I have got some noise coming from what i think is a lifter. Is there anyway to isolate the one making the noise just by looking at it after i get the intake off??? I have a 97 tahoe 5.7 and the lifters for it are $12 each. Im trying to get out of this as cheap as possible. I dont want to buy all
16 and end up paying almost $200 just to fix one bad lifter. I would appreciate any feedback Thanks
Run the motor with the valve covers off and listen to each rocker arm with a stethoscope. If you don't have a stethoscope use a piece of heater hose about 2 foot long.
Brian
If 1 lifter has failed .....the others are not far behind. remove the valve cover in question and depress on the rocker arms 1 at a time with the engine running, you will find the collapsed lifter. BTW......who sells individual lifters ? Every parts house i know of sells them by the set...!
All of the major parts houses sell individual lifters. Just because one has failed doesn't mean the rest will fail soon. The failed lifter could have been machined out of tolerances when made.
Brian
Or, an oil passage has become partially blocked, or, (are you ready for this???)
Once on my Chevy 350 a lifter started making noise so I pulled the cover and found the tip (about 1/16" thick) of hardened metal that had been on the valve stem. To fix it I had two choices, pull the head, replace the valve or (the backyard way), I brazed it back on! It ran ok for several more years before I rebuilt the engine! The reason the "lifter" clicked, of course, was due to the increased gap when I lost the valve stem tip. Sounded just like a collapsed lifter. LD
Yea, Ok Brian......sure pal....whatever
Brian happens to be correct. I don't know of many parts places that don't sell individual lifters. He is also correct about one lifter not being a sign of imminent failure of the rest of them. That lifter may have gotten a chunk of crud in it that scored the piston bore or blocked the orifice and allowed it to run dry and stick. I would probably pull it and see what condition caused it to fail. If it was just crud I'd clean it out and put it back in. If it was something else I'd just replace it.
that's the nice thing about opinions...everybody has one. If it was a warranty job I doubt you would replace 1 lifter, but then again...maybe so.
Check the Napa and Autozone sites. They both sell individual lifters. At the price of roller lifters, I'd probably change just one unless I was doing a rebuild. H
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