Question:

Do you have a cure for noisy hydraulic lifters apart from replacing them with new ones?

Answer:

The follower works by retaining a certain amount of oil within it and the clearance between the inner and outer walls of the hydraulic component control the operation of the follower itself. If the tolerance was too close the follower would jack up and open the valves and if the clearance is too large, the follower will fail to control the valve clearance correctly and get the rattling sound that you have heard. When the engine is stored for a period of time, any valves that are held open will gradually cause the follower to empty of oil even when the follower is in good condition e.g. if stored for several weeks or months, this would be normal even on perfect followers. As the follower becomes worn, the oil will seep out faster causing the follower to be less efficient, so if the follower rattles every time you start the engine up, even if left for only a couple of hours, it is an indication that you have worn followers and need to be replaced. Somewhere between these two states of a few hours before they rattle and a few days/weeks before they rattle is an idea of the amount of the wear. As the follower wears, the valves won’t operate as effectively as they should do and you will be loosing engine performance. If they rattle all the time, this will cause other severe engine damage.

We would suggest replacing the whole lot. The main reasons for this, is that they are considerably cheaper than they used to be and if you replace them one at a time, if you are lucky enough to find the ones that are rattling, I am sure the others won’t be far behind.

Please see our shop for the cam followers we can supply.