noisy lifter on ford explorer -should I tear into?

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I have a noisy lifter 98 ford explorer sohc 4.0. My mechanic thinks it is an exhaust valve lifter. Any thoughts on what to do? fix or ignore?? I got about 140,000 on the engine
 
What kind of mileage? Adjustable???? I believe they are your standard hydraulic lifters.

How bad is the noise? I'd try to rule out gum/varnish first and dump a qt of MMO in there (after draining a quart of oil out) and see if the lifter frees up after a nice long drive.

Doing a lifter on that engine isn't a huge deal, but I'd try the less invasive approach first.

Best,
 
The SOHC doesn't have "lifters"........... It has hydraulic lash adjusters.

Are you 100% sure it isn't timing chain noise?
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
The SOHC doesn't have "lifters"........... It has hydraulic lash adjusters.

Are you 100% sure it isn't timing chain noise?

Tell me more about lash adjusters.

Timing gear chain? I hope not as I had the front and rear chains replaced about 3 months ago. There was some noise about a month after the chain replacement and we thought it might be the chain repair. The shop has twice checked out the repair. They pulled the valve covers, repcaced the rear chain tensioner, changed oil twice and used a bore scope and could not find no physical problems. We did replace the belt tensioner and idler pully which reduced the noise a great deal to where it now sounds like a "lifter". This is what the shop owner told me. Perhaps he is avoiding the problem. We did put a quart of Lucas oil stabililer when we changed the oil to hopefully help clean.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Used in a generic way "lifter" is totally acceptable terminology.
These are actually "lifters" in the 4.0 as they "lift" the rear of the cam follower to remove play.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_tappet

Timing chains are a known issue.Any plastic particles when doing a oil change?


No particles mentioned by the shop. This was one of the concerns. That is reason for the replacement of the rear tensioner. Fear that plastic may be clogging it. We have changed the oil 3 times since the repair in about 2,000 miles. The shop also checked oil pressure
 
The Lucas oil stabilizer is very thick, I'd get that out. If you are looking to clean the engine there are better options. Are you sure you aren't hearing the fuel injectors? They can sometimes sound like "lifters" ticking.
 
I would guess that it's a "lazy" hydraulic lifter. They are pretty precise little buggers, a tiny amount of gunk or varnish will cause them to not self-adjust correctly.

Auto-RX has worked for me in the past. Run a dose and make sure to run the engine frequently in the highest oil pressure range to flush out the junk.
 
Originally Posted By: EricF
I'd try a hefty bottle of MMO, Seafoam or Rislone. Try the science stuff before tearing into it.


First check your oil filter now and make sure it is not clogged and slowing oil flow.

I have cleaned a stuck hydraulic lifters with MMO & rislone in the past. I put 1 quart of MMO in a 5 quart sump and ran it 3000 miles. The rislone took 5000 miles. SO i would try the MMO before you do anything. If after 5000 miles it doesn't diminish. Tear into it. If it starts to quiet down at 5000...run another 5000 with a new fill of MMO . Sometimes sludge/dirt will clog lifters and they will start tapping. Other times they are just worn out or leaking. Check your oil filter at 1000 miles to be sure it is not clogged because if you have a sludged engine the MMO will start cleaning and all that gunk will be in your filter. If the filter is clogged...change the oil & repeat.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Used in a generic way "lifter" is totally acceptable terminology.
These are actually "lifters" in the 4.0 as they "lift" the rear of the cam follower to remove play.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_tappet

Timing chains are a known issue.Any plastic particles when doing a oil change?


Lol, wikipedia for engine advice
grin2.gif


A lifter, in the traditional sense, is a flat or roller cylinder which follows the profile of the camshaft to operate on a pushrod, actuating a rocker and opening the valve.

This is a LASH adjuster, because that is what it does. It removes excessive lash from the rocker. They are no different than the hydraulic lash adjusters used in the Modular family, and operate in the same way.

