Checking lifters

[78Chev]

When I put my engine back together sometime in the near future I will have to choose lifters. I've got some relatively new ones (<5k miles probably but only 12 of them) and some used ones. In all of the new ones you can't compress the lifter by pushing on it with a pushrod. In most of the used onces you can push it down with your thumb about 3/16 inch or so - although 3 used ones are stiff like the newer ones. So, what is normal? Which would you use? Given all the concern about lifters on this site I needs to know!
Thanks - Randy

[john8662]

I haven't been able to get a straight answer about lifters yet. So I'm working on my own testing of them. I would think the difference between your old ones and the new ones is that the old ones have been sitting around and have finally bled down the pressure inside. I'm going for a set of lifters that can hold the pressure and don't bleed down over time, but will over very extended times.

I'm building an engine test stand this coming weekend (amongst other things) and I want to run an engine on it w/o the valve covers on it. This is so I can see how long after running it that it takes for the lifters to pump up and bleed down. Trying to figure out whats normal myself. I'm going to buy an '87 model 6.2 pull out complete engine that runs (I get to start it before pulling it) that I'm going to use for this test.

To me, a lifter Should remain pumped up.

Out of the 16 original lifters out my '86, two bled down quickly, the others are still pumped up. The current set, who knows, thats coming as soon as I get a backup truck running.

Something interesting though. All three engines I've got sitting in the shop floor w/o the heads on have the lifters bled down. I can push just about all of them in by hand, so they DO bleed down over time, the've been non-running for years now.

I guess the final question is, how long will they stay pumped up?

[arveetek]

I purchased 16 new Sealed Power lifters. Out of that lot, about 6 of them I was able to push down with my thumb, the others were too hard to move. This was before any oil had touched them. The 6 that I were able to move by hand had a different colored keeper pin on the top than the others. The printing on the package looked a little different as well. Same part numbers though. I'm guess that they were different build dates. Makes me think that maybe they've used different springs or something like that over the years.

Perhaps genuine GM lifters would be best. They're very expensive though. I've seen a few new sets sell on ebay lately, though. I tried to get a set but kept missing the end of the auction due to various circumstances.

I've gotten my engine running smooth finally, but I've still got a very faint noise that I believe is coming from one lifter. I'm not going to do anything about it unless it gets worse. It's not loud enough that anybody can really hear it. It's definitely not ticking like before my rebuild, that's for sure.

Casey

[78Chev]

Don't think I'm going to spend the $$ on new GM lifters, so which would you use if it were you? The ones that are hard to push down or the other ones? I'm leaning toward the new ones I can't push down. Geesh, seems like at least the lifters would be a no brainer for me!!

[john8662]

Yeah the GM lifters were overpriced and they had to be ordered, I was quoted 35 a piece!