Ron Tanzi
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2014
- Messages
- 594
- Reaction score
- 395
- Location
- United States
- My Car
- 1972 Ford Mustang Mach 1
When I mentioned that the Crowers have a 'tiny oiling hole" I did not realize that they had machined a slot into the side of the lifter. I looked into "cam saver" type lifters in the past and I swear that one brand (I thought was Crower) had a small laser drilled hole in the face of the lifter to provide additional oiling to the cam lobe. Perhaps I am losing my mind LOL. Happy thanksgiving. RonThanks Ron, good to know. I am going to call Crower today to ask them what is different about the internals.I have replaced the hydraulic lifters on my Cleveland 4 times starting in 2002. I started out with the original set of garbage comp lifters followed by a second set of (free warranty replacement) garbage Comp lifters. Then as an experiment I tried a set of generic summit lifters and finally a set of regular Crower lifters which is what I have been running in the engine for 8 years. I did this due to excess valve train noise.I just did the normal break in procedure each time and have had no issues with cam wear (I have checked). Although the Crower lifters got rid of much of the noise there is still a bit of tickyness. I have talked to many people who have used Comp cams is various applications and have concluded that the ticky issue is due to the aggressive ramps of the lobes. I have a new Sealed power CJ cam (the Comp I have is a loose copy of the CJ) of that I will be putting in when time permits. My engine was originally a 2V and when I built it the first time 24 years ago I built it with the stock and a new stock cam and the valve train was quiet.So I have tried to reset the lash, but the lifters just won’t stay pumped up. I did remove and cut open the oil filter and it looks good. No metal particles or pieces of any kind so at least the camshaft should be fine. I now need to remove the intake manifold and try to soak the lifters in oil to see if I can get them to pump up. I know that they need to be put back in the same bore, so I will make sure of that.
I guess now I’m wondering if I did get a bad set of lifters. If so, will I be able to put new ones in with the camshaft I have in the engine? It only has 1200-1300 miles on it. I will ask Crower and see what they say too.
So yes you can change your lifters. I think as others do that the "cam saver" lifters having a tiny oiling hole are bleeding down. The conventional Crowers that I am using are very difficult to bleed down even with the special OTC lifter tool I have. Good luck.
Ron