DIY - Changing the Valve Lifters
#16
Racer
Thread Starter
Nice DIY Bruce, thanks for sharing!
What was your source for the lifters? What about the posts alluding to two different sizes out there - some being taller or something? Did you find anything about that. You didn't happen to measure the dimensions of one of yours before installing did you?
What was your source for the lifters? What about the posts alluding to two different sizes out there - some being taller or something? Did you find anything about that. You didn't happen to measure the dimensions of one of yours before installing did you?
the different sizes. I didn't measure mine before installing.
Interesting tip about soaking overnight in oil. Did that help with the startup chatter? How many minutes of chatter did you suffer, if any after soaking them. What is that chatter btw it sounds terrible.
oil soak probably helped and it didn't take long to settle down.
Nice work on torqueing that combination screw under the ps pump. When I did my upper covers I looked at that and thought 'Well, no one is getting a tw on that one' lol. Wrong! What I did was incrementally just follow my pattern and that one just got the same degree swing as the others with a regular rachet and when they start clicking it just got the same final swing they did. Nice work.
fortunate that this area of the valve cover is very dry to begin with, so even if
you just tightened it with a hex key it probably wouldn't leak.
#19
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^^^^^ Yep, can't tell you how many times that was the very beginning of my "working on the car special vocabulary".
Was sitting on a little "roll around" stool, working in front area of frunk. Stood up abruptly into corner of hood. It rocked me so hard, I didn't even say anything. Just sorta fell back into chair. The hole wasn't as bad as the knot.
ATTACH]913534[/ATTACH]
Was sitting on a little "roll around" stool, working in front area of frunk. Stood up abruptly into corner of hood. It rocked me so hard, I didn't even say anything. Just sorta fell back into chair. The hole wasn't as bad as the knot.
ATTACH]913534[/ATTACH]
#20
Rennlist Member
Two questions on lifter install.
1. Last night I noticed that out of my 12 new lifters, one could be compressed by hand, the other 11 could not be. I noticed this after I installed it and then removed it again to be sure I didn't leave any remnants of the old seal in there. Is this lifter ok?
2. I installed three lifters last night on the lower left, and skipped the finding TDC step. What is the reason for finding TDC to swap these? What repercussions are there for not finding TDC when swapping these?
Thank you gentlemen.
1. Last night I noticed that out of my 12 new lifters, one could be compressed by hand, the other 11 could not be. I noticed this after I installed it and then removed it again to be sure I didn't leave any remnants of the old seal in there. Is this lifter ok?
2. I installed three lifters last night on the lower left, and skipped the finding TDC step. What is the reason for finding TDC to swap these? What repercussions are there for not finding TDC when swapping these?
Thank you gentlemen.
#21
Rennlist Member
The reason is so that when you torque the rocker arm blocks down, you are torquing the retaining screws and not having to overcome the force of the valve springs.
A local who was not aware of that and torqued them down without setting that cylinder to TDC of compression "thought" he had torqued everything down properly...till he started the engine and heard one unpleasant sounding engine. It was coming from his rocker arm block that was loose.
#22
Rennlist Member
Great info, that's what I needed, I'll find TDC before torquing anything.
Still wondering about that one lifter that I can compress with my fingers when no others can be compressed. Thoughts?
Still wondering about that one lifter that I can compress with my fingers when no others can be compressed. Thoughts?
#23
Rennlist Member
It might (and probably will) pump up as you use it but it could take a few hours of running time to find out whether or not it's actually bad. Seems like idling won't necessarily do it, you have to drive it in the real world.
I had one lifter that refused to settle down after some weeks, until I went to a DE track day... problem solved.
#25
Racer
Thread Starter
Thanks for posting those documents IXLR8, some good info in there.
One item in particular I wanted to draw attention to in the
"INA Valve Lash Adjustment Elements" document is on page 30
where they recommend a replacement interval of 75k miles (120k kilometers).
Seems like a good recommendation.
On the question of whether or not to use the valve lifter that appears to have
bled down, I'll have to defer to others with more experience as I have only
done this job once.
When you find yourself in a situation where you're not sure what is going on
you need some sort of strategy to get through the problem. I want to quote
this one paragraph from a article that Jorge Menchu wrote about strategies &
techniques for waveform analysis because I think it applies to mechanical
problem solving situations like this too.
