I was setting my new lifters in the bores tonight and dropping the pushrods in on them. Well, I've done this before and I don't remember the plungers being so free...I soaked them in fresh oil and worked the plungers a bit before putting them in, but it seems that I shoudn't be able to push the top of that pushrod down so easy. I bought them from Summit which they claim to be an anti-pump lifter, but what they sent me was sealed power ht-817's... So should they have a stiffer feel to them or will I have to wait till I get the engine fired up for them to operate properly?..any help or opinions?

 

Do they have any oil in them?

The most common thing to do is soak them in a tub/jar of oil overnight so they fill with oil.

What I've done in a hurry is set them in oil, right side up, then pump them a few times with a pushrod to push out the air, and suck in oil.

Just a reminder. They're called Hydraulic for a reason. They need fluid in them to operate.

 

Yup, perfectly normal. The stiffness of that spring does not affect how they work, at all.

The Sealed Power lifters are an anti-pump-up design. The soft spring is part of how that is done. Alot of the major cam mfrs actually supply them as their own brand. The other brand you'll usually see from them is Perfect Circle (Dana).

 

Okay...good to know ...A few are stiffer than others so I thought I had some defective ones...Been a long time since I installed a cam....10 years ago -71 Pontiac Ventura with a factory 307... I don't remember gaining anything from the install though except major blow-by and a leaking timing cover..Can't remember the specs on that one, but the timing gear gave way and I thought I'd cam it a little while replacing it.... anyways thanks for the help