Fact or Fiction? Lifters need to soak in oil overnight before installing???
09-01-2017, 09:10 PM
#2
Soak witht hem standing upright or plung them a cpl times while bathed in oil.
It fills them with oil and lubes them proper before your cam beats the snot out of them.
I have always done it, is it mandatory, i dont know because everyone i know who builds, does it also.
Might be one of those myths that just get passed down over the decades and nooone wants to risk killing a cam, lifter or valve train if they are wrong and dont pre load/libe them.
I bet the geeks on the power masters youtube channel would find out. They love busting old myths like this.
It fills them with oil and lubes them proper before your cam beats the snot out of them.
I have always done it, is it mandatory, i dont know because everyone i know who builds, does it also.
Might be one of those myths that just get passed down over the decades and nooone wants to risk killing a cam, lifter or valve train if they are wrong and dont pre load/libe them.
I bet the geeks on the power masters youtube channel would find out. They love busting old myths like this.
09-02-2017, 07:41 AM
#4
On The Tree
It's a myth. Well, sort of. The idea is, as stated above, to pre-fill hydraulic lifters. The thing is, soaking them doesn't do this. You can disassemble each lifter; fill with oil; reassemble. Very messy and tedious and risk losing a spring clip or other small part. You can get a syringe and fill each lifter through its oil feed hole. This works and is pretty easy. An Eagle "pump" type oil can can be used instead of a syringe but you'll end up squirting oil all over yourself and everywhere else, most likely. You can try submerging each lifter and then try to pump the plunger its full stroke, which should purge air and draw in oil. This should work also but is not as easy as it sounds.
I guess it depends on the manufacturer, but the most recent lifter job I did was on my Twin Cam Harley. The lifters are pretty much identical to Chevrolet lifters. They were completely full of oil from the factory (they are S&S lifters; not Harley).
I guess it depends on the manufacturer, but the most recent lifter job I did was on my Twin Cam Harley. The lifters are pretty much identical to Chevrolet lifters. They were completely full of oil from the factory (they are S&S lifters; not Harley).
09-02-2017, 08:21 AM
#5
What do you have to lose by soaking them in oil? Usually these questions have a downside if you do what you're asking about, but in this case there's nothing. I've dropped a lifter before because it was soaked in oil and slippery....but that's about all I can think of.
09-02-2017, 08:26 AM
#6
It's a waste of time but feel free. If the engine sits any amount of time afterwards that oil is long gone... and as stated you won't prefill the lifter by letting it sit in oil either. Prelubing before startup is what matters.
