the lifters without having to remove the cams. You are talking about cam gears?... Thanks for at least throwing your advice out there though.

Here is a discussion on doing it without pulling the cams, no pics that I saw but it gives some helpful info.

Thanks, I think that I got the jist of it. Not too complicated I guess. Pictures are always a plus though!

Okay, well the process really is quite easy.
Just a few things for any of you guys out there that want to do this on your car.
1: Using a small pry-bar worked best for me. (The kind with the handle on one end and a bend at the other) It is really just an oversized bent flathead. The point is, the bend really helps with the angle you are working.
2: Use a small piece of wood to use as your fulcrum support point. You will eliminate any worry of damaging those machined surfaces.

Last note, after doing this I was hoping to fix this annoying 'tick' sound that I have yet to be able to track down. I was pointed to the lifters by a few people, but replacing them didn't change anything.
I feel like the tick is external to the engine, but definitely is based on engine RPM. Perhaps it is in the timing cover region... who knows. It sounds bad, but runs great. I will just have to live with it forever I guess.