lifter tick

[jlagnese at massed.net]

It certainly did!

Thanks,

John
---- Original message ----

  Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:58:22 -0400
  From: "Mark R" <speedracer.mark at gmail.com>
  Subject: Re: lifter tick
  To: jlagnese at massed.net
  Cc: "Grant Lenahan" <glenahan at vfemail.net>,
  quattro at audifans.com

  The "tick" is the camshaft (or rocker arm in
  something like a small block chevy) "hitting" the
  top of the lifter.  In other words, the lobe
  doesn't always remain in contact with the "top" of
  the lifter as it should (with the obvious thin
  coating of oil in between).  If you picture the
  "tick" as a hammering type of action, you'll
  envision what's going on.  The wear is the
  surfaces of top(s) of the lifter(s) and the cam
  lobe(s).
   
  Why does this occur?  History- lifters used to be
  manually adjusted and the "lash" was set by shims
  or some other adjusting mechanisms.  This was a
  maintenance item and required packaging so that
  this was possible to routinely adjust.  Also, with
  tighter emissions regulations, having it only
  adjusted periodically meant that all other time,
  the timing wasn't optimal.  This is especially
  troublesome in a lean-burn emissions
  configuration.
   
  The fix which allowed for tighter engine
  packaging, improved performance over time, and
  improved emissions- lifters which self-adjusted. 
  they do this by being "pumped up" (thing of them
  as being elongated) by oil pressure (and volume). 
  Hence the term "hydraulic lifters."
   
  If they don't "pump up" as designed, the lash
  becomes greater, wear increases, and valve timing
  is off.  Again, many cars can go a long time in
  this state before anything catastrophic occurs. 
  Respectfully, I believe if there's a tick, there
  IS increased wear occurring versus a valvetrain
  which isn't ticking.  I fully agree that for a lot
  of people and budgets, it might not be enough wear
  for a lot of concern.... which is what I suspect
  Grant's comment really meant.
   
  Hope this helped!
  Mark Rosenkrantz

  On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 11:25 AM,
  <jlagnese at massed.net> wrote:

    I was under the impression that lifter tick,
    caused by hydraulic lifters not full of oil,
    simply decreased efficiency since the valves
    were not opening fully.

    So where is the wear? The top or inside of the
    lifter? The cam? Anytime there is not enough oil
    someplace, things do wear!

    John
    ---- Original message ----

      Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:39:27 -0400
      From: "Mark R" <speedracer.mark at gmail.com>
      Subject: Re: lifter tick
      To: "Grant Lenahan" <glenahan at vfemail.net>
      Cc: quattro at audifans.com
      >I respectfully disagree with Grant. Lifter
      tick DOES increase wear. That
      >said, Audis seem to tolerate it for a LONG
      time, so it might not be worth
      >the expense and trouble of replacing the
      lifters. In other words, the harm
      >is typically minimal, but it is there.
      >
      >If you fixed it with different oil or a
      solvent... then it's fixed.
      >Hydraulic lifter tick is caused by "crud"
      (deposits) in the lifter(s), low
      >oil pressure, incorrect weight of oil, etc.
      The first step is always to
      >either try a solvent, switch oils (weight,
      type, brand), oil filter brand,
      >etc. If that solves the problem, then there's
      no problem remaining! =)
      >
      >Cheers!
      >Mark Rosenkrantz
      >
      >On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 8:01 AM, Grant
      Lenahan <glenahan at vfemail.net> wrote:
      >
      >> ignore it - it does no harm
      >>
      >> On Jul 30, 2008, at 10:09 PM, Rick Cone
      wrote:
      >>
      >> > My 89 Audi 200 has a rather noisy lifter
      tick. I "fixed" it with a
      >> > quart of Lucas, but what is the real fix?
      Is there any adjustment
      >> > in the valvetrain of these things?
      >> > Rick A. Cone
      >> >
      >> >
      >> >
      >> >
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