Hey guys. I had a tick from the passanger side for almost a year now. I changed rockers, from manifolds to headers, rechecked header gaskets, and readjusted valves numerous times and tick continued. So I pulled the intake today, took the lifters out, and would like to know how to inspect them for a bad lifter. I cleaned them all up with a rag, no visible damage or parts missing. How can I test it to see if its good or bad.

I have a set of 16 lifters from my old 305 motor (roller). I was thinking of cleaning those (how do I do this properly), and changing the entire pass. side bank to see if this noise will go away. I need help ASAP, car is sitting appart outside. Thanks guys.

 

You could try a simple compression test of each to see if there is one that has a weak spring or a catch in plunging action. Other than that, IMO it would be very hard to detect an internal problem with a lifter. I don't know how old your lifters are, but you apparently suspect something or you would not have taken the intake off. In that case, maybe replacing them is a good idea.

 

70,000 miles.

My 305 lifters have many more miles, but they never ticked. Mind you, they were not used for 2 years. But yes, I kept trying to adjust one of the valves on the #4 cylinder all the time, and it would always be noisy. If I got it adjusted somewhat, it would be quiet for a little while, then noisy again. Lifters, you think?

P.S. rocker never seemed loose though in the end, not really.

 

other than what shoebox suggested put oil on them as if you were gonna reinstall them, and just roll your finger on the roller, it should be smooth, if you feel it catch in any spots it either needs to be washed up more or has a broken needle.
Also usually if something is ticking it could be the sign of a tight lifter, some newer cars/truck will do it and really will not hurt anything unless it's too tight.. You could check that also too by sitting the lifter back in there and seeing how tight it is to move. You cannot really correct the problem though unless you don't need to take a lot out of the lifter bore.
If you need to take just a little out, take a brake hone and run it in there. You don't wanna do this alot b/c it will get shavings down in the motor, but if you just need to hit it a little to get a burr or something out it should be ok. BTW don't brake the stones or let big pieces fall in there, could turn into a bigger problem!

 

I know. The tick developed one day (stock manifolds, stock rockers) after I beat on the car for a bit. The thing has been through 30,000 miles and lost of hard abuse after that and tick does not get worse or better. Its not the injectors, its comming from the lifter valley on that side. SO, I am going to install some 305 lifter in there and try those out. Thanks guys.