Hi there, I am in the process of installing a new cam in my 92 RS 305c.i. I originally thought this would have roller lifter but upon removal of the manifold dicovered that it has regualar old flat tappet hydraulic lifters. anyway the lifters move like a charm when you rotate the cam but when i pull up on them to remove them they are stuck in the bores. They don't come out far enough for me to grab with any tools. Anybody have any advice because if i can't get them out from the top i'll have to pull the block to get the cam out.

 

Pull them up far enough to clear the cam; doesn't take much; then once the cam is out, push them out into the cam tunnel. Just DON'T DROP THEM INTO THE BLOCK!!!

 

There should be at least a little bit of the lifter sticking out, no?

What I did was grabbed a towel, wrapped it over the lifter and pulled with a set of pliers. They didn't give too much resistance so I wasn't the least bit worried about damaging them.

 

Hi, sounds like a good idea to me. the only thing is how do i go about holding them in place because they just want to slide back down. They arn't sticky at all i just cant get them to come out of the bore even a 32nd to grab them or hold them. Thanks for the help!

 

Stick a screwdriver or something down in between them and the cam lobe, and pry them up.

You might also want to squirt a little bit of Gunk Engine Bright or similar cleaner, the kind that's just diesel fuel in a spray can, on them; let it work sort of like penetrating oil; keep puting it on there every few hours; let it soak for a day or 2 like that and dissolve the varnish and gunk.

 

There's a tool available from a number of manufacturers that grabs the lifter on the inside and has a small slide hammer to pull them out when they're stuck.

 

Hmmm, '92 with flat tappet lifters. Sounds like either a cam or engine change has occurred sometime in the past.

I hope you know that a cam you purchased as a roller lifter will not work with flat tappet lifters. You either need to get a flat tappet cam now, or put in roller lifters. For the expense, it hardly makes sense to go with roller lifters.

Better check your pushrod length while you're at it. Flat tappet lifters take longer pushrods than roller lifters.

 

What works well is put some oil on the, twist them around and get a finger underneath the lifting. Once it's oiled just keep pushing the lifter up and down, it will eventually pop out.

 

oh right, on the roller motors the lifter bosses is taller, such that it'd be next to impossible to simply grab them with vice grips and yank 'em out (like I was about to suggest).


if you can find that slide hammer tool, that might work. I can't imagine being able to get a screwdriver below the lifters - where would you stick your hand..?