Lifters locking up?
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Lifters locking up?
I wanted to see if anyone might have an idea why the lifters on the passenger side of a 400m engine would all lockup. The lifters was locked up when I made changes to the motor several months back and I installed all new lifters. They are again locked up. The other side of the motor has no problems, the lifters are free. Is this an oiling problem?
Thanks
Thanks
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From: Auburn, WA
Originally Posted by wvbogger
I wanted to see if anyone might have an idea why the lifters on the passenger side of a 400m engine would all lockup. The lifters was locked up when I made changes to the motor several months back and I installed all new lifters. They are again locked up. The other side of the motor has no problems, the lifters are free. Is this an oiling problem?
Thanks
Thanks
Probably. What changes did you make? You can always drain a quart or two of oil out of it, replace those two quarts with ATF and then drive it like you stole it for about 30-40 minutes.
Did you see a lot of sludge when you made changes? Engines that have spent their life with minimal oil changes or with thermostats missing can really prove to be long term failures. Are they just making noise? Still firing on all 8?
Last edited by rchewitt50; Oct 26, 2006 at 12:26 PM.
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Before changes the motor had the problem with the lifters, and continues to have the problems. The changes was new cam, lifters, springs, and pistons. The motor has had oil changed very regular and is never dirty by any means. I am assuming an oil passage is blocked and not allowing enough oil to the that side of the motor.
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When you say locked up, does this mean they actually siezed up in the lifter bore? If that is true, even if you were able to remove them, I would imagine that the bores are ruined to a point of re-machining. How bad did it damage the cam? Did it break pushrods or rockers when everything failed? Does sound like it went dry. Still can't imagine that lifters are the only thing to have gone bad. Is it possible that the cam mushroomed the lifter due to a rocker problem, or pushrod lenghth issue?
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From: Auburn, WA
Originally Posted by 75F350
When you say locked up, does this mean they actually siezed up in the lifter bore? If that is true, even if you were able to remove them, I would imagine that the bores are ruined to a point of re-machining. How bad did it damage the cam? Did it break pushrods or rockers when everything failed? Does sound like it went dry. Still can't imagine that lifters are the only thing to have gone bad. Is it possible that the cam mushroomed the lifter due to a rocker problem, or pushrod lenghth issue?
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No the lifters didnt get stuck in the bore. The internal part of the lifter is getting stuck in place and is acting like a solid lifter. The first set of lifters was stuck to the point I couldnt get them broke loose using a punch and hitting it with a hammer. The drivers side of the motor all the lifters still had give like they did new. It hasnt seemed to effect anything else, and motor was running fine. does each side of the motor have different passages that the lifters are oiled by? I was thinking one of the passages are plugged and the lifters are not getting enough oil causing them to get to hot and seize up.
thanks
thanks
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the heads was fully disassembled, cleaned and put back together. The block was down all the way and cylinders honed and cleaned and then reassembled. But like I said the problem was there before all this work was done and this work didnt resolve the problem. At the time I took the motor apart I didnt really think much about the bad lifters because I assumed the lifters just had gotten dirt or something in them, but now it has happen on the same side again and I know there is an issue I need to resolve before something major is destroyed. I feel I have no choice but to tear the motor apart again and see if I can resolve the issue.
Thanks
Thanks
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Post Fiend
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Now that makes a litle more sense. Thx for the clarification. You could check the oil passages by removing a valve cover, and turning the engine over with the coil wire disconnected. The oil pump will pump oil through the pushrods, and should be evedent if you have little, or no oil present. Are you sure that too much material was not removed when the heads were re- surfaced. Have you verified that the springs on that side are not "coil binding?" I have known of a pump or two allowing lifters to bleed down. This typically only happens to lifters randomly, not a whole row. If the lifters got hot enough to seize, I would think that you would have rockers that were blue from heat as well. I would also think that the lifter bore would be damaged. What kind of lifters are you using?
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From: Auburn, WA
Originally Posted by wvbogger
the heads was fully disassembled, cleaned and put back together. The block was down all the way and cylinders honed and cleaned and then reassembled. But like I said the problem was there before all this work was done and this work didnt resolve the problem. At the time I took the motor apart I didnt really think much about the bad lifters because I assumed the lifters just had gotten dirt or something in them, but now it has happen on the same side again and I know there is an issue I need to resolve before something major is destroyed. I feel I have no choice but to tear the motor apart again and see if I can resolve the issue.
Thanks
Thanks
Last edited by rchewitt50; Oct 26, 2006 at 04:14 PM.
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The block was not tank cleaned. The lifters was primed. I messed with it tonight and have found that the oil flows out of the pushrods at about half the rate on the passanger side than the driver side. I am going to take it back down and have everything cleaned and reassembled.
Thanks for all your help.
Thanks for all your help.
Post Fiend
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Too bad you gotta pull it all apart again. It would sorta look like you do have an oil starvation problem. There is a problem feeding that side of the block. Could be just a plug that came undone inside (usually near the cam), and maybe overlooked when you went back together. Just a thought, maybe you should have the block magnifluxed to make sure there are no internal oil leaks causing the problem. Feel bad that you gotta do all of that work again. Good luck.
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From: Auburn, WA
I feel bad too, that just shouldn't happen to a guy. On a positive note, you won't have gunk or dirt to fight through to get things apart. Heck, I bet your cross hatchings are still there from your last hone. Good luck man.
