Tom M'Guinn

I had the cam tower off for some work this weekend. When I built this motor (about 7k miles ago), I used new lifters from Sunset. Of the 8 new lifters, two had spongy buttons, and one looked like it had been attacked with a screwdriver. See the picture below -- the lifter on the LEFT is a new lifter with 7k miles on it, while the lifter on the right is an original lifter with 80k miles. I replaced that bad one with an old original like the one on the right, and will be checking on it after a while to see if something is damaging it in on that lobe. I didn't see anything that would cause it and am now starting to wonder about those stories of new lifters failing (which I never really believed)...

Anyone see this before?

Crazy Eddie

Hey Tom
The one on the left I bet could lift (no pun intended ) a good finger print off that....
I tried you today I guess you had you head in the engine bay ... PM me as my email server is down ( has been since the snow storm in NY ) Hope all is well
Regards
Ed

lart951

I have a used set 79k miles turbo s $ 34.99 shipped

DDP

Tom, I've heard (I repeat I've heard) that if they're not factory original, aka aftermarket lifters, they aren't quality and go bad very quickly. I assume that's what those are if they're from sunset, I don't know if you can get anymore factory lifters.

Tom M'Guinn

Do any of them look like the one on the left? Ever see that before? (I have lots of spares...thanks)

Tom M'Guinn

These are from Sunset Porsche--they came in a Porsche box.

lart951

okay mines look like they were bought yesterday, they're polished

DDP

Ah, ok. That's strange. I've seen lifters in bad shape with dipples in them from wear. I even had them collapse completely. But I've never seen discoloration like that. How does your oil look?

Crazy Eddie

Ski

see if it says INA on the lifters, those are the after market ones I heard about. Also, someone got douped a few years ago and some bad thermostats made it to the market in the Porsche box.

hot-J

I "heard" even the lifters from Porsche fail nowadays. Even more of a reason to go solid, and make sure you use good oil with enough zddp.

2bridges

You running heavier valve springs?

I would be taking a very close look at the cam lobe.

TurboTommy

Second that on checking the corresponding cam lobe.

I've also heard that even new lifters from Porsche are all INA, and that's all you can get.
I know that Markus Blaszak rebuilds the original Porsche ones.

Same thing happened to me, but I goofed up on cam/lifter break-in, and too weak/broken springs.

RolexNJ

Yup. Been there, done that with my old 3.0L. PM sent too.

I believe you are right Bret. If so, the INA are total crap. I went through 3 brand new sets, and over 70-80% were soft right out of the box.

fortysixandtwo

I've heard the same about the INA cam followers.

Tom, definitly check the cam lobe. There will probably be a small amount of gaulling right at the top of the pressure side profile and offset to either the left or right of the lobe.