phess11

OK, I am finally working on my valve seals. Doing the rope trick and everything is going well, but slowly. Question is this: when I am setting the valve lash I thought that I would be able to feel the lifter spring give a little. I thought if I push down on the push rod that I could compress the lifter spring with my hands. Is the lifter spring really strong? Seems like the lifter is fully compressed. This is the case on all of mine. Just want to be sure I am lashing correctly.

Question 2: I lost a keeper. Luckily not in the engine. So i need to buy some. Are all keepers pretty much the same? Napa has some Clevites. Are they ok.

thanks much,
phil

ede

the lifter will compress .100, so it'll be hard for you to see of feel, better to judge it by vertical movement in the push rod, keepers are all pretty much the same

Damon

Yes, you can buy different locks and put them in but I'd do them as a set of 2. Don't mix-n-match 2 different locks on the same valve stem.

If your lifters are used (been run in the engine) they will be full of oil and will not easily compress. Also, they will always be at the TOP of their travel once you've disassembled the valvetrain (the internal spring pushes the plunger to the top of it's travel while simultaneously drawing in oil from the surrounding passages and then "locks" at the top of it's travel again).

When setting lash against a used lifter first find the zero lash point (with the lifter on the heel of the cam lobe), which will be obvious- it's when all the slack is out of the valvetrain- as soon as the pushrod is "pinched" between the rocker and the lifter. Then turn it down 1/4 turn or whatever you want to set it at. This will TEMPORARILY lift the valve off it's seat since the lifter won't bleed down immediately. But give it 30-40 seconds and the lifter will bleed down again. You can tell if this has happened since you will once again be able to twist the rocker arm back and forth SLIGHTLY by hand- it won't be "locked" solidly in place by valve spring pressure. If it never loosens up after you tighten it down then you've got it down too far and are hanging the valve off it's seat.

NEW lifters...... sometimes right out of the box they are difficult to compress. I think just the assembly lube they use on them sometimes seals them up just well enough to make them feel "solid" when you press on them. If they were assembled truly "dry" you would be able to push them down with your finger. I'd say the pure spring pressure inside a lifter would be about 1-2 lbs, just going by my calibrated finger.

phess11

Thanks guys. So if the engine has been sitting for over a week, do you still have the wait of 30-40 seconds or has the oil all drained out by then.