"What's my confidence level? Do you really know what you think you
know? Are you 100% sure or just 50% sure? It's important to recognize the
difference among rules (100%), rules of thumb (90%), most of the time (80%),
some of the time (35%) and guessing (?%). It can take some practice to
make the distinction."
That quote is from this article:
http://motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=1935
Now here's an example of what I'm talking about.
When I got my lifters (Sunset Porsche) I noted that one of the lifters was
an oddball. The seal on the outside was a yellowish color and it had a
grime on it. Shown in the next 3 photos.
Just looking at the lifter I can't tell and nobody could tell me why it was
different from the others. My confidence level was therefore low, like 0%.
I decided to replace the lifter, which Sunset gladly did, and delay the install.
You have to be the final QC inspector for any parts you install. Porsche does
an OK job but they do make mistakes all the time. So stay alert.
One final note and it is about everybody's favorite subject: engine oil!
I am now a very happy convert from Mobil 1 15w50 to Brad Penn 20w50.
Just made the switch a couple of weeks ago, so several thousand miles
after the lifter job.
The Brad Penn oil has resulted in a quieter engine. I'm just guessing,
but it may be because it works with the lifters better. I won't speculate
anymore than that, but you might want to keep that in mind if not already
using Brad Penn.
BTW, it is no longer called Racing Oil. The product code is 7119 and
is called Penn Grade-1 High Performance Oil. Their engine oil product page is here:
http://www.amref.com/Products/Brande...gine-Oils.aspx
One item in particular I wanted to draw attention to in the
"INA Valve Lash Adjustment Elements" document is on page 30
where they recommend a replacement interval of 75k miles (120k kilometers).
Seems like a good recommendation.
On the question of whether or not to use the valve lifter that appears to have
bled down, I'll have to defer to others with more experience as I have only
done this job once.
When you find yourself in a situation where you're not sure what is going on
you need some sort of strategy to get through the problem. I want to quote
this one paragraph from a article that Jorge Menchu wrote about strategies &
techniques for waveform analysis because I think it applies to mechanical
problem solving situations like this too.
"What's my confidence level? Do you really know what you think you
know? Are you 100% sure or just 50% sure? It's important to recognize the
difference among rules (100%), rules of thumb (90%), most of the time (80%),
some of the time (35%) and guessing (?%). It can take some practice to
make the distinction."
That quote is from this article:
http://motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=1935
Now here's an example of what I'm talking about.
When I got my lifters (Sunset Porsche) I noted that one of the lifters was
an oddball. The seal on the outside was a yellowish color and it had a
grime on it. Shown in the next 3 photos.
Just looking at the lifter I can't tell and nobody could tell me why it was
different from the others. My confidence level was therefore low, like 0%.
I decided to replace the lifter, which Sunset gladly did, and delay the install.
You have to be the final QC inspector for any parts you install. Porsche does
an OK job but they do make mistakes all the time. So stay alert.
One final note and it is about everybody's favorite subject: engine oil!
I am now a very happy convert from Mobil 1 15w50 to Brad Penn 20w50.
Just made the switch a couple of weeks ago, so several thousand miles
after the lifter job.
The Brad Penn oil has resulted in a quieter engine. I'm just guessing,
but it may be because it works with the lifters better. I won't speculate
anymore than that, but you might want to keep that in mind if not already
using Brad Penn.
BTW, it is no longer called Racing Oil. The product code is 7119 and
is called Penn Grade-1 High Performance Oil. Their engine oil product page is here:
http://www.amref.com/Products/Brande...gine-Oils.aspx
#26
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
My understanding is that the ground up metal in antiseize can contaminate the insulator on the plug, fouling it, and should not be used. Do I have this wrong?
#27
Racer
Thread Starter
wrong. A small amount of copper-based anti-sieze used on the plug threads
will not result in plug fouling.
To foul or short a plug with anti-sieze you would have to cover the electrodes
with it.
A shorted spark plug is easily identified on a secondary ignition waveform.
Always check the ignition waveforms after installing spark plugs.
From my photo archives: a shot of how I prep the plugs for installation.
Last edited by bruce7; 08-01-2015 at 07:04 PM. Reason: added photo