a lifter fell while swapping cam please help!!!
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
From: Fort Davis TX
I just got some 1/4" inch aluminum rod and will try that today.
Supposedly works just like the JPR tool. I hope so, the first time I used the pen magnets, and didnt really like them that much.
Supposedly works just like the JPR tool. I hope so, the first time I used the pen magnets, and didnt really like them that much.
Originally Posted by PlainwhiteZ28
I just got some 1/4" inch aluminum rod and will try that today.
Supposedly works just like the JPR tool. I hope so, the first time I used the pen magnets, and didnt really like them that much.
Supposedly works just like the JPR tool. I hope so, the first time I used the pen magnets, and didnt really like them that much.
How long is the rod? Please let us know how this works
TECH Junkie
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 3,604
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles
WhitecamaroSS, sorry about your misfortune. The lifter is most likely in the oil pan....you may want to turn the motor over by hand a few times incase the lifter is sitting on an engine part somewhere inside.
Removing a head to reinstall a lifter isnt a hard job at all, you'll need to unbolt the header on that side (and the ypipe...uhg), and then the head is just held on with 15 bolts. It'll be a good 5-6 hours work, but its how stuff goes sometimes. I keep a spare set of head gaskets in a closet at home just for emergencies incase something like this happens to me.
The oil pan is baffled, so it may be down in the bottom portion of the pan. If that is the case, you may not be able to get to it easily at all. I know when a bolt falls in there it can be gotten out with a magnetic fishing pole you make with string and a magnet. A lifter may come out the same way. I suggest you do a search and find the threads from the previous times this has happened to others and see if they have some words of wisdom for you.
Removing a head to reinstall a lifter isnt a hard job at all, you'll need to unbolt the header on that side (and the ypipe...uhg), and then the head is just held on with 15 bolts. It'll be a good 5-6 hours work, but its how stuff goes sometimes. I keep a spare set of head gaskets in a closet at home just for emergencies incase something like this happens to me.
The oil pan is baffled, so it may be down in the bottom portion of the pan. If that is the case, you may not be able to get to it easily at all. I know when a bolt falls in there it can be gotten out with a magnetic fishing pole you make with string and a magnet. A lifter may come out the same way. I suggest you do a search and find the threads from the previous times this has happened to others and see if they have some words of wisdom for you.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 344
Likes: 0
From: miami, florida
i tried that magnet method and i cant hear nothing. i dont know it might be easier to remove the head and get it through there. i dont know what to do. it is a whole mess with my car. it is sitting outside on jackstands torn apart. i never thought that getting a lifter is that hard and for sure i wont remove the oil pan myself. its too hard to do. i am thinking about removing my head and fishing it through there. dont know what to do or think of. if i do the oil pan and i spend 10 hrs thinking its there when its not then thats just a whole day wasted and nothing done. i think its probably smarter to remove the head and see if i can get it throug there.
how exactly did it fall i dont understand that? i have done 2 cam swaps and never dropped a lifter (getting ready to my third in 2 weeks so i want to be cautious)
i followed the directions on ls1howto.com and dont remember reading about magnets on your lifters, just magnets for the valve spring keepers.
can someone fill me in here?
i followed the directions on ls1howto.com and dont remember reading about magnets on your lifters, just magnets for the valve spring keepers.
can someone fill me in here?
Originally Posted by whitecamaross
i think its probably smarter to remove the head and see if i can get it throug there.
This is why I will do my cam the old fashioned way, by removing the heads and taking all of the lifters out before removing the cam. I will probalby not even bother putting the plastic retainers back in.
Besides, I can smooth the intake and exhaust ports while the heads are off, and install bigger valves with a 5 angle valve job, and then blend the bowls, and enlarge the exhaust port..........
Besides, I can smooth the intake and exhaust ports while the heads are off, and install bigger valves with a 5 angle valve job, and then blend the bowls, and enlarge the exhaust port..........
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Originally Posted by 1CAMWNDR
I will probalby not even bother putting the plastic retainers back in.
Originally Posted by Mike94ZLT1
How long is the rod? Please let us know how this works
Still, before I pulled the stock cam out, I already had my new cam nicely cleaned and oiled, just waiting to go in. Then I spun the stock cam many times before I started taking it out, so it would lock the lifters. Put the rods in, took the stock cam out, and in less than 30 seconds, I was already sticking the new cam in.
