The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 hydraulic lifter prefill

Hello y'all

Im trouble shooting a valavetrain noise and removed a suspected hydraulic lifter from my 57' 235. It looks great, of course.

I've read that there is a prefill sequence but I'm not clear on how to perform it. From what I gather the lifter is assembled lightly lubricated spring first then piston then forced down to expell the air. Is that basically all?

Do your lifters have a hole in the push rod seat?
You may want to start by reading my blog post about hydraulic lifters.

Thanks Dave, I DID read your blog post. It was the first hit on my google search

The lifters do not have a hole in the seat and the push rods are not slotted.

I will PM you.

Here is a photo of the lifter and pushrod seat.
<a href="http://s73.photobucket.com/user/junglejames2471/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150829_071126_zpsb1l0sj8u.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i227/junglejames2471/Mobile%20Uploads/20150829_071126_zpsb1l0sj8u.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150829_071126_zpsb1l0sj8u.jpg"/></a>

Here is how I prime hydraulic lifters; it has worked for 60 years.
Set lifter in can and just pour enough oil into can to submerge lifter. Chuck a push rod into a drill press. Pump lifter (slowly) with drill press till bubbles stop and lifter is solid. Since 235 push rods are mushroomed on both ends a rod in the drill press would work though I use a cut in half push rod. On many new cams they recommend NOT priming the lifters to give a bit of wear in time with the lifters soft. Wasn't necessary when oil had zinc and phosphorous.

Thanks for all the help and advice you guys. Dave has suggested a modification to the pushrod seat that I'm going to try.