Hydraulic Tappets that have been Adjusted ?!!?!?!

[tvrgit]

Mr Plow said:

tvrgit said:

I had the same problem as you - I set them but didn't know they were hydraulic, and had to fix it.

How did you know that this had happened, was it really obvious, mine are noisier than they probably should be and I do have a small amount of irregular idling, which could be due to incorrect valve clearances?

Well, when I was adjusting them (wrong) the adjusters just didn't "feel" right - there was no real clearance to speak of and the clearance seemed to tighten up when you went back to check it again. At that time I had worked on 2.9 engine (I also owned a Granada before) but this just felt different. I had no idea that they also did the 2.9 engine with hydraulic tappets or I might have sussed it after the first one or two. But I didn't and adjusted them all.

I sounded clattery, it felt low on power (probably because all the valve overlaps were shot to hell). It was like that for a couple of months (but not probably many miles) then as soon as I read that the catalysed 2.9 engines had hydraulics, I knew what I had done, and fixed it.

Jimed - that procedure is definitely correct - that is exactly what I did (and what I explained a few days ago).

[clarenceboddiger]

jimed said:

I have the piece of paper in front of me. It says that S3C with VIN before SDLDS******011340 will have the engine with hydraulic lifters. Assuming that is correct the setting process is -

Edited by jimed on Thursday 12th April 14:19

Shouldn't that be "after" that VIN number? or did they go back to solids again?

[jimed]

Apparently the S3Cs before that VIN had the hyd lifters and the ones after (as well as the non cat S3s etc) have solid lifters.
Jim

[clarenceboddiger]

Weird

[Mr Plow]

GreenV8S said:

Mr Plow said:

Does anybody have any pictures of a solid and hydraulic lifter?

Here's a picture of the top of a hydraulic lifter for the RV8, from the RPI V8 web site:

www.rpiv8.com/images/Tappets_Meauring_preload.jpg

The basic principle will be the same; looking at the end where the pushrod end sits, you'll see the open end of a sleeve, with the top of a moving piston inside it, and a retaining clip stopping the piston from coming out. If you have solid lifters then instead of this lot you'll have a simple bucket that the pushrod end sits in.

I have now taken off the rocker covers and you can see the top of the hydraulic lifter on some of the push rods. I have also taken an old 2.9 engine apart to see what an old lifter looks like, they do not have the retaining clip as above.

Sooo - you can tell the difference when you take the rocker covers off, correct?

Edited by Mr Plow on Wednesday 18th April 09:53

[Mr Plow]

Another question in regard to Hydraulic tappets - Sorry !!!

How do you set the preload if some lifters are filled with oil and some are not?

[jimed]

If the lifters are in the engine and it has been run before then presumably you could start it and the lifters will fill automatically. This must be the case as my S3C does sometimes rattle when it has been left for some time but it stops after a few seconds when the lifters get filled.
Jim

[GreenV8S]

Setting the preload is best done with dry lifters, and you'd normally set it when the engine is built and leave it for ever after. They are not service items. If the engine has been run so the lifters have been filled with oil you may be able to collapse them by putting a load on and leaving them, but I wouldn't count on it. You shouldn't normally find yourself needing to do this.