How to re adjust Hydraulic Lifters on a 4 cylinder

[Eric]

Hey guys,

My 94 Ford Escort 1.8L is chattering away and I dont know if the Hydraulic Lifters were zero lashed properly so I want to re check and adjust accordingly. Can some one tell me how to do this on this car? Yes, the rockers are clacking and Im sure they are loosely rocking. Its a rebuild and it was never re check or adjusted since rebuild. Got lounder and loose over time. About 30k on the engine. Thanks!

I asked Eric the car guy a long while back and I think I posed the question wrong, so he responded and told me there was no adjustment. True, but I should have posed it as the question above.

Any help or advice or links to go to would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Eric

Topic

[W00DBar0n]

Hydraulic lifters adjust automatically, so there is no adjustment… like Eric said to you before.
The chattering could be that a lifter(s) have failed.

[Eric]

Yes, I understand they adjust automatically and theres no adjustment. But I want to re adjust them to zero lash and see if in fact they were set properly. My thinking is, if they were not zero lashed set properly, they are not able to make up the slack and the rockers are just clacking and chattering now.

Now, if thats not the case, then can I just replace the lifters without damamging the cam?

So, I just want to know how to set up the hydraulic lifters and so from there.
Thanks for your reponse and any more help.

[W00DBar0n]

I don’t think you get it, hydraulic lifters compensate for lash on there on via hydraulic oil pressure and force feed back from the valve and rocker them self. There is no lash adjustment.
The reason on solid lifters there is a valve adjustment i because things wear, and gaps at made between the wearing surfaces; hydraulic lifters were designed to compensate for that, also they reduce noise… so as i said if you are having noise coming from that area it may be a failed lifter(s).

Also yes you can replace them without damaging the cam.

[Eric]

Hey WOODbar,
I got ya. So, your just saying, whether they were zero lashed and adjusted properly or not, they would compensate for the lash and they would stay quiet. Ok, so if they were over tighted or undertightend or just not set properly, they would still function quietly, correct?

So, at this point, I just want to know how to adjust them, so if I put new lifters in, I will know how to set them up properly.

Thanks for your advices
=)

[Charles]

I think when you heard the term zero lashed you thought there was some adjsutment involved. Most likely the term in this case refered to manually pumping up the lifters prior to initial startup. Once the engine is running the lifter automatically adjusts from oil pressure. The lifters were probably not replaced when the head was redone with the rebuild so probably have the same miles as the odometer shows. Drop by the autoparts store and look at a lifter for your car. I think you will see that there are no adjustable parts.

[Eric]

Hey Jotmon,
NO, actually I know the only adjustment is to set them up properly when installed. I totally get what you guys are saying and I know how one works. I just wanted to know the initial set up and if they were not set up properly, could I re check them as in re setting them up again just to make sure the plunger in them was centered properly and such.

Good point. Maybe they didnt replace them at all. Im just gonna replace them all and set them up properly. I just wanted to learn the proceedure on a 4 cylinder.

I think I confused everyone by all thinking I could adjust something on a hyraulic lifter.
I know once zero lashed and set properly, they do the rest. I was just thinking, someone might have not set them up properly and there for, they are not able to pump up and perform as they should.

Thanks for the help!

[Charles]

I did my 16 valve 4 cyl last year but used the same lifters so they already had oil in them. If they are installed dry, then you would have to build up oil pressure before the valves would open fully but they should open the valves enough to run even if rough. Not making a recommendation but in order to displace air and infuse oil in bearings I have boiled them in full synthetic motor oil (has high temp rating). I just raised the temp to 250F held it a few minutes and then let cool. Heating drives the air out, cooling sucks in the oil.

[EricTheCarGuy]

My answer still stands, no adjustment.

You soak lifters in oil before installation, install them, install the pushrods where applicable, and then install the rocker arms and torque them to spec. This is pretty much the ‘adjustment’.

Sounds like the lifters you have are worn. Be sure you’re running the correct oil, if not the lifters could be damaged due to lack of lubrication.

Keep in mind that the lifters need a steady supply of pressurized oil so if your oil pressure is low the lifters can get starved and make noise. You might want to check your oil pressure to make sure it’s correct.

Lastly lifters are matched to the cam they are installed with. In short, you can’t just put lifters in, you need to install the cam and lifters as a set.

I think you’re going about your diagnosis wrong, sure you want to try the easy stuff first but in this case I think that would be checking the oil pressure to see if you have enough, if not THAT would be what you would look into next, the lifter noise may be a symptom not the cause.

[pcmdjason]

In the FSM for the one of my cars there is an air purge procedure that can be done. Basically slowly rev the engine from idle to 3000RPM taking 15 seconds to get to 3000RPM and suddenly let off the pedal. It says do this like 10 times. They even have a diagram of the ramp and drop-off as a saw tooth wave. That was for a Mitsubishi Galant 2.4L engine it may or may not be of any use or help for your situation.

[dreamer2355]

Id also make sure your using the correct viscosity oil also for your climate.

Keep us posted.

[Author]

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