Damon,

Yes a lifter can be bad from the get go!  About 10 months ago, I rebuilt 3
WBX engines.  All got new lifters.  Whithin 4 months, I had to replace the
lifters in all 3 engines.  My supplier warrantied the lifters, but that
didn't help much considering the amount of labor involved.  We pretty much
determined that the lifters all came from the same batch, and that batch was
FUBAR!

The design of hydraulic lifter in the WBX is less than ideal in the first
place, so if they aren't working exactly as they should, you will run into
problems.

Cheers & Good Luck,

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Damon Campbell
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 10:55 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Clacky new(ish) lifter?

One of the few persistent problems i've been having
with my new engine is that one of the lifters just
keeps tick-tick-ticking away.  I have all new german
lifters, a re-ground cam, and then re-used the
pushrods and rockers (but made sure to put them back
in their same locations/orientations).  I'm currently
running straight 30w, but am going to move to 20-50
very soon.

I've tried adjusting them per bently, .006" clearance,
and even 2 1/4 turns in.  I've also tried using some
marvel mystery oil (only half a bottle, though).  None
of these have really made any difference...

Can a lifter be bad from the get go?  Is this likely
at all, or is there something i've missed?  I think it
is in the 1-3 cylinder bank, but i havn't had a good
place to work on my van since my move up to canada...

Thanks for any input.  Aside from that, the van is
driving quite impressively.  I took a trip down to
corvallis, OR over last weekend, and the van cruised
effortlessly anywhere from 65 to 85 (but typically
held near 75).  The cool thing was the pull whenever i
wanted to pass someone.  Go from 1/3 throttle to 2/3
throttle and *vroom* there you go!  I never had to
floor it once :-)

Anyway, any help with the lifter thing would be cool
:-)

-Damon

=====
'84 Westy (Sparky) w/2.3L WBX (wow... it actually works!)

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