lifter collapsing (possibly)
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Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Manhattan, NY
lifter collapsing (possibly) I posted this before, but didn't get too much replies about the subject..so lets try this again
what could possibly break, if a lifter (don't know if it's one or several) collapses? what will it take with it, to the abyss?
reason I am asking is because my dyno looks like a heart monitor, Matt @ TTP guesses it is the lifter(s) going, but can't really diagnose it without tearing the engine apart, which is understandable.
Lately I've been getting bad vibes from the car (strange noises from the engine compartment, etc) so I'd like to decide my next steps.
I could, I suppose, put a cam/heads on a CC (as well as all the crap that goes with this like springs/pushrods/etc) and install these in addition to the cheapass lifters, since we'ĺl be in the engine anyway. but since I am pretty much broke, I'd rather not do it.. and wait until the lifter(s) actually go. But I will not wait, if a collapsed lifter takes out half the engine or something
What do you guys think?
what could possibly break, if a lifter (don't know if it's one or several) collapses? what will it take with it, to the abyss?
reason I am asking is because my dyno looks like a heart monitor, Matt @ TTP guesses it is the lifter(s) going, but can't really diagnose it without tearing the engine apart, which is understandable.
Lately I've been getting bad vibes from the car (strange noises from the engine compartment, etc) so I'd like to decide my next steps.
I could, I suppose, put a cam/heads on a CC (as well as all the crap that goes with this like springs/pushrods/etc) and install these in addition to the cheapass lifters, since we'ĺl be in the engine anyway. but since I am pretty much broke, I'd rather not do it.. and wait until the lifter(s) actually go. But I will not wait, if a collapsed lifter takes out half the engine or something
What do you guys think?
if the lifter collapses, it means that the car is gonna run liek crap, its not gonna take anything with it cept possibly a pushrod. did you run the car low on oil or somethin? any idea why that lifter seems to be collapsing? we had an s-10 at my old dealer that came in with this horrible sounding engine, apparently one of the lifters had collapsed becuase they ran it like 3 quarts low. they filled it back up and it didnt pop back up, so that added some ATF to try and free up the lifter and it worked. i dunno if this will help solve your problem, but its worth a shot.
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Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Manhattan, NY
Originally Posted by F-Bobby
if the lifter collapses, it means that the car is gonna run liek crap, its not gonna take anything with it cept possibly a pushrod. did you run the car low on oil or somethin? any idea why that lifter seems to be collapsing? we had an s-10 at my old dealer that came in with this horrible sounding engine, apparently one of the lifters had collapsed becuase they ran it like 3 quarts low. they filled it back up and it didnt pop back up, so that added some ATF to try and free up the lifter and it worked. i dunno if this will help solve your problem, but its worth a shot.
cool!nope, the oil couldn't be it.. i monitor the levels of that (as well as tranny fluid and pretty much everything else i can monitor, heh) on a weekly basis.. it's always been fine
my only suspicion is that the previous owner did something that fucked it up, although i am not 100% sure thios is the reason for my heart monitor looking dyno. simply because I've owned the car for over a year now.. and previous dynos didn't look like this
but the previous owner definitely fucked with a lot of stuff. he took off the front bumper support for instance. and screwed around with the tuning (when Matt @ TTP tuned the car he said the settings were definitely not stock).. who knows what he did. *shrugs*
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Shippensburg, PA
Oooh you don't want to hear about my "lifter collapsing" experiences. But I'll tell you anyway.
First time it happened, I shut the car down right away. Had it towed to shop, shop says its a collapsed lifter. Replaces lifters, no further damage.
About 15k miles later, and maybe 40 passes at the track, I'm driving to work and I hear that plunging sound. Oh crap. Shut the car down, have it towed to a different shop this time.
Anyway, this time the lifter did a serious amount of damage. The lifter had dropped and was jammed down there. In being jammed, it tore the lobe off my cam and tore up my motor. I kept the lifter after they yanked it out with pliers, the roller is actually ground down flush with the cylinder of the lifter.
So we needed a new motor
If I ever hear that sound again, I will 
Hope your situation isn't anything like mine.
First time it happened, I shut the car down right away. Had it towed to shop, shop says its a collapsed lifter. Replaces lifters, no further damage.
About 15k miles later, and maybe 40 passes at the track, I'm driving to work and I hear that plunging sound. Oh crap. Shut the car down, have it towed to a different shop this time.
Anyway, this time the lifter did a serious amount of damage. The lifter had dropped and was jammed down there. In being jammed, it tore the lobe off my cam and tore up my motor. I kept the lifter after they yanked it out with pliers, the roller is actually ground down flush with the cylinder of the lifter.
So we needed a new motor
If I ever hear that sound again, I will Hope your situation isn't anything like mine.
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Shippensburg, PA
And I forgot to mention that for a couple of months prior, I had noticed I dead spot in power around 2500-3500 rpms where it would nose over. I thought it was a tuning issue with the car- NOPE! NOT THAT LUCKY!
So if you have anything going on like that, get it checked out asap, before it does some major damage.
So if you have anything going on like that, get it checked out asap, before it does some major damage.
