Noisy lifters FINALLY quieted!

[float_6969]

Ok, so I think I finally figured out the problem causing my noisy lifters.

In short, I'm a retard.

Here is the long version if you're interested. When I was building my motor, I broke off the adapter that comes out of the block for the oil feed. In the process of trying to remove what was left of it, I screwed up the threads. No biggie, I thought to myself, I'll just drill and tap it out larger and put in a brass fitting. So that's what I did. What I neglected to think about was the fact that the stock oil restrictor is built into the fitting.

I've tried multiple things to fix this problem and nothing has helped. Today for some reason, the idea struck me that the stock oil restrictor is in that fitting that I broke off and maybe I've got low oil pressure because I've got too much oil flowing through the oil feed line.

After shopping for a little while online and seeing how much those stupid fittings cost, I decided there had to be a cheaper, and faster way. So I hit up the parts store, found another 90° adapter that I used on the block, bought an allen head set screw, a matching tap for the threads on the set screw, and a 1/16" (approx .060") drill bit. I drilled a hole through the set screw, tapped the fitting, put some red loctite on the screw and threaded it into the fitting. After letting it set for a few hours and letting the motor cool down, I remove the old fitting, installed the new one, and started the car up.

The lifters ticked once or twice and never made another sound.

My oil pressure reads low, but I'm pretty sure the sending unit on my Autocrap gauge is bad.

It sucks that it took this long to fix it, and I fear that I may have caused damage to the motor, but only time will tell. For now the lifters are quiet and the car runs great.

Next on the list is a new thermostat (it keeps sticking shut) and my rebuilt SR T25 turbo so that we have a side-by-side comparison vs. the CA T25 turbo.

[Liquid_Neon]

YAY! noise is gone = good!

[float_6969]

Thanks at least somebody cared.

[ragenasian]

AWWWW I care

[dattodude]

after the many recent conversations regarding lifters on this forum, I'm happy to hear about another cause. Even if it is something 'normal people' wouldn't see.

Our oil pressure friend does seem to be required to make hydro lifters happy.

Thanks for sharing.

[boost_boy]

Congrats on solving that issue with your lifters!

Dee

[mmm240]

Awesome!And very excited to see the outcome of this:

and my rebuilt SR T25 turbo so that we have a side-by-side comparison vs. the CA T25 turbo.

[bentvalves]

congratulations!

I bet you were elated when those lifters shut their mouths huh?

Im sure you have COUNTLESS hours invested trying to diagnose this problem, and look what it was this entire f*ing time.

but yea, awsomeness.

[float_6969]

Well one lifter started ticking a little tonight, but I have a feeling that it might have been damaged from the lack of oil pressure.

When the wife gets her Miata legal again, I'll send the lifters down to get rebuilt again and swap out the turbo's.

[lostmenoggin]

interesting..

i did the same thing: broke off the oil feed fitting. i got some 1/4" brake line from the parts store and tapped it into the other side of the motor where the oil pressure sending unit is with some NPT fittings and ran it under the crank pully to the turbo. i havent had a problem with low oil pressure or noisy lifters. is this restricter really that important? im running an sr t25 right now..

[float_6969]

It completely cured the smoke I was getting out of my turbo, so I would say there is some truth to it. If nothing else, IDK why Nissan would go to all the trouble to build that special fitting if it wasn't necessary.

Well I check the oil pressure on a good quality mechanical (snap on) gauge compared to my autometer electric, and they completely agree.

This means that I do, infact, have low oil pressure. The only options now are to modify the oil pump the increase the pressure on the system, or rebuild the motor and decrease the tolerances on the main and rod bearings.

Oil pump modification is first on the list. I got another set of lifters rebuilt, but I hate to install them if the low oil pressure is just going to make them crap out again.

[progman]

can you use a thicker oil? this sounds like it should not be so hard to fix. but I have no idea.

good luck.

[bentvalves]

shim the oil pump first, I'd be SUPER curious to see how much it affects oil pressure.

[float_6969]

can you use a thicker oil? this sounds like it should not be so hard to fix. but I have no idea.

good luck.

I'm already running 10-40. It's in the middle of winter here (single digits) and I can't run anything thicker. The combination of the small battery, thick oil, and E85 already makes it hard to start in the cold.

shim the oil pump first, I'd be SUPER curious to see how much it affects oil pressure.

Are you referencing the spring?

[bentvalves]

yes shim the spring.

[float_6969]

i tried that already. it had little to no effect. I'm going to try actually buying another spring that is stiffer.

[bentvalves]

keep us updated, stay focused maan!

Greg