Re: Lifter R&R

[PDQSHIP@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-10-02 18:34:12 EDT, you write:

<< The lifters on my 87 5000cst (124K miles)seem to be getting louder. they
 always had made some ticking, but seem worse now. The car has plenty of oil-
 Mobil 1 15W50. Am I in for trouble? What is the best course of action?  
  >>
Did both my cars this week and 3 last week....  They have a propensity to go
at 100-150k....  The test is to pull the cam cover, press down on the lifters
with a piece of wood, if it has any play in it replace it....  My suggestion
is that you just do them all, pulling the cover off is no big deal, but by
the third time, it becums a chore not a pleasantry....  PROCEDURE

*  PARTS:  Rubber cam cover seal with rear plug, 10 lifters (should come
pkged in bags with oil, upside down), new cam seal (easy to do now)
*  Set cam, flywheel and dist to TDC
*  Loosen HP,  pull off belt, remove cam cover with 2 5mm hex
*  Remove cam gear - BEWARE you will need to stall the cam gear to remove, it
is a 60ft/lb spec with loctite, best way is to stall motor with 27mm socket
on balancer(or audi tool)...   Remove cam belt when gear bolt is loose, then
pull cam gear... Watch that woodruff key, gently pry out with screw
driver....  I put a paint mark on cam cover where woodruff key hole is for
tdc orientation when installing cam
*  disconnect throttle linkage: 3 bolts at top of man, 2 clips for accel
cable, plastic clip for injectors
*  disconnect injector cooling shroud - 4 screws
*  disconnect pcv hose (t at top of valve cover)
*  remove 10mm nuts on top of valve cover....  Beware, there "should" be wavy
washers with those nuts, seen different years with and without them, get them
if you don't have them....  You don't need to remove the rear belt cover to
get the two at the front, it is tight fit tho....  Remove heat shield for WG,
and hose holder and ground wire at RR (looking at it from front)...  Remove
cooling shroud holder (snip tie around wire loom), and loom bracket.....
*   Remove two retaining rails,  lift cover and move toward rear, then
forward up and out....  
*  Remove crud from top of cover and on rails....  I use oven cleaner, brake
cleaner works just as well, so does wire brush, make sure to not get cleaner
inside cover, just wipe the inside lip with paper towel to clean/dry.....  
*  Remove 4 cam caps, IMPORTANT= They are specific in orientation and order,
make sure to put them back in the same place and orientation you got them,
otherwise they will crack when you try to install them the way you
shouldn't...
*  Remove cam, it will be slightly bent when you pull the caps off, that is
normal...  you may have to rotate cam slightly to clear the studs on #2 cam
perch...  Cam seal will come off with the cam....
*  Clean cam seal area with paper towel, remove all black residue from the
old seal....
*  Remove lifters, they just pull right out...
*  Optional - I pour a little oil into the lifer sockets before installing
new lifters, if they are coated in oil prolly a redundant step....
*  Install new lifters, they should go in with very little coaxing
*  Put oil on inside and outside lips of cam seal
*  Slide cam seal onto cam about 1 inch 
*  ease cam back into head....
*  Orient cam seal into position on #1 cap, and install top of #1 (finger
tight to start please)....  Install #2 next.....  #3 and #4 might need some
coaxing with pressure tightening on #2 for cam to seat....  BEWARE:  WHEN
LOWERING THE REAR OF THE CAM ONTO THE DISTRIBUTOR DRIVE, YOU MUST MAKE SURE
YOU SLIGHTLY WIGGLE THE DIST DRIVE (heck you could just remove the
distributor to make triple sure) so that the worm gear meshes...  If you
don't do this, your wallet will be lighter by one distributor bill, and you
risk cracking #4 bearing cap...  #3 and #4 caps are nut draw only, you won't
be able to tighten them by hand...  Take your time here....  Torque spec is
15ft/lbs - 20NM for the caps, it's not much don't overtighten and use a
inch/lb - NM bar type torque wrench for accuracy here...  I do the same
sequence as the head bolts for tightening, tho no reference is made in
bentley....
*  Wiggle dist rotor to make sure you don't have a bind, the dist has some
play in it, if you have none you bound it, pull #4 and #3 back up, think
about removing dist...
*  (Replace dist - align to TDC)
*   Clean top of head with paper towel, remove all oil where rubber seal
goes...
*  Clean cam cover studs
*  Install rear plug, install cam cover seal....  Make sure the hoop over #1
cam cap is not twisted and is sitting in the correct groove....
*  Install cam cover
*   Clean cam cover nuts, put wavy washers and nuts on studs, torque to spec
(7ft/lbs - 10 NM)  DON"T OVERTIGHTEN.....  The wavy washers keep the torque
much better than without, btw...  Don't forget the heat shield (on top of
rail please), the ground wire and t-cable holder, the plug wire loom bracket,
and the Inj cooling shroud bracket...  Rails should be below all brackets,
wavy washers always to nut...
*  Install pcv hose t
*  Install t-cable and injector clip (be careful that clip breaks easily)
*  3 bolts to top of manifold (don't forget your ground)
*  Woodruff key, cam gear, cam gear bolt finger tight....  Slide cam belt on,
ck tdc again, if your dist is off, don't worry, the cam to crank is key, you
can adj the dist....  Did you consider a bump in the cam timing?  Just a
thought, both my cars run this way for 80k+ miles....  
*  27mm socket, tighten 19mm cam gear bolt to 59ft/lbs
*  cam cover on 2X 6mm hex socket nuts
*  install HP pump belt...
*  double ck tdc
*  Clear engine bay
* start car....  This warning I love....  IF YOU ARE COMPLETE WITH THIS
PROCEDURE BEFORE 30MIN HAVE A BEER.....   YOU MUST WAIT 30MIN FROM CAM
INSTALL AND TORQUE BEFORE STARTING CAR, TO ALLOW LIFTERS TO BLEED DOWN....
   I've done prolly a dozen of these folks, and assure you that is a really
fast R&R.....

There you have it.....  Good luck

Scott