Looking for info on Hydr. Lifters

[coolblue65]

For those of you with a little more engine building experience then myself, I am looking for some opinions.

I am 99.9% sure I have a dead lifter, so I am looking at ordering a new set. The lifters I have right now are the Edelbrock lifters that came with my Edel. RPM cam. My first thought is just to go with a set of Crane lifters, but I have occasionaly heard good things about the Rhoads Lifters- they say up to 25% more low end torque. Now the my RPM cam my car is no torque monster and I can use all the torque I can get.

So, do you think its worth it to try the Rhoads or just go with the crane?

Thanks!

 

[danny clemens]

I would say that either lifter would be ok. I don't understand how a lifter (both of the same variety) could get you more torque though. I'm not saying it can't but if it can how does it do it? Anybody know?

 

[coolblue65]

From what I understand they dont fully pump up until your RPMs climb so basically it lowers the lift and duration of your cam and low RPMs.

 

[D.Hearne]

Why do you think you've got a dead lifter ? How old is the cam/lifter set ? If they're fairly new, you could have a wiped cam lobe in addition to the lifter, they go hand in hand together, wipe a cam lobe and you've lost the lifter too, plus the rest, as they can't be reused. And you can pickup some of that lost bottom end with a smaller carb. That 750 is just plain too big for it.

 

[coolblue65]

Why do you think you've got a dead lifter ? How old is the cam/lifter set ? If they're fairly new, you could have a wiped cam lobe in addition to the lifter, they go hand in hand together, wipe a cam lobe and you've lost the lifter too, plus the rest, as they can't be reused. And you can pickup some of that lost bottom end with a smaller carb. That 750 is just plain too big for it.

Well awhile back I had a somewhat lengthy thread going here about an engine tick I was experiencing, after trying everything that was suggested and then some, the tick is still there. I have pulled the lifters already and there seems to be no abnormal wear which would indicate a wiped lobe. I have checked my headers for leaks, pushrods, main and rod caps, rockers, ignition, and its still there. tried locating it exactly with a stethescope (sp?) if I remember correctly I was only able to narrow it down to one of the two rear passenger side cylinders.

From what I understand there is no way to actually see or test a lifter to know if it is bad, or am I mistaken? The cam and lifters were put in back in 1997.

I agree with the carb sizing issue, that was a mistake I made a long time ago, and at this point I dont really want to spend the $300-400 on a new carb. If I had to do it again I would probably go with a Holley 650.

I kind of got annoyed with the car so I haven't touched it about 4 months, and now I want to get it back running.

 

[D.Hearne]

Ok, I see now. If you had a wiped lobe, you'd know it. The lifter bottom(s) would show it and it usually happens right after break-in. I can't say as if I could tell you how to pick out a lifter that went bad internally, other than to disect them and look for bad parts. Probably just best to buy a new set and install them all and hope that cures it.

 

[bnickel]

i have a similar problem and it is actually because of a slightly pulled out rocker stud, it is something the machine shop should have checked when i had the heads rebuilt but i used a different shop than normal so i guess it's my fault for not double checking. anyway the stud is slightly pulled out so the rocker doesn't tighten down all the way to the stop, hence the valve tick. i'm going to have to pull the head to have it fixed, but i think i will just port and polish my spare set and also have bigger valves installed instead of re-using the stock ones on it now.

 

[coolblue65]

i have a similar problem and it is actually because of a slightly pulled out rocker stud, it is something the machine shop should have checked when i had the heads rebuilt but i used a different shop than normal so i guess it's my fault for not double checking. anyway the stud is slightly pulled out so the rocker doesn't tighten down all the way to the stop, hence the valve tick. i'm going to have to pull the head to have it fixed, but i think i will just port and polish my spare set and also have bigger valves installed instead of re-using the stock ones on it now.

Well I have aftermarket heads that have screw in studs, so I dont think that would be it.

Anyways, today I ordered the Crane lifters, summit said they should be on my door tomorrow afternoon. So by the end of this week I should know if this was the fix.