(9/14/2002) - Lifter Problems!

The more miles I put on my new engine, the looser my valves got!  They NEVER settled in!  After my 225 mile trip back to the university, the valves had gotten so loose that 2 lash caps FELL OFF! (one I found in the valvecover, the other was stuck in a pushrod tube - luckily I didnt have to fish it out of the engine!).  I checked all the easy stuff first: pushrods, rocker arm adjuster cups, etc.  I'd put 20 miles on the engine and the valves would go from .006" to .018"!!!  After only ~500 miles, I had to tear the engine down again!! AHHHHH!  Upon first glance nothing looked out of the ordinary, but then I saw the cause.  The 'cup' on the inside of the lifter (where the end of the pushrod mates) was wearing away rapidly (it seems to never have gotten hardened).

Its kinda hard to see, but on the left is one of the failed Brazilian lifters, and on the right is an old one (in decent shape) that I had.  You can kinda see how the reciever cup is worn way down in there.  

Here's a side by side comparison.  The lifter on the left was the worst of the failed lifters - the one on the right was another lifter I had on the shelf.  I put a pushrod into the failed lifter and marked a line where the top (actually the bottom) of the lifter was - then I stuck it in the other lifter.  You can see how much material had to have worn away (From my valve adjustments I'm calculating over .100" in 500 miles!)

On my trip back, the valves had loosened so much they hammered 2 of my brand new SHD aluminum pushrods - ARGH!

So looks like I will need 2 replacement pushrods and some new lifters...........