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

I finally got to put a few miles on my '53 3100 this weekend. it has a '56 235 from a car with hydraulic lifters. last year sometime I took each lifter out and disassembled each one and cleaned the gunk out of them, then took my time and adjusted each valve, 1 1/2 turns (i believe) after slop removed. it idled smooth as a watch, but while driving at higher rpm's, approx. 40 mph with 3:50 gears, it got a loud tick. only after slowing down it would go away, then it would come and go intermittently at lower speeds, then it started getting louder and not always going away, until the last run i made it ticks at idle now too. I'm positive it is a valve train noise. has anyone had this situation? any suggestions as to how i should best trouble shoot this? i plan on re-checking valve adjustments first. thanks

Lemmm117,

Here is Pre '68 Dave's write-up on 235 hydraulic lifters.

I will dig in and see what design the lifters and push rods are, I can't remember what style they are, bleed holes, factory grooves, etc. I have read this info before. It sounds like it is just one single lifter causing the noise, not all of them clacking, for what it's worth.

after refreshing my memory with a re-read of dave's blog, very good info by the way, I'm also wondering if anyone has had luck with venting a non vent-hole lifter?

This blog post of mine shows how I vent lifters without a hole in the pushrod seat. LINK.

Is venting either lifters or push rods, depending on configuration, something that should be done just for good measure even if a guy wasn't having any issues? How loud of a clack can develope because of air caught in a lifter?

Found #6 intake is funny. It's taught, but I can push on rocker and quickly compress lifter 1/16" then it gets hard. It's like lifter spring is keeping the pushrod snug, but I can compress lifter a little bit. I don't think I should be able to compress lifter like that. I'm thinkin either air caught inside the bottom (working end) of lifter or too much clearance on plunger????

Sounds like air. All to common.
I vent all of the lifters I install.

Ok, I took lifter and push rod out. No bleed hole in lifter. So I'll try cutting a small groove in the seat like your photos. Will that cause oil to spray up through the groove into the lifter galley and even possibly drop the oil pressure a small amount? Also, since I have things tore apart, do you think I should groove all the push rod seats in the lifters?

I would vent all the lifters if I was doing the job just to be sure no air ever gets trapped in the lifter.
There will be a slight oil loss from each lifter, but the 1950-52 engines were only 14 lb engines and the bleed off from the factory venting did not affect them.

Thanks Dave, I'll go ahead and vent them for peace of mind. I couldn't get that lifter to get solid while trying to bench bleed it several times and several methods last night. You think the check valve isn't sealing? The check ball and it's seat look smooth and clean, I can't imagine why it wouldn't seal.

I will PM you.

Are you filling the lifter body with oil first!
Here are the steps to correctly bleed a lifter:
With the lifter disassembled fill body with oil.
Start plunger (with spring) into body with hole in plunger lined up with the hole in body.
Using a small rod (I use a WD40 spray tube)unseat the check valve by pushing down on it.
While unseating the check valve push the plunger down into the body until both the hole in the body and plunger line up.
At this point you install a pin (I use the shank of the largest drill bit that will fit in the hole) in through the hole.
This should hold the plunger down while you put the pushrod seat and snap ring in place.
Remove pin, letting the plunger return to its resting position.
Lifter is ready to install.
This is spelled out in the shop manual.

update: I ended up cutting a vent groove in all of the push rod seats of the lifters, bench bled lifters, re assembled, set valves @ 1 1/2 turns past no slop at TDC, and went for a ride. it ran very well, smooth and quiet at top speeds. so as it turns out, there was indeed, air trapped inside of a lifter that couldn't work its way out and was causing the loud clacking noise at higher rpm's and occasionally at lower rpm's. I have to give a big shout out to Dave's blog and his direct advice for helping me solve this issue. priceless info here on the "bolt"