2000 S-10 V-6 Valve Lifters

[AJT1961]

I need to replace one or more of the valve lifters on the driver's side of my 2000 S-10 V-6 Blazer. I have a really bad valve tap on start-up that goes away after awhile, but is becoming worse. (I delayed this for over a year with block flushes, frequent oil changes and additives, but it's finally time to fix it). I'm deciding whether to tackle this myself or try to find a qualified shop to it. Anyone know how difficult it is to get to these lifters (and if possible, have a procedure)? Alternatively, anyone know a ball park figure on how much a shop might charge to install a new set of lifters and push rods on the one side? Thanks in advance and a Merry Christmas to all.

[OverBoardProject]

They right there when you pull the intake manifold, and GirlBear on the Blazer forum did the job not too long ago.

The advice that she got is located here
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...ntake+manifold

She drew up a pic for someone else, buy I haven't found the thread yet.

Check out your cam and be prepared to change it at the same time.
You might want to anyways, to 1 more suited to your driving style.

And of course the timing chain should be changed with a new cam, but that's it.

[wolfox]

Before you go crazy with the rebuild, I had a similar problem with my truck when I first got it. Swapping out a quart of oil for a quart of Marvel Mystery oil 250 miles before an oil change really quieted her down.

After that, I did a run of 5,000 miles on Synthetic Rotella-T 15w-40 (2 quarts) to 2.5 quarts of Rotella-T 5w-30. The oil was grungy with the stuff it cleaned out of the engine in very short order and further quieted things up even more. Once that run was done, I spun on a new, high quality filter that uses a silicone anti-drainback valve (it will look orangy-red instead of the usual black Nitrile rubber you usually see in a filter) and filled up on a full Synthetic 0w-30 Castrol Syntec formulation that was made in Germany.

She's completely quiet now and running like ball bearings over silk, start up/warm up noises completely gone and no detectable valve lash through the RPM range. It will take a little time, but it's certainly cheaper to try this route than to have the engine serviced...only to quite possibly have the same problem arise. Generally, the GM 4.3 is a rattle-clattery machine when it leaves the factory floor. Additives alone may not completley cure the problem. What I recommend may not work either if it is a mechanical problem - but it is not one that will leave you dead in the water anytime soon. Try the regimen I have tried above and see if that helps you first. If after 5k miles and a 2nd change to a full synthetic to *deep* clean the engine and she still ticks away very noisily, you may have a lifter that has collapsed from contamination. No solvent, additive, or oil type is going to fix that and it will take corrective "surgery" to fix.

My mechanic, before he went out of business would have charged the average Joe off the street about $400 to do ALL of the lifters and push rods in the engine as a set. You yourself can do it easily enough if you trust your skills. About the only special tools you will need are a torque wrench and a magnetic retrieval tool. You can extract the rods by hand, and the lifters can be extracted with the magnet or a specially crafted lifter extractor tool that grasps the lifter out of its bore. You'll have to pre-oil the new lifters in a cup or pan of oil using a paperclip to release the check ball inside of them so they take up the oil and then squeeze them out a few times, but nothing impossible for the home handyman to accomplish. Re-assemble the valvetrain with assembly grease everywhere the push rod tips touch (both ends basically) and wipe some over the roller tip of the rocker and the seat where the rocker's set nut would rest. This will protect the parts long enough to prevent harm as engine oil forces it's way back into these new parts and prevents a "Dry" start condition. Good luck man!

[JohnnySlide]

AJT, sounds Wolfox's advice may be worth a try. I had a similar problem a little while ago. Don't know exactly what happened, but it stopped after an oil change. Either was starting to sludge up, or a piece of dirt or something got into the lifter.

Also, Overboard's advice is probably prudent. If you are going through all the trouble to take off the manifold, might as well replace everything that you can easily get your hands on. Many times, the parts are the cheapest cost of the job, whether or not you are doing it yourself.