collapsed lifter

89 blazer ... 2wd ... automatic 4.3L ....

my buddy's sister ran it about 1.5 - 2 quarts low on oil and its got well over 200k on it.

she brought it home today complaining of a tapping noise coming from the engine ... we filled it back up with some 10w30 and its still tapping.... i'm thinking a collapsed lifter ??? is there any cheap way to get it pumped back up ? i've heard of gunk flush, tranny fluid, brake fluid, but i'm not dumping anything in there that might ruin it... oil hasn't been changed for awhile eiether. the poor girl has to have this thing to drive to work and i don't wanna tell her to just drive it for fear of wiping out the camshaft or pullin the lifter out of the pocket on the rocker...

blazerLT, i know ur around somewheres, you helped me in the past and i'd apprecieate some more advice... lol thanks

When rebuilding motors one must pump the new lifters up manually. Thus, they make a tool for this.

Go to Autozone and ask for their oil pump spinner, or whatever they're calling it these days. Go home, pull the valve covers and distributor (mark it). Put the spinner on a drill and then lower it into the distributor hole. Run it until you see oil spurting out of the pushrods.

This may pump it up. Or it may not if the lifter's bad. Check for bent pushrods as well. They may not spurt oil if bent too badly. It's up to you if you want to try it. The tool's rented so all you're out is money for valve cover gaskets, not much at all.

I wouldn't be dumping stuff in your oil to try to make it go away. It doesn't work, at least not for long.

Josh <><

hydraulic roller lifters are $13 apiece at advance auto...

oh well the UIM and valve covers are coming off as we speak.


thanks

NO!

2 qts low will NOT collapse the system.

Throw a bottle of gunk flush in there, idle for 30 minutes and then do a complete oil change with a new NON FRAM oil filter.

Telling someone to rip things apart because of this is premature.

well its already said and done with and the lifter was in fact trashed... no hope for it (honestly) took abt 3 hours but its all done now and everything's back to normal... we DID flush it because the lifter valley and erronous hardware and parts were incredibly nasty. scraped out loads and loads of a grease-like substance that seemed to be the old "valvoline" myth... lol

but hey i'll remember that for the future just for starters...

had some old boy from kentucky come over and look at it and he just started rippin it apart and 3 hrs later its done... lol

It only took 3 hours?

Wow.....

Shoot, did oyu take pictures?

Also, you should still do a flush bro, even though you scraped it, the stuff is still in there.

It only took 3 hours?

Wow.....

Shoot, did oyu take pictures?

Also, you should still do a flush bro, even though you scraped it, the stuff is still in there.
Wow that is fast! BlazerLT, I believe he said he did flush it.....

Wow that is fast! BlazerLT, I believe he said he did flush it.....

But, he should still flush it again to get rid of the remaining crud he loosened up when scaping the old stuff off.

But, he should still flush it again to get rid of the remaining crud he loosened up when scaping the old stuff off.
Ah I catch what you are laying down now. I used the gunk stuff myself and it worked pretty well I think.

sorry guys kinda forgot about ya there... yeah it took about 3 hours give or take a lil bit... we flushed it, put new oil in, drove it about 50 miles, flushed it again, put new oil in it again and it seems to be alright, smooth and quiet as hell... didn't take pix becase i was dirty as hell and the camera phone doesn't operate too well in low light ... but yeah it was a chore ... lol

Yea but I am sure you felt pretty satisfied after it was done. I can't wait to rip an engine apart and go crazy in there!

NO!

2 qts low will NOT collapse the system.

Throw a bottle of gunk flush in there, idle for 30 minutes and then do a complete oil change with a new NON FRAM oil filter.

Telling someone to rip things apart because of this is premature.


I have to disagree. I don't believe in throwing in engine flush (old school here). Even if it works, the lifter will collapse again. You sorta' made my point: 2 quarts will not collapse a lifter. It is therefore time to replace the thing if it won't pump up using a priming tool.

I'll just agree to disagree on this if you will. We're both trying to go the same place with different methods.

Josh <><

Fair enough. ;)

did i mention the collapsed lifter was REPLACED ? lol

Hello,

Yes you did. BlazerLT and I were just sharing some mechanics' banter is all.

Josh <><

oh... cool. my bad i had just woke up and was gettin ready to go to my 3rd shift job. didn't pay much attention the the content of the posts before i opened my mouth... lol