At 17:20 1/7/00 , John wrote:
>There seems to be no end to "solutions" to getting the hydraulic lifters
>adjusted correctly. If I recall accurately, the Hyd lifter came into
>existance to "simply" provide the correct valve clearance automatically.
>The thought of adjusting clearances, running the engine, removing the
>plugs, checking the compression makes no sense. If adjusting initial
>tolerances were this much work, there would be no Hyd lifters today.
>Does the basic procedure in the Bentley work or not ?

It's like the little girl with the little curl -- when it works, it works
great.  When it doesn't....

There is a problem with Vanagon hydraulic lifter operation and I don't
think anybody yet understands just what it is.  I will offer my opinion of
the moment:  the lifter springs are too strong or the valve springs are too
weak.  I have been scratching my head about this for some time now, partly
subsidised by Boston Bob, and this is the theory I hope to explore
next.  Actually I have rather high hopes for it -- hydraulic lifters are
not magic and I believe that I understand quite well how they
work.  However, that doesn't mean I'm right, of course.  An alternative
possibility is that the clearances are too tight between the inner and
outer parts of the lifter.

There is also a known problem which is that hydraulic lifters in general
are happier when standing upright; this is an issue in certain Continental
flat-four aircraft engines.  However I believe that the "barrel-type"
lifter such as the Vanagon uses alleviates or eliminates this problem.

david
David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"