Noisy Lifters

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Aug 27, 2006 | 08:22 PM

#16

frankalonge

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Well, I pulled the valve covers today and everything looked ok. I had no clearance (the lifters were loaded and the pushrods were tight). I decided to try increasing the preload on the lifters closer to ford's spec. I set them up initially with about .060 and I moved that up to about .100. I put it all back together and i have very minimal lifter noise now. It sounds just like it should.

I'm not sure what this tells me though other than the Ford lifters need more preload than the aftermarket.

Aug 27, 2006 | 08:56 PM

#17

Socketman

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From: Whitehorse Yukon

two things come to mind if you have that much preload. One is that you could possible bend a valve in an over rev or valv3 float situation , though unlikely. This really alters the valve train geometry , possible premature valve guide wear though i have no hard facts on this. I do know that canted valve heads are hard on guides anyway. Maybe you just got a bad set of lifters. If its workin for ya run with it. Something i did read last nite was that factory lifters dont bleed off as fast as aftermarket ones which makes the factory ones quieter but leaves the possiblity again of valve interference at valve float. Thoughts?

TBC

Heres cranes take on it all http://www.cranecams.com/?show=techarticle&id=2

Last edited by Socketman; Aug 27, 2006 at 09:28 PM.

Aug 28, 2006 | 12:29 AM

#18

frankalonge

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Socketman

...factory lifters dont bleed off as fast as aftermarket ones which makes the factory ones quieter...

That is precisely why I wanted to use the factory lifters... And I still got the noise. I think the morale of the story is if you're going to use factory lifters, set the preload closer to the factory spec than the aftermarket specs, even with an aftermarket cam.

I know that at .100" preload, I am not bottoming the lifter. Before I assembled the engine I measured that factory lifter travel at approximately .180". So bent pushrods or coil bind should not be an issue for my setup. Interestingly, Ford's spec for preload on the 400 is .175.

From what I've been reading (you commented on it and the crane article you linked to also states this) is that with more preload you increase the chance the lifter pumping up at high rpm. For the relatively narrow rpm range of a truck engine, I doubt this is going to be a problem.

I'm going to run with this set up and see how it works out.

Thanks!

Mar 13, 2007 | 02:28 PM

#19

chuckcathey

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I know this post is a little old, but just wondering if the .100 preload has solved your problem. I have a similiar situation with stock lifters and a comp cam. I set the preload at about .030 to .060 but have at least one lifter that is still noisy, not loud but noisy.
Thanks