Jinxed myself and now my lifter is stuck - ideas?

[boldsmobile]

So, not more than a couple of days ago i knocked on wood while posting here and said that i hope my 185k 98 bravada w/4.3l will rust out before it dies.

No such luck. Today i get some misfiring and rough idle. Like it was missing. Goes on for about 10 min and than check engine light. I was lucky to be near an autozone so i stop and have them scan it. Cyl 4 misfire. Hmm thats not so bad maybe loose wire, broke plug or dist cap.

Whats this? No more skip. Nice i think to myself. No i hear a noise, or wait is that my imagination. Hear it again. Now i hear tick tick tick tick tick. Great. Drive home at 20 miles/hour. Takes me 30 min. Dumb idea cause i could cause perm damage. Havent ruled that out.

Take the right side valve cover off. Lifter is stuck open. Truck idles fine no skip, no misfire, check engine light is off. It just ticks like a mother. Spin engine without starting and see one pushrod on #4 cyl is barely trickling oil while the others are streaming. Valve moves fine, didnt check the lift but it "i thikn lobe is okay and it works" because it idles just fine. Also did a vacuum check and its just shy of 20 inches. Plug tips look fine.

Now my question ...... does anybody have anything in their bag or tricks to free a stuck lifter? Not collapsed but stuck open. I was hopping to try anything before i pull the intake off.

This isnt necessarily a Bravada only issue but was wondering if anyone had any ideas. I am going to try fishing on some non specific forums too.

Thanks

[ericn1300]

a stuck lifter, or push rod is usualy caused by contamination. you need to remove the stuck push rod and clean or replace it. a fairly easy job on the 4.3 since you don't have to remove the rocker arm assm. just lossen the rocker arm over the stuck push rod, turn it to the side and pull it out.

complete instructions here:

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d8012a658.jsp

scroll down to the bottom for the 4.3 engine

[Chris Stewart]

After the pushrod check, change yer oil and nothing thicker than 10W-30...in fact some 5W-30 Castrol GTX will flow cold and clean it up good too until warm weather then back to your favorite.