I have gone through this engine a few times over the years I’ve owned it. I recently changed springs and lifters but I have not found the proper way to “bleed or prime” the lifters or if it is even needed. I had let them soak before installing them. However upon replacing the springs with the 82# springs from ZZP and lifter from ZZP as well. One rocker arm slipped and damaged the valve retainer and resulted in a bent valve.

About 2 months later and letting my back regain strength I went back to it regardless of it being -2° some days.

Everything is back together, torqued correctly. I rotated the cams to make sure everything moved properly. Upon start up it chatters, taps from around the area of the cam sprockets. I have surfed threads, google etc. I have read it can be an issue with the tensioner, exhaust manifold, guide bolt for the timing among other things. I plan to tear into it again in a few hours.

I have seen a thread of the rocker arm being split and causing the chatter. It rises with the RPMs at idle. I am just curious if there is a certain procedure to bleed the lifters or if you can just drop them in. I have heard both sides on it not mattering.

 

To bleed the lash adjusters you can put something small like an allen key through the hole on the top. Now with the lifter in a cup of oil covering the top completely you can push down on the Allen key. If done correctly you will push the air out and the oil will take its place it may take a couple plunges to get all the air out. Once you have the timing chain all back together make sure you rotate the engine by hand to get the chain to settle and everything will tighten up. If you do not rotate the engine there is a good chance the timing can skip and it may damage something.

 

You still remote tuning?

 

I had assembled the head with the cams and everything and rotated the head assembly with new springs and lifters. Everything rotated good.

Upon removal of the valve cover and checked the cylinder 1 rocker arms were not cracked. Everything still rotated.

I reassembled the valve cover and its components and started the car. I checked the my wideband o2 and it was pulling codes for a random misfire p0300. I looked into where the misfires were occurring and it stated cylinder 2 was the highest and cylinder 1 would have a couple in the cycle.

I did have the lifters soak for a few days until the air stopped bubbling. I am starting to think lifters are not the problem.

 

Not really. I have my car back on the road so when I'm driving it I don't mind sometimes doing some extra tunes on the side. I am not really looking to do much remote tuning since I have so many projects on the go.