[Vwdiesel] Fwd: Hydraulic Lifter Question

[Libbybapa at wmconnect.com]

It is possible to remove the vacuum pump and use a power hand drill with an 
appropriate attachement to spin the oil pump and get proper oil pressure.  
Then, in order to properly bleed the lifters, the crank/cam would need to be 
rotated through several rotations while high oil pressure was maintained.  I think 
it is also possible to bleed the lifters on the bench, but I have not done so 
on an inline-4 VW.  

If all of the lifters have leaked down completely, I seriously doubt that the 
engine would start.  There would not be enough air entering the cylinders to 
be compressed to fuel igniting temps.  It is a common problem with compression 
checks on hyd lifter motors that there will be one cylinder that is low on an 
initial cold test.  Subsequent tests show a different low cylinder.  
Similarly, solid lifter motors can have misleading compression readings if the valve 
lash is not adjusted correctly.

Andrew