synthetic oil causing lifter problems

I've been told that synthetic oil is too slippery for allowing the roller lifters to roll on the cam. It create flat spots on. Any opinion ?

 

Could it be the lifters; either manufacture or style of lifter? I am having an issue right now with sticking lifters. The most recent incident was after tear down, checked spring pressure all is good. I soak the lifters before I put them back into the engine. I like to put the lifters, pushrods and rocker assembly on at the race track before initial warmup so that I know everything is well lubricated. Started engine for warm up on the stand, run it for a few minutes to get some heat into it, shut it off and run the valves and sure enough another stuck roller. I put some older ones in it that have about 50 or so runs on them and I made a few more passes with no issues. I have stuck probably a total of 6 lifters in the past couple of months. The last set before this one was roughly 20 runs. This new set, 6 runs. Like i said before, I keep a good eye on our spring pressures, over 500 on the seat and we don't abuse the engine too bad turning it in the 93-9500 range. It doesn't stick one cylinder more than the other or the intake more than the exhaust, it seems to be more of a random issue. We run Lucas 70 and the valve train is as light as we can get it.

 

When you say "stuck" do you mean the lifter body, or the roller wheel, or ?......

 

Sticking Lifters

If the lifter body is what is "sticking" you might check the clearance in the lifter bore with the block warm. Sounds like not enough clearance to me. What is the OD of the lifter?

 

The little rollers inside the wheel, causing the wheel to stick and slide instead of roll like it is intended. I have it down pretty good if i have a little variance in lash, I know something is up and pull the intake. Most cases I can catch it before it wipes the cam, but not always. I have had the same issues on three different grinds now.

 

It takes virtually nothing to stick the little needle rollers in a lifter. If they even loosen up a little in the wheel, they can twist and bind. Fuel teams always run theirs through an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner since they tend to have more chunks in their oil. Typically has less to do with the motor oil and more what is floating in your oil or how hard you're loading it.

 

So why not to choose the bronze bearing lifters (without needles) ?

 

Schubeck used to make a lifter exactly like that. It had a cylindrical solid roller element that rolled in a cavity in the bottom of the lifter body on an oil film. Don't know if they, or something similar, are still available?....

 

I've ran almost every oil and never had a problem. We've ran Jesel and Morel, hundreds of laps on each with no issues. What's the brand in question here?

Brandon

 

When I clean the lifters with a ultra sonic cleaner I then put them in a pan on a hotplate with the motor oil of choice and let them simmer about 200 degrees for several hours to get the oil into the needle bearings and get the voids filled ----I am wondering how and what you use to clean them ??

Just putting them in an oil bath without some heat won't get the oil where it needs to be --

 

I would never ever run needleless lifters again. I ran the new isky red zone lifters and they would gull to the pin and flatspot and ruin the cam. They are "Very Expensive" (Double the Price) and do not last in an alcohol car. I know the pro mod guys may bash me but I and three friends of mine tried them and have all seen the same problems. I would only run morel lifters and I ran 660 pounds of seat pressure, never had one fail since switching. Richard Putz

 

Here's what Schubeck used to offer. I don't know if there is anything today like these or not? http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/attachment.php?attachmentid=55565&stc=1&d=1067536772

 

Thanks for that link, that is a pretty trick design, anyone use these and have first hand experience in an alcohol engine? Do they still make these and were there any problems with them that any of you know of?

Isky makes one without rollers as well, in a couple different versions, with one being for the alcohol guys. I have not heard of anyone running a set in a funny car, dragster or pro mod but a lot of the boat guys in this area have been using them with great success. I have also heard good things about the Jesel lifter, might go that way instead.

http://www.iskycams.com/pdf/2010Catalog-pg28.pdf