Anybody got a method for bleeding down hydraulic lifters? I'm trying to adjust my preload and at least half of my lifters are hard as rock. All my instructions (eg. Crane) say to give it a few minutes and it will happen but so far no luck. I've seen reference to this in other threads but didn't find anybody's technique described.

 

You just have to hold pressure on them. What you might do, is insert a shim between the rocker and the valve (like a feeler gauge), then crank down the adjuster. This will cause the spring to load the lifter. (dont even think of running it like that!) After a while, it will bleed down. Then you can remove the shim and proceed to adjust.

 

rusty to bleed them down, could you just use a old push rod and push down on each one and hold it for about a minute? thats the way i did mine. worked well just you need a little upper arm strength.

 

Well yes that should work, it just sounded like his lifters were being stubborn. The way I described it, you could let 'em sit all night if you wanted to.

Or, if you just have a few lifters that need to be bled down, just rotate the engine so that particular valve is open. Then just let the spring push down on the lifter until it bleeds down.

 

Y'all talk like the lifters will bleed down easily. If this engine is 'senior' it may have lifters that are totally locked in place by varnish, or other deposits. If they leaked down easily, they would have tap-tap noises every morning when you start the engine. Most hold pressure overnight, and some hold pressure for days on end. Or they are stuck.
Either way, you can use a prybar under the valve side of the rocker to increase your leverage. If you bleed down a lifter, it should stay that way after you remove the prybar, and the only resistance you will feel is friction inside the lifter, and the little spring under the lifter piston. The spring should have enough force to hold the pushrod against the bottom of the rocker.
tom

 

The lifters are new so hopefully I can convince them to relax. Thanks for the help guys.

 

If they don't bleed down for you useing the above methods you may have to pull the ones that are causing problems and use a vice to collapse them. Just go slowly and don't over do it. You will feel them bleeding down and when they stop. Be sure to protect the surface of the lifter and use a 1/4" short extension for pushing the piston down.

 

That will definitely be the last resort. I'm trying to avoid pulling the intake again; a failed gasket is the reason why I'm going through all this now. It never ends....

 

Check out 5 threads down under "new 390 & bent pushrods.
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Thanks. I pretty much have the adjustment procedure figured out but the darn lifters are being stubborn with the bleed-down. In the past I've always dealt with dry lifters or lifters that have been sitting on the bench for a month or two during a rebuild. I saw your post about cleaning the lifters before reinstall but unfortunately the motor was already reassembled. My immediate thought was "I wished I'd done that".

I wasn't having any lifter problems before disassembly so I didn't think I'd be having any problems now. Murphy again I guess.

 

at one time, may moons ago, there was a tool that hooked under the rocker arm on one side(valve side) and pushed down on the other(pushrod side), it had a long handle for leverage ( if you can even picture this from my discription)...I welded together a homemade one at one time for an engine that wouldn't bleed down, it worked great,

 

If you've been apart or reinstalling a used lifter don't leave out the possibility that you may have got a piece of dirt or crap in the lifter check valve. This would make the lifter clack no matter how you adjust unless fully collapsed which is a no no. Struggling for ideas.
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Well, you can fish them out with a magnet. I remember doing that when one lifter was tappy. You just had them out, so they should come clean of the bore easily, and then you can use a magnet probe to fish them back to one of the larger openings. Maybe.
tom

 

I don't think theres a magnet in the world that could take a FE lifter through a pushrod hole..LOL

 

The windows between intake and head (not all of 'em) are large enough, you'll have to work 'em up or down the block to extract/install. Manual dexterity would be a plus.
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