Lifter tick

[Rocket Science Racing]

I've never seen one so worn it needed to be replaced. The tick is caused by
slowed or absent hydraulic action, and the hydraulic portion is not subject
to wear, just clogging or lack of oil flow.

You can remove the lifters and clean them out, but if you don't clean the
entire engine oil system they will usually quickly clog with new spooge from
the rest of the engine.

Throw some MMO in, let it dissolve all the crud, which will then all
hopefully end up in the old oil and oil filter.

-----Original Message-----
From: Zsolt [mailto:zsolt1 at telusplanet.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 5:26 PM

Is it possible that the lifters are simply worn, and they should be
replaced?
Zsolt

At 02:40 PM 9/2/2004, rocketscienceracing at comcast.net wrote:
>Lifter tick is a symptom of dirty, clogged oil system passages. We used to
>go 'round and 'round on this on another car list I frequented. The bottom
>line is that anything that improves oil pressure/flow will provide relief.
>Unfortunately the relief is usually only temporary with such fixes as
>new/better filters/oil/etc., or heaven forbid, new lifters.
>
>The only long term solution to this "hardening of the arteries" is to
>clean the oil system. You can tear it down, but there are a number of
>solvents you can put in your oil that will do a surprisingly good job of
>cleaning things out. Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) is one, ATF is another (very
>harsh!), and there are certainly other choices.
>
>I've had very good luck with MMO. Drain a quart of oil out and fill it
>back up with a quart of MMO. Put 100 miles on the car. Do an oil change.
>Repeat if necessary. Sometime 2 or 3 iterations are required if things are
>really bad.