[the1nicko]

Hey guys this may be a real dumb question but I need help lining up my oil holes on my lifters with my head. I got a new reman head assembeled. The way it looks from my pictures is the tiny hole on the lifter should line up with hole 1 correct? When I took them out to make sure they were lined up the were all backwards, so I want to make sure this is right. Thanks.

 

[dave8338]

Ya know...without looking in the book, I hesitate give you a suggestion. I do think #1 is the correct answer though. When you look at the cam lobes, in order for the roller lifter to align with the cam...it appears that it HAS to be the #1 hole in your picture. My thought is that the #2 hole is for drainage and not pressurized...

 

[the1nicko]

Yea, thats what I was thinking also, but I cant imagine why they would have installed everyone backwards, maybe a couple I can understand, I'd think maybe they just threw them in there without looking, if they did that though the chances of them ALL being backwards is pretty low. Oh well good thing I checked, if someone else wants to confirm that would help out alot.

 

[dave8338]

Yea, thats what I was thinking also, but I cant imagine why they would have installed everyone backwards, maybe a couple I can understand, I'd think maybe they just threw them in there without looking, if they did that though the chances of them ALL being backwards is pretty low. Oh well good thing I checked, if someone else wants to confirm that would help out alot.

OH THAT can be explained quite easily...all it takes is working on the opposite side of the tray that you use to hold the lifters in place and in order while you're working on the head. I have done that myself.
Now the trays are labled per lifter and top and bottom so it can't happen.

 

[Joey_Twowagons]

I rebuilt two heads that I am pretty sure were original, a 1992 and 1995. Both had the little holes in the lifters opposite the oil supply holes in the head, so that's the way I put them back.
If you study the lifter, you can see that the ring groove communicates to the small hole, so either way they are installed they will get pressurized oil. If they are reversed, the rollers will revolve the opposite way to what they're used to. I don't know if that's good or bad.

While I had mine out, I dismantled each one separately and cleaned it up with 600 grit emery to insure the parts didn't bind on the varnish coating, since they would be operating at a very slightly different position when the head is removed and reinstalled, especially on the head that I skimmed. I did find a small blob of aluminum almost clogging one of the lifter's holes which was satisfying to remove.

 

[the1nicko]

Hmm, well now I am not sure how they are supposed to go. Should I put them back how they were? I started up the car today and everything is running fine, but I am getting a loud lifter tick, not as loud as before when my lifters were destroyed but still noticeable. These lifters are brand new so I am wondering if it will go away when all the air gets out, or if I should take them out and turn them around. If they are wrong could I have done any damage running it for 5 minutes?

 

[the1nicko]

Ok so I probably should have done this before, but I figured the repair manual wouldnt have this info. I looked in my repair manual and this is what it reads.

"Lubricate the hydraulic lifters with engine oil before inserting them into their original bores. Position the lifters with their guide flats parallel to the center line of the camshaft and the color code dots opposite the oil feed holes."

Can someone confirm what the color code dots are? Are those the little holes in the lifters? From the info I have seen so far I am going to take them out and reverse them. Any chance I damaged anything?

 

[Joey_Twowagons]

Yes I recall the same reference to (long gone) "color orientation dots" in the shop manual. This presumably was some mark visible on brand new lifters so is of use when assembling engines with new Ford lifters.
I got my manual out now, and I see the figure A 13090-A on page 03-01B-44 of the 1991 Escort Tracer shop manual includes a drawing of a lifter. This shows the color code opposite the oil feed hole into tappet. The instructions say "Color orientation dots on the tappets should be opposite the oil feed holes in the cylinder head."

This would put the holes in the lifters in line with the holes in the cylinder head.

I can't see how putting the lifters in the other way could cause harm.

The drawing has a rather useless label, "color code on tappet" with an arrow pointing to the center of a tappet. Additional gems are ""Install the tappets with the plunger upward"- i.e. don't put them in with the little rolly wheel thingy upward.
I still like putting the oil feed holes opposite the tappet holes, as then the oil will travel around the groove in the lifter, and carry any air with it into the lifter and then out. If the holes are aligned, then there is a dead pocket of oil (and possibly air) in the groove.

On my 1995 engine, I oiled the lifters after disassembling and cleaning them, but otherwise they were empty. The oil filter was also empty, and I guess the oil galleries had drained back completely as the engine made a God-awful clattering for about ten seconds on starting. After that, and on subsequent starts, it was nice and quiet.

With the small Ford V8s I used to run the oil pump with a speed wrench and 1/4" socket on its hex driveshaft, but it's not possible to run the oil pump on the 1.9L engine to prime the oil system, unfortunately.

 

[Benlightnd]

color orientation dots

this refers to a spot of paint on top of the lifter. Normally yellow in color but I've seen a few that were red. Guess that depends on the flavor of the day.

This paint will wash off in time. It should always be present on a new lifter.

IF, your planning on removing your lifters, and you don't see some kind of marking on them to use for orientation, you need to mark them with something like white out so you know how to put them back in.

The idea is to use something that will break down and wash off so you don't end up with flakes of paint stuck in your crankshaft bearings.

I've seen more than one main bearing wiped out because a flake of paint became lodged in the bearing. Although not a common result, it does happen.

I don't think you have anything to worry about by turning your lifters backward. No mechanical failure should result from that. However, I was caught by your statement that you ran this engine for 5 minutes and the ticking noise was still there. Lifters should pump up in a matter of seconds if you have good oil pressure.

I would investigate that issue if it were me to insure all is OK.

 

[the1nicko]

Ok, well I flipped them around today and the car is running great, the ticking is gone, runs perfect. I am getting a small surge though, I found a vacum line disconnected, a rubber line that comes off the exhaust tube that is connected to the egr valve, anyone know where that goes?

 

[garix]

I know this is an old thread, but the fix was with the small hole in the lifter
aligned with the oil feed or 180 from it? I am reading a lot of conflicting stuff related to this.

 

[millball]

The single cam engines were assembled at the factory with the lifter holes 180" away from the oil feed hole in the head. This being said, any lifters that have been run for any period of time time should be replaced just as they were found in order to avoid changing an existing wear pattern. Maybe new lifters installed in a tired engine with poor oil pressure could benefit from being installed with the oil holes coinciding, I don't know.
See the remarks @

http://www.feoa.net/modules.php?name=Fo ... highlight=

 

[91WhtScort]

The hole in the lifter 180 to the hole in the head is correct.

 

[garix]

Thanks for the confirmation. That is the way I assembled them. I am chasing a little clack noise in #4 cyl after repairing dropped valve seat damage. New piston, rings & brgs. Rod ok. Lifters are not new, but had no noise before. I better double check myself on the lifters.

 

[dadio4]

I'm still chasing noises myself. post back what you determine, i ended up replacing all my lifters on a reman cylinder head, but the noise didn't change substantially. i don't think the lifters get much attention on reman units, just my opinion.

 

[garix]

After replacing #4 piston I have narrowed it down to piston slap. Escorts have kind have been prone to that on cold starts. When I was a Ford Tech
when ordering bearings or pistons they were coded red or blue. The red was supposed to be std and the blue slightley oversized. I probably should have researched my piston purchase a little more looking at specs.
There was no wear at all in the bore, but I feel the noise could have been elimated by using the slightly oversized piston. After a 15 minute drive, the noise is pretty much gone, so I will turn up the radio!