I am currently in the final steps of putting my engine back together. Fifteen of the hydraulic roller lifters had absolutely no plunger movement at all causing the 1/4 turn after zero lash to open my valve rather than preload the plunger. The last one seems to lash fine. What gives?

 

Its possible theyre all drained of oil. Dont know if youve done this already but back them off a turn or two and see if the pushrods can be moved up and down by hand. If not, then your going past the zero lash point without realizing it.

 

Forgot to mention, the oiling system has been primed, with oil flowing out of the lifter pushrod hole. There is absolutely no plunger movement on the fifteen, whether I try pushing on them by finger or when attempting to set the lash. If I were to back the polylocks off 2 turns after my 1/4 turn valve opening lash, there would be at least 1/8" of play between the pushrod and lifter, this is definately not a 'missing zero lash' issue.

 

Oh, opposite problem, theyre full of cold oil! Set them and let it sit and the valves should close on their own as the oil drains out.

 

yeah, what he said.

 

How long should they sit? I still think it is a different issue as the plunger is stiffer than my 1.530 OD valve springs with 100 some lbs of seat pressure in additon to one lifter seemingly lashing fine. I appreciate the input, I am just kind of reluctant to think that this is normal. I lashed two lifters with a full turn, I will see how long they hold.

 

Id say if they dont close overnight then it may be some other issue.

 

Easy way to tell… look at the lifter pungers… are they sitting against their retainers or are they down a little?

 

The valves did eventually close, took roughly 2 minutes. However, I still do not think this is normal. This is what I think I am running into.
-Excerpt from Crane Cams website - http://www.cranecams.com/?show=faq&id=3

Do Hydraulic Lifters Need to be Primed with Oil?
Many people mistakenly believe that hydraulic lifters must be soaked in oil overnight and be hand pumped up with a pushrod before installing into a new engine, however this is not necessary. In fact, this could cause the lifter to act as a “solid” and prevent obtaining proper preload. What is very necessary is the priming of the entire engine’s oil system before starting up a new engine for the first time. This is done by turning the oil pump with a drill motor to force oil throughout the entire engine. Crane Cams offers oil pump primers for Chevrolet and Ford engines.

I soaked these lifters in oil 13 months ago and set them back in their bores. I have started taking them apart, cleaning them, and putting them back together and they seem to work again. I dunno if there should be oil where the spring sits, below the plunger, but they are filled. Either way, I can rest easy. Thanks for the input.

 

Looks a lot like what was mentioned.

 

wrong thread