Tick after changing valve stem seals/hydraulic lifters

[damo03]

Hi All,

So I've just completed timing belt, water pump, valve stem seals, hydraulic lifters.

I've started the car and i hear a metallic tick consistent the rpm, so once every revolution of the pistons.

I first thought it would be from the crank angle sensor hitting the metal plate but listening with a screwdriver I can now tell that it's coming from cylinder #5 (closest to steering wheel). It's loud both on the rocker and also from underneath.

The valve stem seals on this cylinder were hard to change as the tool used to compress the valve springs with the head on couldn't be used easily due to the brake booster. I had to reverse the tool and then the tool tended to compress one side of the spring only.

I am worried I may have bent a valve, but unsure whether this would cause a tick? I was pretty sure that I got the new lifters in the correct way as I verified it with a mirror once installed.

Any ideas what else it would be? I don't think timing would have slipped as it's running fine and it would have to be way off for the valve to hit the piston?

I'm wondering if perhaps the collets wern't seated in the valve stem and that the valve has dropped down and is hitting the piston? Though i did check for seating of the collets by tapping the valves lightly with a hammer.

Is it possible the valve could drop down but fall into the cylinder, but still hit the piston?

Input and thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards,

Damien.

[pharb]

Not just one lifter that hasn't bleed up properly?

There was a sequence on here somewhere of how to hold the engine at a certain revs for a few minutes, then a few minutes at different revs to bleed them up properly.

Last time I did a set I had the privledge of letting them sit submerged in a tub of engine oil formamfew days, giving them a bit of a rattle every day or so whilst submerged to try to get b all the air out.

Seemed to work alright.

[damo03]

Hi,

It could be one lifter that isn't bled up, but all the others became quiet almost immediately. You would think that with the pressure from the pump it would not take long. I also had the lifters soaking for 2 days before installing them.

I've just done the lifter bleed proccedure 15 times: 6g74 engine in an NL: take 15 sec to increase revs from idle up to 3000 (reaching 3000 at 15sec), then immediately drop revs back to idle and leave it there for 15s. That is one cycle, and repeat for up to 15 cycles

This didn't fix the problem. Perhaps I need to repeat this 30 times however I believe it wouldn't as all the other lifters became quiet after a few seconds.

[disco stu]

Did you do the lifter cleaning and priming process in diesel fuel as detailed in the manual?

[damo03]

Nope mate,

They were brand new lifters. I just soaked them in oil for a couple of days and stuck them in.

It sounds like nearly all the lifters became quiet after just a few seconds.

I don't want to rule out other problems but I want to be confident that the lifters don't just need bleeding.

I will try the procedure 30 times tomorrow.

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=47098

[damo03]

So I tried the bleed procedure 33 times. No change. The rocker cover is coming off tonight. Apart from checking for faulty lifters any other ideas?

[brw0513]

Perhaps you did get a dud lifter from new, but I think it's unlikely. Were they Mason brand?

I've also recently replaced all lifters in my 6G74. I did the cleaning and bleeding process in diesel before installing. This worked very well for me. It is obvious when the lifters are not bled properly because they have some springiness as opposed to being rock solid.

I did notice one of the old lifters never would go solid. Probably gunk stopping the ball/valve from seating.

I'm not convinced the lifters need to be bled and "solid" before being installed. Just speculation here, but I reckon the bleeding process is just to confirm that the lifter can actually become solid i.e. it is working correctly. A number of lifters would be under pressure whenever the engine is off i.e. a number of valves would be partially open. Over time, oil will leach out of such lifters. Isn't this why our 6G74 engines have a short tick when starting then settle down. I reckon that is lifters getting recharged. Others may think differently.

I can't remember if it's possible to install the lifters upside down. A wrap of electrical tape is handy to hold them in their rockers when putting things back together. The tape is easy enough to remove before torqueing everything up.

My suggestion is go for a 1 hour drive in serious traffic where you are only in first and second gears with lots of idling. Rev the engine a little bit harder than you normally would. In my opinion this is a better way to have the oil forced through the camshafts and rockers to reach the lifters.

Let us know how you get on.

[disco stu]

If you have the rocker cover off it wouldn't be a stupid idea to try priming the lifters on that cylinder up with diesel. It doesn't take long at all to do for a few only. One thing I did figure out is that when releasing it for the final time to prime it up solid, don't release the lifter with the wire still pressing down on the ball valve, but pull the wire out and then release the pressure pushing down on the lifter. This seems to get them nice and solid really easily compared to leaving the wire pushing on the ball valve.

One little thing I did which made life easier taking them out was using some latex type glove fingers to hold the lifter in the rocker-just cut the fingers off. I found electrical tape a real pain in the bum, no way I could do it without oil all over the tape which then wouldn't stick etc. I think nitrile isn't affected by oil, so better option. Latex lasted fine for them with oil though, but doesn't like diesel at all

Hope you find the issue

[damo03]

Thanks all. It turns out I had a brand new faulty Nason lifter causing the tick. It wouldn't go solid even priming with diesel.

Two others weren't fully primed so I primed them up. Reinstalled them with the new lifter and voila, noise gone. I'm so relieved I didn't bend a valve or damage anything.

[brw0513]

Nice work

[disco stu]

Thanks for updating. I was wondering how you went with this. Must be feeling relieved finally