I'm in the middle of a late night valve adjustment on my 96 LT1 and I have a question. I'm noticing that a couple of lifters are very spongey. I can actually push the pushrod up and down on the lifter as it springs up and down. Is this normal???? Is it doing this because there is not enough oil to preload the lifter? Or are the lifters bad????

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

 

The lifters are not bad. Lifters will blead down over time. Most of the time when I adjust my valves, I will make sure I have ran the car recently, Or turn the motor over without starting it for a little while to make sure all the lifters are primed up. You can adjust rockers wrong very easily if the lifters are not primed up. Just unplug the ICM and turn the motor over for 20 seconds or so to prime all the lifters to make sure you get a good accurate adjustment. But to answer your question, That is normal and your lifters are not messed up.

 

Thanx for the info