Dodgy Aftermarket Mi16 Hydraulic Lifters

[SweetBadger 94]

Bit of a warning to all considering going for new aftermarket MI16 hydraulic lifters - check they are moving smoothly in the lifter bore before attempting to run the engine - see below:

 

Yesterday I finally got the head back on my MI16 engine after having to helicoil all of the head bolt threads in the block, and it looks like I have just narrowly missed having the engine destroyed by dodgy lifters!

I'm in the process of fitting throttle bodies and Newman PH4 inlet PH3 exhaust cams to the engine and as my OE lifters have seen better days (were a bit tappety with hot oil and often depressurised when the engine was stopped) so I bought a fresh set of new hydraulic lifters.

I fitted the lifters and cams and then turned each cam 360 degrees to make sure the cams cleared the lifter bores and went round smoothly. The first thing I noticed was that there was a little more resistance than usual when turning the cams, but put this down to the assembly lube used (it's quite sticky).

The cams went round ok, but as I moved the inlet cam round I heard a clunk... First thought was: s*it have I just touched inlet and exhaust valves? But that definitely hadn't happened.

 

I then also noticed that it looked like some of the inlet valves were being held off their seats very slightly, so assuming that the lifters were over primed, I removed the cam-caps so that I could drain the lifters... Annoying but not the end of the world.

 

When I took the cams back out, 3 of the lifters were stuck down in the lifter bores!

 

The clunk I heard was a lifter springing up and hitting the base of the cam when it freed up after it had gotten stuck at the bottom of the lifter bore... Had I run the engine with these lifters, there would have been piston-valve contact instantly with a lifter stuck at the bottom of the lifter bore holding the valve open!

 

The three stuck lifters were well stuck in there too. I managed to get one of them out by moving it up and down in the bore and applying oil until it freed up, but while I was doing this the lifter started 'shaving' material from the lifter bore, as very thin shavings of ally were appearing at the top of the bore. Luckily there's no obvious damage or marks on the bores...

 

For the other two lifters the only way to get them out was hit them hard with a hammer until they freed up - not a pleasant thin to have to do to a recently rebuilt head.

 

Reading a few more posts on here and it seems I'm no the only one to have this issue:

 

 

kyepan had the same issue see here: http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=105821&page=11

 

And although not confirmed, looks like DrSarty might have had the same issue at the detriment of an engine: http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=138980&page=6

 

 

It's pretty out of order to produce something of such bad quality that it will almost certainly cause severe engine damage!

 

 

So I'm going to try get my money back on the lifters I bought, but that still leaves me in need of a need a new set of lifters. Does anyone have any recommendations on where to get the from or what type to get (obviously pug ones would be best but they cost a fortune!). I might give Newmann Cams a call and see what they recommend.

[welshpug 1,657]

what was wrong with the original ones?

 

I just stripped and cleaned mine and its reasonably quiet for an engine with cams now.

Edited September 21, 2014 by welshpug

[SweetBadger 94]

For some reason one of the cam lobes on my old catcams 526 inlet cam was severely worn (by about 1mm on the end) and the lifter surface was correspondingly worn.

 

Plus although quiet in normal operation, they were tappety with hot oil (e.g. after a session on track), and they seemed to drain down quite easily with the engine stopped, so it would tap on initial start up for a while.

 

So I figure it's best to get some replacements, especially as I'll need to run them in with the new cams.

[welshpug 1,657]

Ah, yes I have heard that of the catcams.

 

o.e ones are listed at £22 each

[joshsnoad 2]

i have a set of genuine lifters left from a peugeot job lot a brought. All still sealed and in orignal packing, let me know if any use to you?

[SweetBadger 94]

Holy crap! It'd be cheaper to convert to solid lifters than buy them new from Pug!

 

Hi Josh, yes I'd be interested price dependent - will pm you in a mo.

[Josh_Quant 27]

what make was the ones you bought?

[petert 586]

I can't believe they still try to sell them. I've warned many people and wrote something here:

 

http://www.taylor-eng.com/16v_head/16v_head.htm

 

You can use XU10J4R/RS lifters.

[welshpug 1,657]

early 7jp4 and 10J4r are the same part number as the MI16's 0942 30

 

RS is 0942 31, later J4R/7J4 are 0942 45.

[joshsnoad 2]

ok thats good to know the ones i have rigged out are 094230, so are the right ones. got 2 or 3 sets i think if anyone wants. been on shelf for a while but are in the plastic cups with oil in so can't see them going bad

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

Price?