Threw a lifter… what now?

[thefrey]

Title explains it all. Wife was driving on the highway and she heard it happen. What now? Time for AFM delete?

 

[j91z28d1]

ouch. sounds proper broken.

 

[thefrey]

ouch. sounds proper broken.

Yep. Definitely a distinct sound compared to the tick before.

Would you agree it’s a lifter though? I’m assuming it’s a fully collapsed lifter and not a broken valve spring or anything

 

[j91z28d1]

Yep. Definitely a distinct sound compared to the tick before.

Would you agree it’s a lifter though? I’m assuming it’s a fully collapsed lifter and not a broken valve spring or anything

I honestly don't know. it's pretty easy to pop off a valve cover and check for a broken spring.

what year and how many miles? there's tons of info on delete kits here. I haven't personally done it myself yet. mine is turned off and hanging in there.

are you able to diy a delete. if not, it gets pretty expensive to pay a shop. most of them want to sell you a reman engine

 

[thefrey]

I honestly don't know. it's pretty easy to pop off a valve cover and check for a broken spring.

what year and how many miles? there's tons of info on delete kits here. I haven't personally done it myself yet. mine is turned off and hanging in there.

are you able to diy a delete. if not, it gets pretty expensive to pay a shop. most of them want to sell you a reman engine

201k miles ish. Only thing is that it was about an hour and a half away from home and I didn’t have any tools. The last owner said they replaced the lifters but who knows if they actually did. I’d probably do all the work myself

 

[j91z28d1]

201k miles ish. Only thing is that it was about an hour and a half away from home and I didn’t have any tools. The last owner said they replaced the lifters but who knows if they actually did. I’d probably do all the work myself

some times you gotta do what you gotta do to get home. no shame I that, but after that long I'm not sure it would be worth trying to release the stuck lifter. worth a check for a valve sprung, and some times a exhaust leak can sound pretty loud. but I think not as loud as that.

probably best to start researching a delete kit and remember you need to turn it off in the tune as well or it won't run right.

 

[thefrey]

some times you gotta do what you gotta do to get home. no shame I that, but after that long I'm not sure it would be worth trying to release the stuck lifter. worth a check for a valve sprung, and some times a exhaust leak can sound pretty loud. but I think not as loud as that.

probably best to start researching a delete kit and remember you need to turn it off in the tune as well or it won't run right.

It decided to throw a lifter on moving day. Yay lol. Perfect timing it’s not like it could’ve done it any earlier. But we are renting a 24 foot trailer so the plan is to load it on the trailer tomorrow to hopefully not do any more damage.

 

[thefrey]

some times you gotta do what you gotta do to get home. no shame I that, but after that long I'm not sure it would be worth trying to release the stuck lifter. worth a check for a valve sprung, and some times a exhaust leak can sound pretty loud. but I think not as loud as that.

probably best to start researching a delete kit and remember you need to turn it off in the tune as well or it won't run right.

I have also checked for an exhaust leak and I’m 99.9% sure it’s not that. The last owner theoretically replaced the lifters 20k miles ago.

My wife said the check engine light started flashing and the traction control light came on. Not sure what the traction control light would have to do with it. But when I got to the car I restarted it and there was no lights on the dash just the tick. So I can only assume right now it is a lifter

 

[j91z28d1]

that's all pretty common. if he went back in with say an Amazon afm replacement lifter kit, or even oem and didn't replace the electronic solenoids or the oil supply isn't perfect. the replacement afm stuff doesn't seem to last as long the 2nd time.

the flashing check engine light means it was missfiring badly enough it flashes at you, not just sets the code. once the engine is missing it turns off the traction control and stuff since you don't want stability control or tc kicking in while it's missing a cyl. you'll see that mentioned in almost all threads about a cyl missing.

 

[thefrey]

that's all pretty common. if he went back in with say an Amazon afm replacement lifter kit, or even oem and didn't replace the electronic solenoids or the oil supply isn't perfect. the replacement afm stuff doesn't seem to last as long the 2nd time.

the flashing check engine light means it was missfiring badly enough it flashes at you, not just sets the code. once the engine is missing it turns off the traction control and stuff since you don't want stability control or tc kicking in while it's missing a cyl. you'll see that mentioned in almost all threads about a cyl missing.

Ah gotcha makes sense.

So it sounds like he did use genuine GM lifters but who knows what he used, I’m assuming he never replaced the electric solenoids or did anything proper.

That would make a lot of sense. I did feel a slight misfire when I restarted it and gave it some gas but it didn’t throw a code

 

[thefrey]

that's all pretty common. if he went back in with say an Amazon afm replacement lifter kit, or even oem and didn't replace the electronic solenoids or the oil supply isn't perfect. the replacement afm stuff doesn't seem to last as long the 2nd time.

the flashing check engine light means it was missfiring badly enough it flashes at you, not just sets the code. once the engine is missing it turns off the traction control and stuff since you don't want stability control or tc kicking in while it's missing a cyl. you'll see that mentioned in almost all threads about a cyl missing.

