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Oil additive/cleaner? Intermittent cold-start lifter tap, trying to clean it out

Triplegreen500

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My '70 Charger (numbers-match 318, never opened up as far as I can tell) has an intermittent lifter tap when cold. One lifter, driver side bank, flat refuses to pump up for about five minutes - until the engine is at FULL temperature. Doesn't happen every time, either, so I'm guessing it's some floating gunk in the oil system that sometimes plugs up a galley at that lifter. Car runs fine, doesn't miss when this is going on...but DAMN it's loud.

I seem to remember there's an additive you can put in hot oil, run for a few minutes to circulate it and "scrub" the gunk out of the passages, then drain and change the oil. What is that stuff, any recommendations? I'd really rather not take this engine apart to replace lifters (which will also mean an upgraded cam...I know myself...) if I can help it...but if I have to, I have to.
 
You're probably thinking of Rislone, or maybe Marvel Mystery Oil.

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My '70 Charger (numbers-match 318, never opened up as far as I can tell) has an intermittent lifter tap when cold. One lifter, driver side bank, flat refuses to pump up for about five minutes - until the engine is at FULL temperature. Doesn't happen every time, either, so I'm guessing it's some floating gunk in the oil system that sometimes plugs up a galley at that lifter. Car runs fine, doesn't miss when this is going on...but DAMN it's loud.

I seem to remember there's an additive you can put in hot oil, run for a few minutes to circulate it and "scrub" the gunk out of the passages, then drain and change the oil. What is that stuff, any recommendations? I'd really rather not take this engine apart to replace lifters (which will also mean an upgraded cam...I know myself...) if I can help it...but if I have to, I have to.

It's more likely to be a varnish that formed between the moving parts inside the lifter.

You can try Rislone in your engine first.

You could pull the lifter, soak it in Rislone for a couple of days**, disassemble it, and then soak the individual parts in Rislone for a couple of days.

**The factory service manual shows how to manually pump up a lifter once you have it removed from the engine. Manually pump it up with Rislone and then let it soak for a couple of days before disassembling.

Also, the parts have a fine surface finish. Don't mar the finish. Don't wipe the parts with a paper towel. Use 100% cotton (no polyester content) to carefully wipe parts if you must wipe them. Note: Some "cotton" cloths (including microfiber) have polyester surging around the perimeter.
 
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Lots of people swear by Seafoam. My wife had a 2000 blazer 4.3 perfectly maintained and it developed one intermittent clacking lifter for no apparent reason. One treatment of Seafoam and within a week it went and stayed away.
 
I do swear by seafoam for my fuel(s)....mowers, snowblowers, chainsaws, motorcycles, anything sitting off-season gets a dose and every single one starts up after months of storage, like it was run the day before.

Might look into that.

Thanks!
 
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