cure for a sticky lifter ?

i start tearing apart heads in class on monday and have to measure and adjust all this stuff ill see if my teacher has any other useful tips on this

if the tranny fluid/marvel mystery/seafoam doesn't work, about the only other thing to do is pull the lifters, and soak them in gas, then squeeze them inbetween your fingers and work them, this is best done while still submerged in the gas so it will get all the buildup that is internal to the lifter out.....but if your gonna go to all this trouble you might aswell just put new ones in....

another suggestion, if your gonna use the marvel tranny mystery seafoam fluid, I wouldn't suggest doing it & putting a load on the engine, and I wouldn't run the engine very long after it comes up to temperature.....as ma-chick says, it is a detergent, and will relieve any carbon buildups like a champ....but it is not a lubricant, and if used in too high of a concentration will not properly lubricate your engine, and the extra friction can cause things like piston rings to crack and bearings to seize especially if you are putting a load on the engine, or are running it at its max rpm....
the way i've done it is to put it in the oil, bring the engine up to operating temp, and shut it off & let it cool, and cycle it like this several times, then change the oil out, and only run that oil for a max of 500miles, then change the oil again, this should get rid of any residual mystery fluid you have left in the engine......

ive been havin that same problem with the lifters on my daily. ive heard of using tranny fluid but wasnt sure about how much to use or how to treat it heat wise knowing that it isnt a lubricant. so i wasnt really gonna try it but NYTRDR24 said makes a lot of sense and ill give that a try.

tranny fluid will also swell your valve seals so be careful how much you use don't keep doing it if don't work try something else it can turn you valve seal to mush

then you run around out smoking the the local diesels....like me! ah it aint hurtin nothin so im in not big hurry to fix it (rotted valve seals)-bf

i was told to use only a half a bottle of transmission fluid and only run it until your next oil change and then just use oil. you can also put a lil in your gas tank

well.. i thought i'd come back to a couple of older threads that i started and update them. this sticking lifter thread was one of them... being that the lifter or lifters are still sticking when cold i figured i'd post what i've done so far.

i used about 1/2 litre of trans fluid and ran it for about 3 days. ensuring the truck got up to a good operating temp each time i ran it.

there was some smoke and some stink of the tranny fluid doing something. whether it actually cleaned anything i'm not too sure. the change prior to the trans fluid i ran the seafoam in the weeks prior. i'm sure it also cleaned up something too but again, nothing really noticable with the lifter(s).

i've changed the oil and filter 3 times now since i got the truck just over 2 mths ago. at least it's staying clean for longer than 2 days unlike the initial two changes .. LOL

this last change about 2 weeks ago i added some lucas oil stabilizer .. again no difference with the sticking lifter when cold.. like i mentioned the oil is actually clean now.

today i'm going to change it again and add something we sell here called Tripak. it's a concentrated metal treatment and i'm hoping it does the trick otherwise i guess i'm onto what's called 'living with it'

okay by the time you spend money on all these oil changes additives and tranny fluid you could pop off the rocker assembly and figure out which lifter is and buy a new lifter and be done with it. will cost you less in the long run and less aggervation. or you could go to your local junk yard and pick up the solid rocker assembly and lifters and do the swap following my how to in the write-ups section if you go this route you'll never have to worry about the lifters not pumping up again. if they start tickin you just pop the valve cover off and give them a little adjusting and good for a while.



-justin

Wont that stuff called SeaFoam in the oil fix a sticky lifter? I thought I read that somewhere.....

seafoam is a great product but be weary on using it on a high mileage engine because it breaks down carbon extremely well. with high mileage engines the carbon is what is holding the rings together in some cases. so you may cure that sticky lifter but cause your rings to deteriate and start smokin and burnin oil like a biatch.




-justin