Akpreacher
Newbie
I've read as many posts as I could find on different forums about noisy lifters, (all of them) and nobody has found a fix.
I may have run across the cause of my noisy lifters.
The first set of lifters I installed were Comp 850-16 that came with the cam I also installed. After trying different adjustments
on them with no success. I finally gave up and drove it for four years, lifters making noise all the time. Couple of months ago I put a set of aluminum heads on it, and I found the rollers on the lifters were pretty beaten up and the cam was ruined. No big surprise there. So, I pulled the engine, striped it down, had it decked to zero, installed another cam that was the same Comp cam a I had before. New cam bearings, then the cam wouldn't go in, the bearings were too tight. I figured I must have gotten the bearing cocked in the bearing bore. So, I got another set, yes, I installed them in the correct order. This is the first engine that the cam bearings gave me trouble. The cam still wouldn't go in. The cam I took out went in just fine. I took it to my machine shop, and he had to polish the cam journals because they measured .0015 bigger than spec. I bought the cam from him, and I should have made him get me another cam, but I didn't. He had a tool that would shave the cam bearings, and he also had to use that.
I put the engine back together, I forgot to mention, I originally made it into a 383, but that not really relevant for this post, just bragging, I guess.
I used Melling lifters that were pretty much stock lifters, I didn't want to spend 600.00 for new Comp roller lifters.
The Melling lifters rattled and clacked so bad I threw my hands in the air and went home. The next few days I researched lifters and read everything I could find online about noisy lifters. I decided on Summit Performance LS7, (SUM-HT217-16) lifters. I settled on these because in the Q&A there was a question asking if the lifter would handle 450 lbs. open pressure.
I had my machine shop test the springs that came on the aluminum heads, and they were 150 on the seat and 306 at the peak lift my cam would do, which is .488 Int/Ext.
The Morrel lifters felt gritty when I took them out, I flushed the engine oil cooler and even let it soak in solvent overnight and blew it out with 170psi air. I think I must have loosened up something I the oil cooler hat came loose when I started the engine. This screw-up is important because with the intake off, I used an old distributor that I cut down years ago to prime chevy engines. With the lifters out, I wiped the lifter bores out with a lint free cloth, I then poured fresh oil into the valley and down the lifter bores. The new lifters went in very smoothly, but I was still worried about grit that may still be in the oil gallies so with the lifters out I spun the oil pump and let the oil flush the gallies out. I pumped a lot of oil through the back lifter bores. then I put a lifter in the back bores on both sides. My plan was to flush then install a lifter on both sides and that would force oil into the next lifter bore everything was working fine until I put a lifter in where the cam was at peak lift on that lobe, when I spun the oil pump no oil would go past the lifter into the next lifter bore. I had installed an oil pressure gauge, and I had 45 psi oil pressure. My takeaway from this is when the cam raises the lifter it blocks off the oil flow to the next lifter bore. There wasn't even a dribble of oil that entered the next lifter bore. I think I have found my lifter noise problem.
I'm wondering if a TBI block has the oil gallies lower than a Vortec block. The block I used has the three bosses that hold down the tray that holds the lifter guides in place.
I did some dumb stuff and cut some corners, but they led me to a problem that I was never able to find anywhere I looked.
From what I have read, there are at least two others that are having this same issue and have not found an answer.
Anybody know about any differences in oil galley placement between late TBI engines and Vortec engines.
I may have run across the cause of my noisy lifters.
The first set of lifters I installed were Comp 850-16 that came with the cam I also installed. After trying different adjustments
on them with no success. I finally gave up and drove it for four years, lifters making noise all the time. Couple of months ago I put a set of aluminum heads on it, and I found the rollers on the lifters were pretty beaten up and the cam was ruined. No big surprise there. So, I pulled the engine, striped it down, had it decked to zero, installed another cam that was the same Comp cam a I had before. New cam bearings, then the cam wouldn't go in, the bearings were too tight. I figured I must have gotten the bearing cocked in the bearing bore. So, I got another set, yes, I installed them in the correct order. This is the first engine that the cam bearings gave me trouble. The cam still wouldn't go in. The cam I took out went in just fine. I took it to my machine shop, and he had to polish the cam journals because they measured .0015 bigger than spec. I bought the cam from him, and I should have made him get me another cam, but I didn't. He had a tool that would shave the cam bearings, and he also had to use that.
I put the engine back together, I forgot to mention, I originally made it into a 383, but that not really relevant for this post, just bragging, I guess.
I used Melling lifters that were pretty much stock lifters, I didn't want to spend 600.00 for new Comp roller lifters.
The Melling lifters rattled and clacked so bad I threw my hands in the air and went home. The next few days I researched lifters and read everything I could find online about noisy lifters. I decided on Summit Performance LS7, (SUM-HT217-16) lifters. I settled on these because in the Q&A there was a question asking if the lifter would handle 450 lbs. open pressure.
I had my machine shop test the springs that came on the aluminum heads, and they were 150 on the seat and 306 at the peak lift my cam would do, which is .488 Int/Ext.
The Morrel lifters felt gritty when I took them out, I flushed the engine oil cooler and even let it soak in solvent overnight and blew it out with 170psi air. I think I must have loosened up something I the oil cooler hat came loose when I started the engine. This screw-up is important because with the intake off, I used an old distributor that I cut down years ago to prime chevy engines. With the lifters out, I wiped the lifter bores out with a lint free cloth, I then poured fresh oil into the valley and down the lifter bores. The new lifters went in very smoothly, but I was still worried about grit that may still be in the oil gallies so with the lifters out I spun the oil pump and let the oil flush the gallies out. I pumped a lot of oil through the back lifter bores. then I put a lifter in the back bores on both sides. My plan was to flush then install a lifter on both sides and that would force oil into the next lifter bore everything was working fine until I put a lifter in where the cam was at peak lift on that lobe, when I spun the oil pump no oil would go past the lifter into the next lifter bore. I had installed an oil pressure gauge, and I had 45 psi oil pressure. My takeaway from this is when the cam raises the lifter it blocks off the oil flow to the next lifter bore. There wasn't even a dribble of oil that entered the next lifter bore. I think I have found my lifter noise problem.
I'm wondering if a TBI block has the oil gallies lower than a Vortec block. The block I used has the three bosses that hold down the tray that holds the lifter guides in place.
I did some dumb stuff and cut some corners, but they led me to a problem that I was never able to find anywhere I looked.
From what I have read, there are at least two others that are having this same issue and have not found an answer.
Anybody know about any differences in oil galley placement between late TBI engines and Vortec engines.
