Lifter replacement gone bad...

[hgffrank]

Well my crappy LG4 305 had two lifters that sounded collapsed so to try and make this pos last a bit longer I decided to replace the two lifters.

I tore the intake and valve covers off and instantly knew that the idiot I got the car from was lying when he claimed it was rebuilt about 2 years ago. That thing had sludge build up that was to the point it even blocked the drain hole into the timing chain cavity.

I pulled the two lifters out with a bit of work since they had a ton of build up on the bottom and didnt wanna come out. After getting them out I inspected them. the bottoms were concaved so I'm pretty sure the cam is wiped out since the outsides of the lobe are probably worn down considerably. But I'm not willing to put any majore cash into this crappy engine so i went ahead and put new lifters in. I then re-adjusted valve lash on all the lifters. After I put it all back together I started it up, it started perfectly, but still had some clatter. so I found the offending lifters and adjusted them hot, but one of them was one of the new lifters I just put in. I went so far as twice factory spec on the adjustment and it was still clattering. so I shut it down and got it back to TDC and readjusted that one to spec. once running again I noticed that all the rods were spinning like they should except the one with the new lifter I just put in. I tried adjusting it again with no luck.

And since doing all this now the engine is smoking bad on hard acceleration. its a bluish grey smoke and it didnt do that before.

If anyone has any ideas here please speak up.

I said the hell with it and even through a quart of ATF in the engine oil today to see if I could clean some of the sludge out. i'll drain the oil tomorrow and put some 20 50 in it and see if that helps.

Looks like I may have to pull the 305 out of my 90 Bird to put in this car. Which I hate to even waste the time and money on another 305. An L03 at that.

[wezeles]

well with the flat tappet cams they have a little line on the top of the lobe to make the lifter and rod spin around... if it is infact worn down then the lifter and rod wont spin... it will eventually wipe out the cam and lifter completely... you could probably get away driving it sometime like that but sounds like it would need a hole upper valve train to work right... just use some good oil maybe even heavier stuff like the 20 50 you said... and it should last another 6 months or so aslong as you dont rag on it... you should be able to get through the summer but your going to need atleast a new valve train done by winter, but sounds like you planned on a new motor anyways... keep an eye on the oil for metal flakes... if they get really heavy be careful...

[WMCCjames]

Sounds like you have at least one wiped out cam lobe. No sense in running it any longer and destroying the whole motor. It doesn't take long for a wiped lobe to manifest itself into bigger problems....been there, done that.

[meissen]

that sucks, Frank, sorry to hear about all the fun you're having lately.