How hard is it to change the hydraulic lifters in a 351 Clevo?? - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Behemoth · 01-13-2003, 11:02

Got a mad pining problem and the best guess what anyone can give me is that the hydraulic lifters may have been damaged...

incedentaly the engine did run nearly dry of oil...*makes an ashamed face*

just want to know how hard they would be to replace... if anyones done it before...

and with money being tight at the moment i might have to see about second hand parts... would that cause any major problems

xacoupe · 01-13-2003, 13:07

I assume 'pining' is pinging.. if so.. I wonder just how someone came up with damaged lifters??

I can't think of how a damaged lifter could cause pinging in any way.. I would be guessing at a distributor problem first.

If you change the lifters you change the cam .. and really you need to use new bits.
I would investigate whether your dizzy has had the fritz first

xacoupe · 01-13-2003, 13:13

oh, and to change the cam without springing major oil leaks.. yu will need to lift the motor.. preferably out of the car, so I would look at other avenues first

Tote · 01-13-2003, 14:05

As an aside has anyone fixed a rattly lifter? My clevo has done approx 50,000 Km since a rebuild and one lifter is rattly above about 2000 RPM. I have tried putting some slick 50 type stuff in the oil which shut it up for a couple of months but it came back.
If a new lifter might damage the cam I'm not keen on fitting just one, but i'd be interested to know if anyone has any ideas.
I run Corse Plus and change it every 5000Ks.
regds,
Tote

Jase_ELXR8 · 01-13-2003, 14:09

You can change them without changing the cam, you need to do some checks though first. Like what condition the lobes are in on the cam. Also use the correct lube for the base of lift when installing....

ebxr8240 · 01-13-2003, 15:38

Yes you can change cam in car BUT you need to take "everything" out of the way on the front. Being that these engines feed through the valve system lifters maybe o/k but I'd check the rockers first from memory they are 1:7 ratio and wear quite easily and is easy to fix.Just a matter of taking valve covers off undo rocker and check the alloy fulcram where it contacts the rocker is where they wear.Was reasonably cheap to replace.Iff you are replacing cam it's best to replace lifters as well, not just for the hydrolic side[valve adjustment] but for break in new cam, lifter is on slight bevel so lifter turns as is the lobe on cam..So they work[wear] in together... hth...

To break cam in idle at around 1800 for 20 min.. then leave to cool motor say over night.Done..

bdennis · 01-13-2003, 17:33

Behemoth,
re the pinging problem...
how many K's has it done in total?

I had a XB GT with a large number of K's on it.
If I set the timming to the manual - 8 deg before TDC. It would ping like mad..
I ekon the Cam / lifters valve gear is worn on mine..

The best way to themporarily remove the pinging (with out a motor rebuild) is to retard the disy a smige then take it for a blast. If it is still pinging do it a bit more. Once the pinging is gone then advance it a bit. Just before pinging occours. I found that my motor would only run at 4 deg before tdc.

As per below. The issue could be that the disy retaining bolt is loose and the disy has advanced a little by it self.
Get yourself a timming light and see whats going on...

I sold my car before I had to rebuild the engine.. (bought a XW HO insted..)

As per above info. If a lifter was RS then the motor would rattle and not ping. Even if a lifter was stuck it would not ping. I would lift the rocker covers off, review the rotor button and just crank it over to make sure all the rokers are moving etc...

Good luck.

xacoupe · 01-13-2003, 21:32

If you change the cam .. you need to change the lifters and the reverse.

If you dont then you will just flog out whatever new part you put in and have bought yourself a short amount of time before having to do it again.

Pinging that has just started suddenly is more likely an ignition issue

Kieron · 01-13-2003, 23:22

I agree with the others here, can't see the lifters being the problem.

If you do just want to change the lifters though, cheapest way is to get 2 rocker cover gaskets, 2 inlet manifold gaskets, the inlet manifold end seal gaskets and a new set of lifters (you used to be able to get exchange at some places).

Remove the inlet manifold complete with carb - saves an extra gasket if your a cheapskate like me :)
Take rocker covers off, loosen rockers and swing em to one side, pull pushrod then pull lifter out with long nose pliars - can be a bastard to get them out, coat new lifter in oil and slot it in, replace pushrod, align rocker and tighten its bolt down to spec

Clean all gasket mating surfaces, place inlet/end seal gaskets in appropriate place and put inlet manifold back on, tighten to spec in the correct order - basically inner bolts, across to other side the work you way out alternating between back/front bolts then drop the rocker covers back on with the new gaskets.

should be about a 2 hour job without beer

Behemoth · 01-14-2003, 00:29

The dizzy was looked at as a possiblity, the engine pings under load but seems okay when idleing and is sorta driveable.
then there will be a audiable "click" from somewhere in the engine and the thing runs that rough that it nearly shakes itself off its mounts.

maybe the history would be helpful.

i was drivng to work, no hassles... then i stopped at a servo, came back and went to start the car... the engine would not kick over, it was like there was no combustion in the cylinders, but the fan was turning so i knew that the motor hadn't siezed up... in the end i had to leave the car and come back the next morning... where i discovered that it had run dry of oil... i filled it up and tired to kick it over which it did and started runing really rought and shaking like crazy... then the click and it was running fine...
we tried to drive it home and found that when under any strain the engine started pinging like hell, so i kept it backed off and made it almost all the way home.

at the lights the whole thing stalled out and would not start again.

we let it cool and got it the rest of the way home...

since then we have had the timing light on it and it doesn't seem to matter if its running rough or smooth the timing is spot on... while it is running rough the advance/retard on the distributor has no effect.

the reason that was given to me about the lifters was that when it ran dry of oil it damaged the spring and now it gets caught and one or more of the valves isn't operating normaly any more causing the problem.

i know enough about brakes, and rotors and interior and wiring but unfortunately i have very little knowlege about engines so i have to rely on what other people are telling me.

maybe this info will help... i would just take it to a mechanic but i'm broke and need to keep this as cheap as possible