The term "lifter" is a misnomer here, since the valve would still open if the device were not present, since this device does not actually actuate the valve.

The wikipedia article you cited is already flagged for having issues, and I imagine this is why.

I'm sure for many that it is nice to "dumb it down" and classify them all as one in the same, since the two you are thinking of are both hydraulic cylinders, but one acts directly on the rocker CAUSING lift as well as controlling lash, whilst the other simply controls lash.

non-hydraulic lifters such as solid lifters and solid roller lifters of course provide no lash compensation function, yet are still lifters.

This is why the separate term "hydraulic lash adjuster" exists, and of course omits the word "lifter" from the phrase.....

By the way, I am NOT intending this to sound harsh, so please don't take it that way. The distinction was always noted by my mechanics teacher, and in our textbooks and I think it is an important one to note. As the uses are specific between pushrod and overhead cam engines.
 
Originally Posted By: Russell
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
The SOHC doesn't have "lifters"........... It has hydraulic lash adjusters.

Are you 100% sure it isn't timing chain noise?

Tell me more about lash adjusters.

Timing gear chain? I hope not as I had the front and rear chains replaced about 3 months ago. There was some noise about a month after the chain replacement and we thought it might be the chain repair. The shop has twice checked out the repair. They pulled the valve covers, repcaced the rear chain tensioner, changed oil twice and used a bore scope and could not find no physical problems. We did replace the belt tensioner and idler pully which reduced the noise a great deal to where it now sounds like a "lifter". This is what the shop owner told me. Perhaps he is avoiding the problem. We did put a quart of Lucas oil stabililer when we changed the oil to hopefully help clean.


Lucas isn't going to "clean" anything. Run some Redline through it and see if that cleans it out.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Trav
Used in a generic way "lifter" is totally acceptable terminology.
These are actually "lifters" in the 4.0 as they "lift" the rear of the cam follower to remove play.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_tappet

Timing chains are a known issue.Any plastic particles when doing a oil change?


Lol, wikipedia for engine advice
grin2.gif


A lifter, in the traditional sense, is a flat or roller cylinder which follows the profile of the camshaft to operate on a pushrod, actuating a rocker and opening the valve.

This is a LASH adjuster, because that is what it does. It removes excessive lash from the rocker. They are no different than the hydraulic lash adjusters used in the Modular family, and operate in the same way.

The term "lifter" is a misnomer here, since the valve would still open if the device were not present, since this device does not actually actuate the valve.

The wikipedia article you cited is already flagged for having issues, and I imagine this is why.

I'm sure for many that it is nice to "dumb it down" and classify them all as one in the same, since the two you are thinking of are both hydraulic cylinders, but one acts directly on the rocker CAUSING lift as well as controlling lash, whilst the other simply controls lash.

non-hydraulic lifters such as solid lifters and solid roller lifters of course provide no lash compensation function, yet are still lifters.

This is why the separate term "hydraulic lash adjuster" exists, and of course omits the word "lifter" from the phrase.....

By the way, I am NOT intending this to sound harsh, so please don't take it that way. The distinction was always noted by my mechanics teacher, and in our textbooks and I think it is an important one to note. As the uses are specific between pushrod and overhead cam engines.

OK, can lash adjusters make a noise similar to lifter noise?
 
Yes, they can bleed down and cause excessive lash between the roller follower on the rocker and the camshaft itself, making noise.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
little trivia note, the Ford GT supercar uses the 4.0 SOHC lash adjusters on one side and standard modular lash adjusters on the other side.


That IS very interesting! And I didn't know that. Do you know the reason for it?
 
i forget what side its on, but its due to a revised runner design on that particular cylinder head. i had a customer try to tell me it was a special GT only part, only thing was when i ran a buyers guide on the part number is listed all 4.0 SOHC applications. it didnt have a 4G7Z prefix which would indicate GT Supercar, it had a F77Z prefix which indicated 97 Ranger/Explorer.
 
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