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Thread: How to find bad lifter

  1. #1
    boostaholic
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    How to find bad lifter

    Just got my TIII back up and running. Chasing one lifter that is bad and ticking, anyone have a trick to locate this one? I pulled the valve covers when hot and pulled and pushed on all the rockers. None of them are loose or appear to not function. I have plenty of spare lifters, what tricks can I use to find the bad one?

  2. #2
    turbo addict
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    assuming that plenty means not enough to replace all of them right?

    a timing light on each plug might give you some clues, depending on when you assume the lifter noise is occuring...if lifter noise is known to happen at a very specific part of the valvetrain action then I bet you could isolate it this way..

    if you have an extra valve cover you could drill holes in it a key locations to let you listen with a mechanics stethoscope right next to each lifter...

  3. #3
    Hybrid booster
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    A mechanics stethoscope (or long screwdriver while placing the handle at your ear) can be placed at the pivot point or on the adjacent rail mounting bolt to identify the culprit.

  4. #4
    boostaholic
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    One of the hydraulic lifters is not pumping up, I'm not sure if I should start the car with the valve covers off, thinking it will make an oily mess.

  5. #5
    turbo addict Turbo Mopar Contributor iTurbo's Avatar
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    I think it would be OK to start it with the valve covers off. You might have to shroud the top with some tin foil though. Shouldn't be too bad of a mess if you shroud it decently.

    Are these original lifters or the FWDP ones?

  6. #6
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    It can make for some loss of oil and a mess but if the issue is to be corrected, there are the needed steps to diagnose the problem while knowing it can be cleaned up with a quick power wash.

  7. #7
    boostaholic
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    What I ended up doing was pulling the fuse for the fuel pump and bumping the starter, I then rechecked all of the rockers for movement. On my second round I found the center exhaust rocker would move up and down, the lifter was not pumped up. So I loosened all the rocker bolts, I rotated that rocker back and sure enough, there was no lifter disc in the bottom of that rocker, so I swapped in a lifter disc and I will find out tonight if that fixes the ticking, I have a feeling it will because this is not the first time it has happened to me. It is very important that there is a lifter disc in every rocker! Update to come.

  8. #8
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    Quote Originally Posted by DoubleD View Post
    What I ended up doing was pulling the fuse for the fuel pump and bumping the starter, I then rechecked all of the rockers for movement. On my second round I found the center exhaust rocker would move up and down, the lifter was not pumped up. So I loosened all the rocker bolts, I rotated that rocker back and sure enough, there was no lifter disc in the bottom of that rocker, so I swapped in a lifter disc and I will find out tonight if that fixes the ticking, I have a feeling it will because this is not the first time it has happened to me. It is very important that there is a lifter disc in every rocker! Update to come.
    nice job! sounds like you nailed it. so the first time you checked when it was hot, didnt work, because the valve train was static and nothing was pumping oil out of the lifters, right? but with this new way where you rotate the engine, that put pressure on the lifters to pump out, so you could find it? what is a lifter disc and is that like a under-lifter shim on 2.2/2.5s?

  9. #9
    boostaholic
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    Had nothing to do with being hot, had to do with that specific rocker assembly being under compression. So rotating the engine, put it in a different location in the cycle when it was relaxed and the valve was closed. So then I could pull up and down on the rocker causing it to pivot and see that one lifter was collapsed. They are a simple hydraulic lifter, it was missing the disc so it couldn't direct oil flow and pump up the lifter.
    This lifter disc as far as I know is TIII specific.

  10. #10
    turbo addict
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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    It's not that big of a deal to run without the valve covers on. The first time I made a mess. The second time I made a splash shield of sorts for the rear of the head as the exhaust cam throws oil on the firewall. I also used some folded duct tape to make a small dam at the end of each intake rocker shaft to help direct the oil back into the head. Oil will flow from the shafts along the valve cover seal surface down to the valley without them.

    Edit: Well, that's what I get for starting a post and then leaving my desk for a while. Glad it sounds like you found the cuplrit!
    “If the people of the nation understood our banking and monetary system, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” -Henry Ford

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    Re: How to find bad lifter

    Heh, thought I mentioned something about lifter disc's not being installed,
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