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Identifying a collapsed lifter....?

54K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  DoubleVision 
#1 ·
Hey guys got a major problem here that I could definately use some help with. I have a 383 sbc that I've only got about 1000km's on and I have been driving and tuning it over the last little while. It has a hydraulic flat tappet cam (lunati voodo) as well as lunati hydraulic lifters that came with the cam. Anyways the engine hasn't really been making any unusual noises until today. I was driving the car all last night and it wasn't ticking or anything then I went outside this morning to fire it up to go to work and it is ticking like crazy!! The noise is coming from the passenger side valve cover probably cylinder 5 or 7 would be my guess. It almost sounds like an extremely loud exhaust leak a constant tick,tick,tick,tick then picks up with the rpm as I give it gas. When I am cruising however with my foot off the throttle the sound goes away completely and the engine sounds 100% normal. As soon as I give it even a bit of gas it comes back instantly though and when I come to a stop the noise is very loud at idle, so loud people are staring wondering what the heck is wrong with the car!! I am taking it off the road for the time being until I can get to the bottom of things. What should I do to verify this is a collapsed lifter and how do I isolate which lifter is responsible. Could somebody also explain why a collapsed hydraulic lifter makes that "ticking sound" and what causes it to collapse?? It is very frusterating because the lifters and cam only have 1000km on them but i may have over rev'd it last night but I woulda thought it would make the sound right then and there, not the next day! Anyways any and all help appreciated as always!!

Keith :)
 
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#2 ·
If it is truly a "collapsed lifter". You will be able to push the rocker arm/push rod down against the lifter and it will move the plunger down to the bottom of its travel in the lifter. A piece of foreign material or a component failure has allowed the check valve in the lifter to remain open. Thus the clatter noise.
 
#3 ·
It could well be a exhaust leak. What kind of header gaskets did you use? Have you checked the bolts for tightness as new ones will back off and allow paper gaskets to burn through. This even happens at the collector. Mostly due to the fact that the exhaust companies don`t tell you, when you use paper gaskets YOU MUST SOAK THEM IN WATER so they swell and hold moisture. Both of these tips help them from burning out. If you used paper header gaskets I would replace them with stock fel pro exhaust manifold gaskets, these are made of steel mesh and don`t burn out as easy.
Plus they are open slotted so they can be dropped in without removing the header bolts entirely.
For the collector gaskets I recommend dead soft copper gaskets or make them yourself at home from aluminum sheeting.
One of these days I hope all your problems go away so you`ll stop panicking over the slightest thing. Even if you install factory exhaust manifold gaskets you must go back and check the bolt tightness, after they season in they`ll stay tight. Same goes for intake manifold bolts.
 
#4 ·
i definetly wouldnt go pullin lifters just yet did you use poly locks cause alot of times if you used the stock nuts on the rocker arms and put a decent size cam in they will back off so I would pull the valve cover off and find either the loose rocker arm then if you dont find a loose on push down on all the push rods till you find one that moves down when you push that will be the collapsed lifter but from the sounds of it its a good chance you got a exhaust leak other wise a collapsed lifter or loose rocker arm would tick ALL the time even when you let off the throttle yet a exhaust leak you will not hear when decelerating till you are down to idle
 
#5 ·
Hey guys thank you all for the advice, I took a good look today and traced the noise to the header gasket. Somehow the gasket completely blew out between cylinders 4 and 6, there was literally no gasket left and I have no idea what caused that!! Anyways I got a new gasket on there and the ticking sound has disappeared :)

Thanks again,
Keith
 
#7 ·
I have in the past----before I developed a serious disdain for tubular headers--cut the header flange between #3 & #5 cylinders on the odd bank and #4 & #6 on the evens.

This would allow the flange to distort some but still allow you to tighten all of the bolts.

Once I did this, I never had another blown header gasket on tube headers.

The downside is----once the flange is distorted and cut---it is a royal pain in the hiney to get all of the bolts to line up.

Prybars will probably be necessary.

No more headers for me

Bryan
 
#8 ·
Thats why I said what I did about headers. To gain ground in the performance world you have to be able to sacrafice. Stock paper header gaskets must be soaked in water so they swell and hold moisture as this helps in sealing and burn out but it don`t compare to stock exhaust manifold replacement gaskets.
Sometimes it takes months for the header bolts to season in and stay tight. But this is just apart of the learning curve. You have to be able to be flexable as a hot rodder. I wish it were possible to build a high performance engine without little set backs like this, but this is all apart of the game that we have to play in order to play ourselves. When I first delt with header gaskets they made me mad as I got tired of replacing them once a month. Then I thought to use factory exhaust manifold gaskets made of meshed steel. These don`t burn out no where near as easy and have slotted openings so you don`t have to remove all the bolts from the header. If you know like I do, getting the header to line back up with all the bolts are is a PITA!!!!!!!!
Exhaust manifold gaskets are notched so you can drop them in without bolt removal making life much easier.
Sticking to exhaust manifolds makes life easy but at a big expense of horsepower and economy. In all my performance builds I make sure I check the header bolts every 2 weeks. After they season in they will no longer need to be checked.
 
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