SBC lifter question....

Need some advice here. The engine in my driver/project towing truck ('93 Chev 350) has developed an annoying habit..I've got one lifter that periodically throws a fit..bleeds down and clatters until it's skipping on that cylinder, then quits...was doing it out of the blue, like once every six months, and would only do it for a few minutes...well, now it's worse...like everytime you tow something. Truck has 160k on it, but other than that the engine is in great shape...could I get by with just installing a new set of lifters, or should I go ahead and do cam/lifters/timing set while I'm at it? and...if I go that route, what would be a good cam choice for towing? Mods to it are hypertech chip, no converters, duals and will be installing an edelbrock tbi intake ... any suggestions? Thanks.....

Brian

 

I wouldn't even change the whole set. You can buy a single lifter at a lot of parts houses. If you know which one it is....that's what I would do. No cam change.

 

what Root said- then if its not remedied to suit ya you could always do the complete later.........might fix it.

 

Heres a couple of things I would want to know...what is the oil like is it nice and clean or is a thick goey mess even when it was changed 1500ks ago...I have experienced a problem with more than one of those same vintage trucks..I have repaired several luckily by replacing all the lifters and fixing the problem while I was at it..the problem was the intake gasket was leaking coolant into the crankcase....and that damn dexcool mixes with oil and turns it just into a thick gooey shit...so thats worth a little to check into...I have heard of many that did not get saved and were toasted...another thing I would consider if I did this repair and it was my truck that I was earning my living with I'd give it good flush and switch it over to synthetic oil....and change it a little more often than they tell you to you find over a year that your maintenance costs will go down and you will have less down time....just makes yah feel good all over....fatchuk

 

You may well find that that lifter is totalled from the bottom up, carved out and sitting on a tiny nubbin of totally worn out cam lobe.
If you're doing this on the cheap, buy one lifter--but be prepared for the possibility of discovering you need a new cam and 16 lifters when you start digging.

 

Gonna agree with Bruce. BTW, my '92 350 I'm rebuilding right now had two lifters that didn't want to move! Huh. ain't that some crap!?

 

Oil looks good...I try to change it every 2500 - 3000 or so. Just usual used oil...no dexcool in this one, I think it became standard a year or two later? This happened on a trip to Nashville towing a van a few weeks ago...and after about 20 miles I decided it wasn't going to quit. Stopped at a WalMart and bought 5 qts of straight 30w hd, and changed the oil in the parking lot..cranked it and the ticking stopped within a minute. Drove about 120 more miles home no ticking...until Sunday morning towing another good load it started again...then stopped on its on within a mile or so. I think I will try just replacing the offending one..if I can determine exactly which one. Of course, if it looks bad I'll tear it on down. Any suggestions on a cam if it ocmes to that?

Thanks....Brian

 

"two lifters that didn't want to move!"
When a lobe or lifter fails, the few thousandths of hardened surface go away quickly, and the rest just continues to wear, eventually resulting in a concave lifter bottom worn through til the lifter leaks down through its floor and the cam lobe ceases to exist. This can actually happen quietly until the finale if the hydraulics have enough travel to take up the wear. The lifters that won't come out may just have a rim of carbonized oil, but more likely the bottom has actually mushroomed from catastrophic wear of the soft part of the steel, and attempting to remove them upward will result in severe scoring of the lifter bore.

 

Hey, Brian, I don't usually advocate 'quick fixes' or miracle cures, but why not try a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in it, with your next oil change. I have a 2000 Impala that developed a real bad tick, very loud. I did it, and it hasn't made any noise since. I knew the engine was good, only 50,000, so it may have been a maintenance issue. MMO will clean up the passages, and give a little extra lube up in the top end.

 

Chopolds, I may try the Marvel.... I did try 1/2 a quart of Rislone...but I think it made it worse. It began occurring more frequently after that, anyway...Bruce, I hear what you are saying, but if the lifter was worn wouldn't it tick all the time? Especially worse when cold? This one never does it cold, only after a long run of a sustained higher rpm than normal...like out of o/d towing a heavy trailer up a long hill....Not just off and on? Here's another consideration. Hypertech recommends ( and sells ) their own thermostat to install along with their chip (which I did). Factory thermostat is 210, and the Hypertech is 150 degrees. Heater will barely get warm enough to notice in the truck...coould this be related? Could the engine just not be getting to a high enough operating temp, and the lifter already having problems, cause it to show up? This had only happened maybe three times before this winter...now it's every time I tow (never when not towing..)? This thing is driving me nuts...I know what I need to do (!), but time and financial resources are limited right now...

Thanks......Brian