Should i reuse Hydraulic lifters

[Denman]

When reusing lifters, should I take them apart and drain the oil? I'm doing a head gasket and just pulled them, inspected them, and plan to reuse them with the same cam. I kept up with which hole they came out of. I read on the boards to not prime the lifters, but they are already full of oil when I took them out. I can't push them in, even a little using a pushrod by hand. I did have four bent pushrods. The timing chain wore and jumped time. I don't know how long this engine has been running with bent rods before or after the timing chain jumped. It was running very strong. I took it apart due to overheating at high RPM 2200-3000 60-70MPH. Figured it was a head gasket. The pushrods that came out of it have a hole in them. This makes measuring the length difficult. I bought a set without holes 7.53 rods from Summit and a set of 7.500. I can't measure the old rods accurately because of the holes in them. I plan to do the rebuild ASAP, but this lifter question is bothering me.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Did you keep track of exactly where they were? If you mixed any of them could cause cam failure. Might now as bad FT cam, seen it happen. Can't comment otherwise.

 

[Denman]

Did you keep track of exactly where they were? If you mixed any of them could cause cam failure. Might now as bad FT cam, seen it happen. Can't comment otherwise.

yes i did. very careful to not mix them up.

 

[Jerry Hall]

Inspect your cam and lifters very carefully. If you are rebuilding the engine, it's going to come apart anyway, so take everything that needs work or inspection to the machine shop for professional advice.

 

[Denman]

thanks. not rebuilding just replacing what needs to be replaced.

 

[Cranky]

How many miles/time on the cam and lifters? Used cams depending on how much time is on it, I will (or used to) install new lifters but if things look good....I'd reuse them. The new junk is hit and miss.

 

[johnny ga]

i reused lifters and cam on a 318 crane cam and lifters kept them in order that they came out. no probrems

 

[Runcharger]

Those lifters are proven, I would carefully inspect them and reuse. I wouldn't take them apart, leave well enough alone.

 

[Bighouse]

Sticking them back in is probably safer than a new cam and lifters these days. I just did rings and bearings in an olds 455 I have. Re-used crane cam and lifters. No issues

 

[pnora]

If you have 4 bent pushrods you have other issues to be concerned about.

 

[Denman]

i'm hoping the bent rods were from jumping time, then running for a while after replacing the timing chain and sprocket. The engine jumped time with my son about 2,000 miles ago. He put a new timing chain and sprocket on it. It's been running good after that. I put on a demon and tuned it to get decent gas mileage. Got the timing worked out good. i used a plate to stop it from advancing too much. Had a spark knock problem, but the vacuum was advancing too much. now there is no spark knock even at WOT. It will spin the 35's from a stop if you nail it. Has plenty of power. It just overheats at RPM over 2200. Does not overheat at idle. I was hoping it was a head gasket and not a ring. The cylinder bores look good. Son doesn't have a lot of $$$ to throw at it so we are reusing what we can. Wasn't sure how to check compression reading for head gasket vs ring. So i chose head gasket and inspect the rings. Can't tell if the lower rings are bad, but the cylinders look good. We found the bent pushrods and they became an issue we didn't expect.

 

[Denman]

How many miles/time on the cam and lifters? Used cams depending on how much time is on it, I will (or used to) install new lifters but if things look good....I'd reuse them. The new junk is hit and miss.

Dont know how many miles on the internals. Lifters are perfect no pits. they have a nice circular pattern on the top of the lifters. They are not wore flat. Heads were great shape too. just carbon build up that was easy to clean.

 

[eldubb440]

if the rods bent from jumping time, I would think you'd see marks on those pistons

 

[Denman]

if the rods bent from jumping time, you would see marks on those pistons

hmmmm. i will check the piston tops closely. Do you think a valve would have hit the piston? That's why i had the lifter question. if a lifter was bad i don't want it to happen again, i just don't know how to check the lifters other than pushing on them with a push rod with my hand.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Sounds like a few bent valves. Pull heads and take to a competent machine shop. Valves that are bent need replacing. Valve guides are probably worn, ask about how they fix them. Knurling them NO WAY, I like K-line valve guide liners. There are other options where they drill out the guide and press in another. Resurface the heads resurfaced usually .004/.005 and new valve seals after market. K-Line Valve Guide-Liners

 

[Denman]

Sounds like a few bent valves. Pull heads and take to a competent machine shop. Valves that are bent need replacing. Valve guides are probably worn, ask about how they fix them. Knurling them NO WAY, I like K-line valve guide liners. There are other options where they drill out the guide and press in another. Resurface the heads resurfaced usually .004/.005 and new valve seals after market. K-Line Valve Guide-Liners

I checked the valves on a granite surface plate. Guides are good, within the limits. Head is not warped at all. I can check that stuff. I was a toolmaker for twenty years so flatness checks and using indicators are no problem.

 

[Arlo Price]

No side load on lifters so all holes should basically be the same. Not saying that there aren't examples but i"ve not seen a lifter with scuffed skirts. Sure, if you marked them on disassembly great, however if they somehow became out of order then I wouldn't worry about it and darn sure wouldn't run out & buy a new set. A light coat of cam lube on the bottom is cheap insurance.
As far as pushrod length, ask Google.

 

[Fran Blacker]

I checked the valves on a granite surface plate. Guides are good, within the limits. Head is not warped at all. I can check that stuff. I was a toolmaker for twenty years so flatness checks and using indicators are no problem.

I see, you/me don't back ground of people. Some know a little some very knowledgeable.

 

[Denman]

I see, you/me don't back ground of people. Some know a little some very knowledgeable.

I like the help. Any advice yall have is good if i can check it i will. I don't know everything, but i like to learn as much as i can. With the problem with lifters now i just didn't know what to do. In the past, i would have just replaced them.

 

[Geoff 2]

Since you have the engine apart, it would be a good idea to have the lifters re-faced. You do not need to pull them apart.

Do NOT, repeat, do not buy new lifters as they are wiping out cams & lifters.