Everything was going fine for me until it happened... I swapped out the old cam and replaced the new one right away. Bolted the chain and sprockets back on and tried turning the crank. It turned less than 45 degrees and stopped. I figured that a lifter had fallen so I used a pushrod to check each hole. Well, on the #3 intake, the pushrod fell straight through! So now I have a lifter and a pushrod down there.

My question is: Where exactly do they fall? I realize that I am going to have to pull that head but I do not know where to look after that. Is there any way to fish them out without pulling the head? Can I just take out the camshaft and find it in there?

How do I reinstall the lifter when I get it?

 

Sorry dude, they are in the oil pan... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Sad]" src="gr_sad.gif" />

I wish I had better news, but I there is nothing to stop it from falling into the pan other than the crank and rods...

Shane

 

If they are in the oil pan, then why can't I rotate the crank?

 

The pushrod or lifter is probably jammed between a couple of rods or between a rod and the windage tray or maybe between the cam and crank. When I say they are in the oil pan, I mean the only way to get them out is to remove it. They are in the crankcase...

Sorry

<small>[ August 30, 2002, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: XtraCajunSS ]</small>

 

Alright, I'll pull the oil pan right now. Thanks a lot.

 

No problem. Good luck on your buildup... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

Shane

 

You do not have to pull the head. You can remove and replace the lifter from the bottom. It sounds crazy, but I know someone who has done it on an LS1.

Eric

 

Luckily, I could fish out the pushrod!!

The lifter is stuck in the crank somewhere. I started taking out the oil pan bolts while my friends was reading the Haynes manual. They want me to hoist the engine 3 inches and I have no way of doing this. How can I get this oil pan out?!?

 

If you replaced the Cam; how could the lifter fall past it? Did I read your post wrong?
It said "I swapped out the old one and replaced the new one right away". Something ain't right here.

<small>[ August 31, 2002, 01:41 AM: Message edited by: highgear ]</small>

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by highgear:
<strong>If you replaced the Cam; how could the lifter fall past it? Did I read your post wrong?
It said "I swapped out the old one and replaced the new one right away". Something ain't right here.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Have you ever been inside an LS1? The only provision for keeping the lifter in place other than the cam, is the plastic guide. If the lifter was not at the top of the guide or secure in the guide it would only take moving the cam a half inch for the lifter to drop. But I am sure you have been there and done that, as well, I'll bet he really needs your kind words to help him get through this.

 

ok, ill help you out here. i did something similiar, but i dropped 3 lifters (dont ask).

i managed to get 1 of them out, but i couldnt get the other 2. they were on #5&7, so they were pretty far back.

youre going to have to pull the head. so go ahead and do that. if you got the rod out it sounds like you already did though. get one of those nifty magnent tools and try fishing it out through the lifter hole or that space between it.

if all else fails, heres what i did.

you will have to lift the motor a bit. to do that you have to undo the engine mounts. to do that you will have to take the alternator off and the AC compressor/bracket so you can get to the bolts. then you can jack the engine up a tad, but not too much incase your lifters decide to roll somewhere not so fun. undo your oil pan and drop it down a little. the K member is in the way so it wont come all the way off. this is where i got lucky- look in front of your engine with your pan hanging off the engine. you should be able to see your windage tray and get a little look into your engine. if your motor stopped turning over, the lifter may be stuck somewhere on the crank. back it up a little and see if it maybe falls out. more than likely it will be on the windage tray. in which case you can take your magnent tool and fish it out. BUT BE CAREFULL. i got one out then couldnt get a good hold on the second one and it fell off the magnent tool into the pan. the pan isnt the whole depth all the way. midway towards the back is where theres a hole where i guess the oil pump or filter gets the oil from. i had mine roll into that. i was able to loosen the K member a little to get my hand and magnet tool in there and fish it out.

if you need some help or anything is unclear, shoot me an aim or email <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

itll set you back a little time though <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

 

An engine hoist would come in REAL handy right about now.....

Good luck,

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by DriveATransAm:
<strong>youre going to have to pull the head. so go ahead and do that. if you got the rod out it sounds like you already did though. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I haven't pulled the head yet. I fished out the pushrod by sticking a magnet down the lifter bore. It had landed on the camshaft, unlike the lifter.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by DriveATransAm:
<strong>you will have to lift the motor a bit. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">How can I do this without a hoist?

How do I reinstall the lifter?

 

I would just pull the head off cause to install that lifter you'll have to pull that tray out (there are 4 lifters in each tray, each tray bolted down by a 10mm bolt, they only go in one way) most likely unless you have magical hands or some tricks...its really not that bad to pull the head..you may be able to fish it up towards the cam bearings and w/ multiple magnets bring it out where the cam goes in..that may be a stretch tho..I'd do that b4 opening up the bottom..but thats just me <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> good luck <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

 

just undo the engine mounts and jack up from the bell housing, carefully. itll raise the motor enough.

like the guy above said, you will need to get the lifter back in, under the lifter guide. either you pull the cam out and work some kind of magic, or you pull the head and do it the most logical way.

 

PK 01somWS6 ,
I finally found a picture of the lifters and lifter retainers. I will pull the head first and try to fish it out from there. We all know that I will have to pull the oil pan, also. <img border="0" alt="[whiner]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cry.gif" />

 

Did you get everything straightened out and working?

 

Here is insurance for next time..
use the magnets..
here is a pic that JMX took. showing how.
http://www.ls1info.com/article.php?sid=185

 

We dropped some bolts into the pan while swapping cams also. We took a heavy duty magnet ran it along the bottom of the pan and brought them to the front of the oil pan, and just scooped them up with some grabbers. I am sure this could be done for the lifters as well.

 

How did you make out?