If you’re a car lover, then you must be familiar with lifters. If you’re not, though, I’ll explain what they’re all about.
A hydraulic valve lifter, which is often simply called a lifter, is a tiny cylinder that’s well attached to the end of a pushrod or a rocker arm. This is where it meets the valve.
The purpose of a lifter is to make a vehicle’s engine quieter while also improving its performance and ensuring that it has a long, healthy life. Although lifters are meant to prevent unwanted noise and to be quiet themselves, they can sometimes become noisy over time. This is a common problem found in older cars and those that have racked up a lot of mileage, especially if a particular car hasn’t been serviced regularly.
Can a Noisy Lifter Cause Any Harm?
This is a common question people ask, and the answer depends on the type of noise the lifter makes and how long the noise tends to last.
A lifter can produce tapping and clicking sounds that may last for only a few moments, but they could also last for the whole period of time the engine is working.
The type of engine lifter noise you’re hearing and its duration are the most important things when it comes to determining how harmful a noisy lifter can be.
In most cases, this wouldn’t be a serious problem, but it can point to an accumulation of sludge and dirt that’s starting to interfere with the function of the lifter. When this problem occurs, you can easily clean it with some oil additives, and the issue should be solved relatively quickly.
However, if the ticking and tapping sounds continue for a longer period of time, then this might be a symptom of an underlying problem that should be solved as soon as possible.
If the problem isn’t solved as quickly as possible, it can prevent other components of a vehicle’s engine from functioning properly, and even cause very serious damage to a car over time.
How to Quiet a Noisy Lifter
What You’ll Need:
Liqui Moly 2037 Pro-Line Engine Flush – You can use these oil additives to get rid of accumulated dirt in your engine, which helps to quiet a noisy lifter.
Lucas 10001 Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer – You can also use this oil stabilizer to get rid of accumulated dirt in your engine.
Feeler Guage – This will help you adjust your lifter after changing your car’s oil and cleaning it with oil additives.
1. Change the Oil
This step is very important, as every mechanical part of a vehicle’s engine requires the correct oil for lubrication. If the oil you’re using isn’t suitable for your car—if it is, perhaps, more or less heavy than your engine needs—it won’t lubricate the engine properly and can actually cause some serious problems.
This improper lubrication can cause metal parts that come into contact with one another to produce annoying tapping sounds. If this continues for a period of time, grime and dirt can build up within the engine’s oil filters, which can then prevent further lubrication of the engine’s components.
To stop this noise once and for all, and prevent possible damage to the engine due to a lack of lubrication, you’ll have to change your oil by using one with the right gradation for your car’s engine.
If you’re wondering how to choose the right oil for your engine, here’s a video you can check out:
2. Clean the Lifters With Oil Additives
Earlier, I mentioned that there are ways to stop the tapping sound in your car’s engine that occurs when you start the motor.
The best way to solve this problem is by cleaning the lifters with oil additives, but it’s also a good idea to clean more than the lifters. You can use this amazing product to clean the rockers and valves, thereby removing any grime and specks of dirt that have accumulated inside. Oil additives don’t change the viscosity of the oil that’s used in your engine, so you don’t have to worry about ruining the oil, now that you’ve found the right one.
I highly recommend that you go through this process quite often, because it can make a big difference in your car, and it can save you tons of money as well.
Getting rid of accumulated dirt is probably the most affordable option when it comes to solving the problem of noisy lifters.
Here’s another video guide that will give you more information about cleaning your engine’s lifters with oil additives.
The products that were used in the video are available on Amazon for a relatively affordable price.
Liqui Moly 2037 Pro-Line Engine Flush
Lucas 10001 Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer
I personally haven’t used them, but based on the video and the positive user reviews, it looks like they’ll make the engine entirely clean.
3. Adjust Your Lifters
If you’ve already cleaned your lifters with oil additives and have changed your car’s oil to the correct one, but you’re still hearing squeaky noises, then you should adjust the engine’s lifters.
To do this, the first thing you’ll need is a feeler gauge that you can wedge between one of your engine’s rocker arms and the valve stem. Now, you’ll have to adjust the valve adjustment screw to the correct clearance, but before doing this, check out the workmanship manual and find the correct factory settings to adjust it to.
Here’s a video guide that can teach you more about adjusting the lifters:
4. Replace a Bent Pushrod
If the tapping or ticking noises still persist, the second part of the valve train that may be faulty is the pushrods. What you can do here is check and see if all the pushrods are straight—if any of them are bent, that one could be tapping other parts of the engine every time the lifter pushes it.
A bent rod usually indicates that you’ve been a bit too heavy-handed with the gas pedal. If the speed of the depression bends one or more of the rods, the only thing left to do is replace the faulty ones with new ones. The rods I’ve seen online are very affordable, so this shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.
To replace one, all you’ll need to do is unscrew the rocker arms and take out the bent pushrod. Then, carefully check and see if any of the others are bent by rolling them across a flat surface.
If you’re not skilled at fixing vehicles, I highly recommend that you take yours to a mechanic to have a bent pushrod replaced. The process can be very hard and may take up to six hours, even for a professional.
Regardless of who carries out the job, it’s best to get this sort of fix done in a timely manner. If a bent pushrod is left to clang against the engine, it could do some serious damage.
Conclusion
I hope this article has provided you with everything you need to know about hydraulic valve lifters and how to monitor the overall noise level of your car. Keep in mind that in order to hear something that’s wrong with your engine, you should make sure all other immediate sources of noise are quiet.
If you have any questions, feel free to let us know by leaving a comment down below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Meanwhile, here’s another article you might like: How to Soundproof a Cargo Van.
image: Wikimedia Commons