Freeing Up Sticky Hydraulic Lifters

[Grumpy]

Ive had several guys bring in c4 corvettes with both flat tappet and roller cams that had sticky or only semi functional hydraulic lifters.
the first symptom is both noise in the valve train and little or no oil flow,
out of the push rods feeding oil flow too the rocker,
but you've got good oil pressure
keep in mind theres a huge difference between a sticky lifter and a worn lifter or cam lobe
this seems too be rather common in cars where for one reason or another the engines not been started for several months or years.
now obviously you might have mechanical issues or parts failure,
but in many cases its simply built up varnish or sludge,
or minor rust from moisture trapped in the engine during longer term storage.

first step is always doing an oil change too a good brand of high detergent 10w30 oil and a new WIX or PUREOLATOR or similar quality oil filter.

STEP TWO
remove each push rod and soak it briefly (10-15 minutes)in a can of 50% gas and 50% carb cleaner, then use a compressor and high velocity air nozzle to blow out and verify the push rods completely clean and free of internal debris, or sludge.
re-soak and clean if required

https://www.harborfreight.com/catalog/product/view/id/13295/
to get the best results I found loosening the valve lash 1/2 turn out so, after re-installing the cleaned push rods so that the lifters click almost like solid lifters speeds up the process of getting stuck lifter internals on hydraulic lifters to free up and driving the car for a couple hours tends to do a great deal of good
adding a quart of MMO

and a can of liquid moly

https://www.amazon.com/Liqui-Moly-20004-Hydraulic-Additive/dp/B0096Y6XPC/?tag=newcarpassionate-20

seafoam engine additives all help

additive's with solvents and detergents and added lubricants certainly won,t hurt the process of removing contaminants , and temporarily allowing a few extra thousands clearance in the valve train seems to speed up the process, after youve driven the car for an hour or so with the fresh oil, new oil filter and additives youll generally find the lifters have freed up unless theres a mechanical wear issue like a damaged cam lobe or defective or worn lifter, so you can re-adjust the valves correctly

youll generally want to install hydraulic roller lifter's with the oil feed holes pointing to the rear of the engine,
but its not super critical as hydraulic pressure in the blocks lifter gallery,
oil feed passages ,
insures the roller lifters get sufficient oil flow facing in either direction.

you should read these posted link's, and sub links
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ter-pumps-oil-and-traps-oil.15555/#post-92843

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...er-lifter-install-direction.11398/#post-52208

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/correctly-adjusting-valves.196/#post-90731

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/can-t-adjust-the-valve-lash.15404/#post-90613

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...ulic-lifters-mystery-solved.12263/#post-60159

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/oil-system-mods-that-help.2187/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/oil-pump-priming.15211/

 

[Grumpy]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...Kw_IKssj7gDDPrBnC1-yx_ukcVBODPzzosCQ&usqp=CAY

https://www.theengineblock.com/battle-of-the-lifters-flat-tappet-roller-solid-hydraulic/

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/en...-differences-between-flat-tappet-roller-cams/

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/flat-vs-roller-tappet-better/

https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2006/07/vizards-view-avoiding-flat-tappet-cam-and-lifter-failure/

http://www.engineprofessional.com/articles/EPQ317_62-66.pdf

https://www.onallcylinders.com/2017/09/22/making-modern-flat-tappet-camshafts-lifters/

 

[Grumpy]

btw heres a tip, many guys I know ,
who want to clean crud out of push rods or clean crud off rockers ,
simply buy a litter/quart size metal can of two cycle engine fuel

the cans about the correct size/volume,

and the contents work very effectively and the cost is generally under $7
if your push rods are exceptionally filthy you might want to use a high speed die grinder and a nyalox abrasive brush

https://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/products/1302_1998_2979_2005-6226-assorted_pipe_cleaners.html


irst step is always doing an oil change too a good brand of high detergent 10w30 oil and a new WIX or PUREOLATOR or similar quality oil filter.

STEP TWO
remove each push rod and soak it briefly (10-15 minutes)in a can of 50% gas and 50% carb cleaner, then use a compressor and high velocity air nozzle to blow out and verify the push rods completely clean and free of internal debris, or sludge.
re-soak and clean if required

https://www.harborfreight.com/catalog/product/view/id/13295/

https://www.amazon.com/Dico-7200048...x+wheel+brush&qid=1563137850&s=gateway&sr=8-9

https://www.harborfreight.com/air-die-grinder-with-3-inch-extension-99698.html

and yeah having a magnet to get the push rods out of the can without spilling the contents helps

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/rocker-push-rod-wear-issues.9815/

dipping the ends of the push rods in moly lube just prior to re-assembly,
helps reduce problems as does remembering and matching,
the push rods location with its original rocker,
and lifter on re-assembly

MOLY adds a great deal of lubrication to sliding metal surfaces , as it embeds in the micro fissures in the metallic surface's

high pressure air and a soak in solvent/fuel is generally all thats required to free up, loosen, and flush out crud inside push rods,
if its not working after a few repeated soaks and high pressure air flushes,
get new push rods you certainly don,t want that trapped crud circulating in your engine

I was recently asked
"what type of oil and filter I would suggest, to clean out an older engine a guy has had installed and running in his car for over 20 years"
first..
I would point out that any engine that's been running more or less constantly for 20 plus years is most likely in need of a tear down and refresh,
not just an oil/filter change , especially if you've pulled a valve cover and there's obviously a layer of SLUDGE visible, and yes I've seen engines where the sludge was packed in so thick the valve cover worked like a jello mold on the sludge and it was frankly amazing it still functioned.
if you can see obvious sludge build up, simply adding some new solvent oil, and fresh oil, and an oil filter, to break up the slurry, that resulted from decades of neglect is only going to result in a partly clogged oil filter and oil passages
you can prevent sludge with frequent oil & oil filter changes use of higher quality oil, etc, but once an engines packed with sludge, a rebuilt with a good tear down and cleaning is advisable.
think it through, sludge is the residue of burnt over heated oil, varnish and burnt oil ash in a slurry, if you add solvents to dissolve the sludge and break it apart the accumulated slurry has to go someplace, it does not evaporate, and your oil filter is designed to trap most of that crud suspended in the oil flow. this will very rapidly over tax and clog any oil filter, that was never designed to handle a massive influx of trash that took decades to form.

you would be amazed at the sludge build up in some engines

MMO is NOT an oil additive!, its simply a rather thin viscosity, high quality, automotive and machine oil,
with a high level of sludge solvent, and friction reducing additives.
that works well at breaking down and holding in suspension micro contaminants ,
so the oil filter can trap and hold them.
its not a miracle cure for anything but it certainly helps keep engine parts cleaner,
and its well documented to help free up sticky moving parts over time

metallic debris in filter​

Did oil an change over the weekend, Drained and the oil and nothing looked out of the ordinary then I decided to cut open the oil filter and right away saw metal shavings, The engine has about 343 miles on since rebuild but it has had numerous oil & filter changes because of issues with fuel...
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