Redbull87

iTrader: (3)

So my engine that was built last yr around this time started making what sounds like lifter ticking sounds coming from the passenger side on Friday. I heard it at idle starting to creep up and now hasn't stopped even fully warmed up. I still have perfect oil pressure,oil is crystal clear,no smoke out of the pipes or even an engine miss looking at my logs on hptuners. When I put this motor together I did replace the lifters with new ones which could of been just cheap knockoffs.

But here is a run down of my engine:

03 lq4
dss racing forged pistons/rods,new main bearings
ljms stg 2 turbo cam
stock 317 heads
stock rockers with straub trunnion bushings
btr dual 660 titanium springs/retainers
tsp hardened 7.400 pushrods

I think I caught it early where its minimal damage and replacing the lifters right now should be the only damage and my cam etc are unscathed. With that said since I will need to take the heads off Ill have to get new head gaskets and I don't want to risk reusing the headbolts a 4th time so order headstuds.

What is a good drop-in lifter to replace my ls7's without breaking the bank that I can retain my pushrods aswell. Ive heard of Morel and Johnson and get mixed reviews. Looking for opinions and recommendations as both have been out for a few yrs now and Im sure lots of you guys have used them. Thanks. Ill post up a video of the engine sound as its idling also.

mintws6

Johnson 2110 drop in style lifters are a quality product built to extremely tight tolerances. That being said the pre load on these drop in lifters is .035 -to- .045 so I would re-measure (check) push rod length. Since a set of 2110's are about $500 U.S., buying a new set of push rods to compliment them would be a small expense. Morel lifters are considerably cheaper that the 2110 and I have not used them, WS6project/store I believe uses or has used them. I felt that shelling the extra coin on the 2110's gave me good piece of mind. My H/C build is very quiet (stock quiet) compared to other builds I've heard with LS7 lifters.

Hope you get something that works for you and lasts longer than 1 year!

Redbull87

iTrader: (3)

Yea Im hoping they would last longer, I haven't had much issue with the ls7s in the past but I guess with the higher boost and more consistent time in the upper rpm has put more strain on the lifters. I don't recall the preload on the ls7 lifters and if my current pushrods would become too long or too short when using a newer drop-in like a Johnson or morel.A more quiet valvetrain would be nice.

Redbull87

iTrader: (3)

I decided to just spend the coin and go with Johnson 2110s, new headgaskets, and ordered 7.350 pushrods just incase I need to go shorter as I already have 7.400 rods which I think may be too long with the new lifters. Im also going to probably do headstuds from Alper for some added insurance. Im praying once I tear things down and get the heads off..the damage is very very minimal and my bottomend isn't hurt because those lovely dssracing pistons were not fun to pay for lol..and I really don't want to have to take the front drive off and change a cam also. Once things are back together..assuming nothing else needs further attention.I hope this should be a solid engine for quite some time as its been flawless to this point since the build last yr. I rarely even run it at full boost because how violent it gets on the street with 15lbs and meth hits. Id like to hit full 20lbs and wot and know nothing feels the need to come apart anymore.

YOKED

iTrader: (2)

Can't go wrong with Johnson lifters...short travels being creme de la creme.