Also I just replace the o-ring maybe 300 miles ago. So probably the past 20k miles that lifter has not had the most optimal oil and I have no idea if the VLOM was replaced also

 

[thefrey]

ouch. sounds proper broken.

Looks pretty collapsed to me

 

[j91z28d1]

huh.. so it's hard to see in that video really. but is the spring compressed? cause it looks like it. if that's so, then it would be the valve that wouldn't come up.

which will require the heads to be pulled, but dropped. valve seat is a thing that happens to these too.

 

[j91z28d1]

Green arrow is not compressed should look like.

 

[thefrey]

huh.. so it's hard to see in that video really. but is the spring compressed? cause it looks like it. if that's so, then it would be the valve that wouldn't come up.

which will require the heads to be pulled, but dropped. valve seat is a thing that happens to these too.

huh. Interesting.

I agree, it does look like spring is compressed. I won’t be able to go check again until tomorrow. I don’t know much about this specifically but I'm assuming each spring should be opposite of each other for intake vs exhaust?

If it is a valve, then would my noise be the pushrod bouncing around as the lifter comes up? I have been tracking a very slight tick recently but it obviously got much louder

What does the repair for this look like? I’m not sure if the valve and the piston may have kissed but I don’t know what’s needed to reseat a valve.

 

[j91z28d1]

yeah the exhaust and intake are next to each other per cylinder. which is opened or closed changes as the engine rotates and can kind over lap where intake and exhaust are kinda half open in transition.

as for fix, that looks really far down, so it might have been hit by the piston. if so, it will bend the valve over. how much damage you can really only tell when you get the head off.

really hard to say. it might be just a light kiss and you be OK with head work, new valve and guide, it could have folded the valve over and jammed it enough to go as far as bend the rod under the piston. it's kinda impossible to guess at this point. worth pulling the head to inspect. big thing would be rotate the engine by hand and make sure the piston comes up to the deck even with the other 3. if the rod bent, it would blow a bit lower at top dead center.

the ticking could have been the seat moved a bit holding the valve open just a bit and you heard the extra slack in the valve train. or any of 10 different things. Definitely some slack. in the valve train from something. the cam lobe would be worth inspection before it goes back together too.

 

[thefrey]

yeah the exhaust and intake are next to each other per cylinder. which is opened or closed changes as the engine rotates and can kind over lap where intake and exhaust are kinda half open in transition.

as for fix, that looks really far down, so it might have been hit by the piston. if so, it will bend the valve over. how much damage you can really only tell when you get the head off.

really hard to say. it might be just a light kiss and you be OK with head work, new valve and guide, it could have folded the valve over and jammed it enough to go as far as bend the rod under the piston. it's kinda impossible to guess at this point. worth pulling the head to inspect. big thing would be rotate the engine by hand and make sure the piston comes up to the deck even with the other 3. if the rod bent, it would blow a bit lower at top dead center.

the ticking could have been the seat moved a bit holding the valve open just a bit and you heard the extra slack in the valve train. or any of 10 different things. Definitely some slack. in the valve train from something. the cam lobe would be worth inspection before it goes back together too.

Gotcha. Thank you for the info.

Sounds like if it was a valve issue that the lifter may have been fine and the slight rocker tick sounded like lifter tick when it may have not been. Just gotta tear it apart to check it out.

Is it worth trying to run it for a couple seconds with the valve cover off to watch and see if it could just be in an intake/exhaust stroke where they are both open?

 

[j91z28d1]

can't hurt, I'd unplug the coil packs so it doesn't start. the big plug in the middle of the coils on each side. could even unbolt the rocker arm and tap the valve a bit with a hammer see if it pops up. but I'm 99.9% sure it won't.

if you pull the plug and can turn the engine over by hand. usually use the bolt on the front of the crank pulley. you might be able to look down in there and see some of the top of the piston and see any shiny damage from the valve. I have a bore scope with a articulating head that would be perfect to take a look up at the valve.

either way at this point I think it's gotta come apart to fix.

 

[thefrey]

can't hurt, I'd unplug the coil packs so it doesn't start. the big plug in the middle of the coils on each side. could even unbolt the rocker arm and tap the valve a bit with a hammer see if it pops up. but I'm 99.9% sure it won't.

if you pull the plug and can turn the engine over by hand. usually use the bolt on the front of the crank pulley. you might be able to look down in there and see some of the top of the piston and see any shiny damage from the valve. I have a bore scope with a articulating head that would be perfect to take a look up at the valve.

either way at this point I think it's gotta come apart to fix.

I think I’ll do that next. I don’t have a bore scope but I’ll try to see what I can

Another thing of note is I checked the push rod and it was not bent at all

 

[woketradr]

Title explains it all. Wife was driving on the highway and she heard it happen. What now? Time for AFM delete?

This sounds JUST like mine, I am just finishing up my delete.
Truck norris cam and performance lifters.

I had a collapsed open lifter and it spun got chewed up just from driving home slowly, cam was okay but the one lobe was not smooth anymore.