Concerns with lifters

[jason79]

So the back story. Last fall I lost 2 rod bearings on my 440. I have a fresh 512 stroker getting ready to go in.

My intent was to reuse my cam and hydraulic lifters for now. They appear to be fine, no wear on anything. Is there any concern about debris in the lifters themselves? Hate to put this together and have problems. The budget is tight, because we are building a new house too.

 

[63RedFury]

I wont worry about.

 

[wyrmrider]

would be hard to get debris into the lifter
you could always tear down clean and inspect
but
take two- you did keep them in order- right
and put their faces together- they should rock
or put them like a t or use a machinist rule you should see convex not concave
if they are worn you can have them refaced, re-curved to an even finer finish than stock for very little money
in any case pretend they are new and break them in again - with the right lifter on the correct lobe
if they are mixed up then you MUST REFACE

 

[jason79]

would be hard to get debris into the lifter
you could always tear down clean and inspect
but
take two- you did keep them in order- right
and put their faces together- they should rock
or put them like a t or use a machinist rule you should see convex not concave
if they are worn you can have them refaced, re-curved to an even finer finish than stock for very little money
in any case pretend they are new and break them in again - with the right lifter on the correct lobe
if they are mixed up then you MUST REFACE

Thanks for the info. They are all in the right order, and flat.

 

[moes]

if it was me I would buy new lifters (cheap insurance) and use your old cam. Just make sure you break-in the new lifters. Having metal shavings circulated throughout the engine? It's your call!!!!!!

 

[threewood]

I would re-use them without a second thought. What cam and what's the spring pressure over the nose?

 

[jason79]

I would re-use them without a second thought. What cam and what's the spring pressure over the nose?

Cam is a mopar 509. It has probably 500 miles on it. Heads are mostly stock 452s. When I upgrade heads in a year or 2 then I'll swap the cam and move up to fuel injection. Wish I could do it all now , but the house is first. 1000sq ft and 3 kids is getting tight.

 

[Ski 61701]

If you are worried about debris inside just pop them apart one by one, clean and reassemble. That way you have piece of mind. Its not hard just time consuming

 

[Kern Dog]

As usual, there is not exactly a consensus!
I hesitated to respond at first but I just had a thought to pass along. Have you ever taken out a magnetic drain plug and found it coated with gooey paste? That is fine ground metal particles mixed in oil. Metal can get ground up into pretty small particles....meaning that these particles flow everywhere the oil goes. I would guess that most of it gets caught by the filter but do you think that ALL of it does? The oil hole in a hydraulic lifter is big enough to let crap get inside. I don't know if these small particles can do much damage but considering the cost of a new set of lifters versus the time and expense of pulling the engine out...again...

 

[jason79]

Took I apart. Found this.

Guess at bear minimum, they all get disassembled and cleaned.

 

[jason79]

Just like normal, I spend a couple hours pondering. For what turns out to be a 45 minute job to disassemble, clean, and reassemble 16 lifters. Thanks again guys. Until next time

 

[Ski 61701]

Did you find any other pieces of metal in the other lifters?

 

[lewtot184]

If you are worried about debris inside just pop them apart one by one, clean and reassemble. That way you have piece of mind. Its not hard just time consuming

this!

 

[jason79]

Did you find any other pieces of metal in the other lifters?

No, just that first one. The rest looked great.

 

[tonysrt]

Did you ever figure out why you lost the rod bearings? I think that would be the important part to the puzzle.

 

[jason79]

Did you ever figure out why you lost the rod bearings? I think that would be the important part to the puzzle.

Original bottom end of an unknown motor. Bought it used, but the accessories were worth 3x what I paid. I rolled the dice and got 1 season out of it.

 

[wyrmrider]

how were the lifter bottoms, still nice radius?
good work- been there done that 45 minuets- usually takes me several times that what with big hands and fumbelfingers