Cleaning new lifters before install???
Cleaning new lifters before install??? in the process of doing a heads and cam install in my ZR1 (LS9). my new lifters cam in a cardboard box and ive noticed a lot of carboard material that has soaked in the shipping lube and is all over my new lifters!! im wondering if anyone has a good recommended procedure for cleaning new lifters to make sure no debris will clog up any of the oil passages?
main reason for my concern is i have a buddy who just did H/C in his camaro and used new ls7 lifters only for a week later of driving/break in he had a horrible tick and come to find it was 3 failed lifters! im assuming it was due to the oil passages being clogged and didnt allow them to fill with oil properly.
main reason for my concern is i have a buddy who just did H/C in his camaro and used new ls7 lifters only for a week later of driving/break in he had a horrible tick and come to find it was 3 failed lifters! im assuming it was due to the oil passages being clogged and didnt allow them to fill with oil properly.
My goodness guys...just because parts are new doesn't mean that they are clean. Most lifters come presoaked in a bath of some thick grease/oil substance that's designed to keep rust from forming on the long boat ride across the pond. It is a great dirt collecting agent. You MUST get this stuff out of the bearings. Soak your new lifters in virgin solvent, and roll the lifter wheels until they feel free of the junk. Blow them dry with compressed air, and get them in clean oil immediately.
All parts come coated with some form of dirt collecting oil. You guys are washing your rings before install I hope. Next time you open a ring pack, take a clean white lint free cloth, and wipe them. You'll understand at that moment what I'm getting at. I spend hours washing rings before install.
Hold the next new camshaft you get up into the air, and look through the hollow center...full of dirt and grit. Same with the lobe edges. They all are this way. Nothing comes ready to just open and install. You must clean your new parts, or your introducing debris into your engine...
A lot of new parts need deburing as well. Never install a new set of pistons without dressing the skirt edges first. Usually 6 out of 8 of a new set of pistons will have an edge that needs filing, or hit with 300 grit softly. My latest set of Wiseco's were this way. Even a set of billet pistons will need attention somewhere.
Think of the cleaning/deburring process the same as doing bodywork before a paint job. The more time you spend going back over the body panels, the better the paint job will turn out...same way with parts prep before the build.
All parts come coated with some form of dirt collecting oil. You guys are washing your rings before install I hope. Next time you open a ring pack, take a clean white lint free cloth, and wipe them. You'll understand at that moment what I'm getting at. I spend hours washing rings before install.
Hold the next new camshaft you get up into the air, and look through the hollow center...full of dirt and grit. Same with the lobe edges. They all are this way. Nothing comes ready to just open and install. You must clean your new parts, or your introducing debris into your engine...
A lot of new parts need deburing as well. Never install a new set of pistons without dressing the skirt edges first. Usually 6 out of 8 of a new set of pistons will have an edge that needs filing, or hit with 300 grit softly. My latest set of Wiseco's were this way. Even a set of billet pistons will need attention somewhere.
Think of the cleaning/deburring process the same as doing bodywork before a paint job. The more time you spend going back over the body panels, the better the paint job will turn out...same way with parts prep before the build.
That stuff they ship lifters in smells like turpentine. Might be cosmolene?
What I do is soak lifters overnight in ATF. Then spin all the rollers, then put them in a fresh bath of ATF. ATF is a heavy detergent so I find this works better than motor oil.
What I do is soak lifters overnight in ATF. Then spin all the rollers, then put them in a fresh bath of ATF. ATF is a heavy detergent so I find this works better than motor oil.
The motor oil is so they don't get installed dry.
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Joined: Jun 2017
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From: Central Texas
Some lifters you do not need/want to pre-soak, so check with the manufactuer. I just bought some Johnson 2110's for my new TSP cam going in my LS7 and there were little specs of cardboard on some of them that was absorbed by the light coating of oil that they come in inside the box.
I wiped them with a paper shop towel, used a small burst from a can of compressed air in the ball seat area making sure it was all clean, then used my fingers to reapply a thin coat of Mobil 1 on every lifter before I put each one back into a small snack sized plastic zip loc bag, ready for me to install.
I wiped them with a paper shop towel, used a small burst from a can of compressed air in the ball seat area making sure it was all clean, then used my fingers to reapply a thin coat of Mobil 1 on every lifter before I put each one back into a small snack sized plastic zip loc bag, ready for me to install.
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