LS1howto 
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 730
Likes: 66
I would remover the valley cover and use a pen mag to get it from the top of the crank where it most likely is. Stick the pen mag in the openings at the ends of the block under the valley cover. This is my guess (90%). The windage tray would not let it fall to the bottom of the oil pan.
Originally Posted by 1CAMWNDR
This is why I will do my cam the old fashioned way, by removing the heads and taking all of the lifters out before removing the cam. I will probalby not even bother putting the plastic retainers back in.
Besides, I can smooth the intake and exhaust ports while the heads are off, and install bigger valves with a 5 angle valve job, and then blend the bowls, and enlarge the exhaust port..........
Besides, I can smooth the intake and exhaust ports while the heads are off, and install bigger valves with a 5 angle valve job, and then blend the bowls, and enlarge the exhaust port..........
Launching!
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 245
Likes: 0
From: Over There!
Originally Posted by 70RallySport
The JPR tools are 84.00 and worth every dime, our plastic lifter trays arn't getting tighter with time.
Sorry to hear you lost a lifter, but it looks like there's plenty of advice already here to get it out. Good luck!
Originally Posted by Nightclaw
Say what you will about the price, and even though aluminum bar stock is cheap at Home Depot, the JPRs eliminate the guesswork completely.
9 Second Club
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,195
Likes: 0
Well, I have put over a hundred cams in and I would say that 1 out of every 20 installs, I will hear the lifters still hitting the cam lobe. I always leave the push rods in and watch them closely. If one is going up and down then I hold it with a pen magnet. If none of them move then I pull the push rods out in case of having the extra weight and pull the cam out and back in.
This did happen to me when I first starting working on LS1's back in 99. I had 2 of them fall. I pulled all the pan bolts and could not find one of the lifters.I pulled the alternator and the a/c to get the motor mount bolts out. I lifter the motor and found the other one way down in the bottom of the pan. PITA for sure. I then stuck the lifter on a paint stick with a pen magnet on the roller and slid it down the cam bore. I then stuck a pen magnet down the lifter bore until I could see the magnet in the cam bore. I then slid the paint stick back to meet the magnet and pulled the lifter up into the bore. Again PITA for sure. The last and final thing that sucked was that one of the lifters fell out of number 7. It took me all of about 8-9 hours to do the whole cam install where it normally takes me about 4. I think it was easier then taking the intake and heads (Yes it was one from each side) off. It was definetely more stressful.
This did happen to me when I first starting working on LS1's back in 99. I had 2 of them fall. I pulled all the pan bolts and could not find one of the lifters.I pulled the alternator and the a/c to get the motor mount bolts out. I lifter the motor and found the other one way down in the bottom of the pan. PITA for sure. I then stuck the lifter on a paint stick with a pen magnet on the roller and slid it down the cam bore. I then stuck a pen magnet down the lifter bore until I could see the magnet in the cam bore. I then slid the paint stick back to meet the magnet and pulled the lifter up into the bore. Again PITA for sure. The last and final thing that sucked was that one of the lifters fell out of number 7. It took me all of about 8-9 hours to do the whole cam install where it normally takes me about 4. I think it was easier then taking the intake and heads (Yes it was one from each side) off. It was definetely more stressful.
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 344
Likes: 0
From: miami, florida
i got the lifter after 5 hrs of hard work. i fished it through the valley pan. do yourself a favor and dont ever ever ever try to take off your oil pan. it is worthless and alot of time wasted. do it through the top. my friend came over and took it out in one minute without sweat. and oh yea i swear i will never do a cam without the jrp tool. ever ever again. too much work just to get a lifter. right now my biggest issue is getting a used crank pulley. mine broke when i took it off
Originally Posted by jimmy 2 Times
how exactly did it fall i dont understand that? i have done 2 cam swaps and never dropped a lifter (getting ready to my third in 2 weeks so i want to be cautious)
i followed the directions on ls1howto.com and dont remember reading about magnets on your lifters, just magnets for the valve spring keepers.
can someone fill me in here?
i followed the directions on ls1howto.com and dont remember reading about magnets on your lifters, just magnets for the valve spring keepers.
can someone fill me in here?
