# replacing hydraulic lifters 90 stanza gxe? replace all or one? recommendations ?



## tim vannice (Dec 31, 2005)

just looking for some input on what different people think. thanks


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## JJStanza (Oct 23, 2005)

tim vannice said:


> just looking for some input on what different people think. thanks


 They all have the same mileage (wear) on them. I would replace all of them at the same time.


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## isb360 (Apr 6, 2005)

Hang on! Before you go replacing them, let's hear some more details about why you think they need to be replaced. I will tell you why:

The lifters on mine were making a racket after some time on the highway, kind of like they were pumping down. I read some info on this website about how to disassemble the lifters completely. When I took mine off and read the FSM information, it said not to disassemble. Looking at the way the piston fits into the end of the rocker arm, you can see why it says not to disassemble them. 

So, instead of disassembling them, I took the rocker/lifter assemblies off of the rocker shafts, carefully noting their sequence on the shafts. Then I soaked them for a couple of days in parts cleaner. Then I took a c-clamp and a small wooden shim (to go between the metal c-clamp and the lifter face to not score it up) and clamped down on the lifter itself. They were ALL frozen in place. After squeezing each one with the c-clamp and working it in and out several times, they were moving freely against the internal spring pressure.

I reassembled everything and started the car. After about 10mins of clattering ruckus while the lifters pumped back up again, all was quiet. Then the real test: a trip down the highway. Quiet. Silent. Not a peep. The only money I spent was $30 for a container of parts cleaner (although if I had to do it again, I would get a container of carburetor cleaner which is more volatile and evaporates more quickly and is a better solvent). The lifters were $27ea at the dealer, and although the dealer had them, I wasn't crazy about spending $300+ for lifters if I didn't have to.

Whaddya say?

Tim


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## tim vannice (Dec 31, 2005)

isb360 said:


> Hang on! Before you go replacing them, let's hear some more details about why you think they need to be replaced. I will tell you why:
> 
> The lifters on mine were making a racket after some time on the highway, kind of like they were pumping down. I read some info on this website about how to disassemble the lifters completely. When I took mine off and read the FSM information, it said not to disassemble. Looking at the way the piston fits into the end of the rocker arm, you can see why it says not to disassemble them.
> 
> ...





You think maybe its just lack of oil gettin to the lifter?could be an oil pick up that is plugged or gunked up maybe? all the info i have is in a diff thread on this page that u seen.. so its gettin some work done on it at the moment and i for next to nothing and i will see what happens with that.. hes gonna have a listen to them with a stethiscope.. sure would be nice if it was just an oil pump or an oil pick up thats plugged.. i'll keep ya posted.. thanks for the info i will pass it on to my mechanic , cheers


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

You don't want it to be an oil pump...it's much easier and cheaper to replace the set of lifters! A clogged oil pump screen is a differant story, but this can be tested by checking the oil pressure with a mechanical test gauge. I've seen engine flush machines help this problem at times, but usually the fix is to replace the rockers. It's also important not to overfill the crankcase as the crank will whip the oil and aerate it, while could send air bubbles in the oil up to the lifters. It's also posssible that the oil gallery can become clogged with debris and restrict oil flow up to the lifters.


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## isb360 (Apr 6, 2005)

Since I didn't drive my car before I replaced the timing chain, I don't know if lifters were making noise prior to the major surgery or not. Despite how careful I was during the repair, ripping into the engine enough to do a timing chain leaves lots of opportunities for bits of crap to get into the engine. This may have been why mine started making noise.

Also, I (now I am thinking mistakenly) used cans of "engine flush" according to can instructions prior to oil changes. As much junk as I am sure got flushed out, I don't doubt that some was dislodged and ended up in various nooks and crannies in the engine -- perhaps in some of the rocker oil feed passages.

I won't know for sure. I do know that with 215k miles on them, normal wear and tear are expected. Swapping rockers is an easy and not horrifically expensive thing to do, but i am an engineer and engineers are by nature cheap. Therefore before coughing up the $300+ for new rockers, I disassembled them from the shafts and cleaned them, and as I said before, unstuck them using the 'C-clamp' method. Whatever I did seems to have worked and it didn't cost anything. It's worth a try.

When rockers are off, make a careful visual inspection for any extreme galling or scoring either on the camshaft, in the rocker, or on the hard face that contacts the valve stem. I saw some galling on a couple of the hard faces, but by and large I was impressed with how well they'd held up. As far as wear on the hardface and resultant loss in valve lift -- I had no accurate way of measuring that, but all-in-all, I thought they looked pretty good.

Tim


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## tim vannice (Dec 31, 2005)

isb360 said:


> Since I didn't drive my car before I replaced the timing chain, I don't know if lifters were making noise prior to the major surgery or not. Despite how careful I was during the repair, ripping into the engine enough to do a timing chain leaves lots of opportunities for bits of crap to get into the engine. This may have been why mine started making noise.
> 
> Also, I (now I am thinking mistakenly) used cans of "engine flush" according to can instructions prior to oil changes. As much junk as I am sure got flushed out, I don't doubt that some was dislodged and ended up in various nooks and crannies in the engine -- perhaps in some of the rocker oil feed passages.
> 
> ...


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