I have lifter tick in our 74 f100 with a 360 I am trying to solve. I changed one lifter with the head and intake on and have one more to go. The remaining one is drivers side, nearest to the firewall. The push rod hole is to small of a diameter to pull the lifter through and is looks impossible to remove it through the adjacent push rod opening.
Is there a trick I am missing or do I have to pull the intake? If I do pull the intake are there tips to help a first timer out?

 

This "trick" may or may not work, given the lifter is furthest to the rear, but it's worth a shot before pulling the 80lb intake.

Pull the distributor, this will give you a relatively big access hole to use for a flashlight, telescoping magnet, flexible grabber tool, etc.

 

if your dead-set on replacement, i find it faster and easier just to pull the intake and might as well replace them all. i went to do this on an engine and that lifter fell in there so sideways i was screwed. good thing is that intake gaskets are cheaper than the time it takes to go "fishing"

ive seen lucas oil stabilizer quiet lifters out a couple times, if you havent tried it might as well give it a shot???

 

i've fixed a few with seafoam as well.

one can per 5qts of oil seems to get it most times.

i always worried about thinning the oil and losing pressure, but a friend of mine drove his car about 5 hours non stop with the seafoam in the oil and all it did was fix the tick.

CD2 usually works too, if it is still around. that usually takes 2 cans though (but it's cheap). I'd try and and all of the above before i resorted to changing lifters, but that's just me.

 

Putting a little trans fluid in the oil will also work to quiet noisy lifters.

 

X2 on the transmission fluid, I put a quart in and ran it 100 miles, did wonders for it. A friend had several lifters ticking, and he did the same thing and the results were almost immediately, he was amazed.

 

Thanks for the replies. I tried the seafoam/cleaner treatment, unfortunately it did not work. It seems to be a collapsed lifter that will not hold pressure. I will pull the intake tomorrow, wish me luck....
Also, looks like I cannot get access from the other push rod galleys.

 

You can pull all the lifters in an FE engine without removing the intake, but it does take some arm and wrist gymnastics and some long telescoping magnets to get r' done.

Josh

 

If you have replaced that one(driver's rear), please give me more details. At this point I have exhausted all the ideas I have including L shaped magnets, lifter pullers etc. This job is a bitch!

 

You need to work it towards the front of the engine. Pop the lifter into the valley and then pull it forward... The lifter can't fall anywhere just drag it or nudge it if you need to


Josh

 

Remove the bolt that is going through the open area nearest the lifter and with a magnet fish it out. Take a 2' length of coat hanger wire and pass it down through the small hole with a bend so that you can pull back up through the large area created by removing the bolt. At the auto store obtain a Lifter removal tool made by KD. By pushing down on the plunger of the new lifter pass a 2' length of strong fishing line under the retainer ring so that you will have of 1' of line. Attach the line to the wire and pull the lifter through so that the lifter is at the bottom of the hole of the manifold. Grab the lifter with the lifter tool and reinsert it, remove the tool then pull out the string while holding down the lifter with a long screwdriver depressing the plunger. This worked for me every time that I encountered this problem. Kenny Nunez

 

Thanks for the description, I ended up pulling the manifold this morning and changing out the bad lifter and the 3 other end ones. Now I just have to put that heavy manifold back on tomorrow. Thanks.

 

When i get that far,i change all of them . Cheaper than going back in again later just because one or two were close to getting bad. My luck they go bad shortly after i get a few more miles on it. But that's just me and my $.02 worth , every body has got their own way.