hey guys

ive got a turbo I6 Ef with au bottem end with ef head. i keep on KILLING lifters for some reason. the cam standard and got correct shims. the lifters are 800km old also the engine 800km old. im running High volume oil pump as well. i bought the lifter from coventry/burson automotive. and ive replace 2 already and another one failed while i was driving tonight sound like cylinder 6 exhaust but ill check it out tomorrow morning.

are there a better brand lifter that others???? cause ive been replacing the lifters with repco lifters.

im running the engine in with castrol gpx 2 20w50? i think it is. im going to change over to my new oil this week "ELF 10w40"(i get it cheap threw work if not free if a bottle been sitting around for a few days)

any suggestions??

you might have an internal oil leak. i've seen them leak oil from the headgasket into the timing case, intern bleeding oil pressure from the head/HLAs.


it wouldn't supries me if all HLAs came from the same factory. i've used them all and never had any problems.

lol don't tell me that the head and bock both were shaved and decked during rebuild.

you'd know if it did, it would be killing them all within 1000km.

hmmmm the lifters only seem to die when i give it the whole boot full in first and into seconds. other than that never have any problems. the i removed the rocker assembly they seem well lubed and cam seemed well lubed so thats good

A few questions:

1) When you say they die, what actually happens? Does the spring break? Does the lifter jam closed or refuse to hold pressure? Or is it just noisy even though it looks fine?

2) How much shim are you using? I recently had my EF XR6 cam mildly reground (195/192deg @050, .530/.504"). I needed only one 1mm shim (as well as the factory shim) for both intake and exhaust to take up all the slack - quiet as!

I'm thinking you may be over- or under-shimmed and over-stressing the lifters. High revs gives the lifters less time to leak down, so they may be hydraulicing.

3) Do you have the factory shims in the right way? (three slots toward lifter, single slot toward rocker)

4) Do the lifters have the black plastic retaining ring? Some engine builders recommend removing the black ring if you are using shims, as the ring can hang up in the rocker bore.

Just trying on a few ideas. Hope this helps.

For shims I used 5mm 316 (or A4) stainless steel flat washers. They are 10mm OD, 1.0mm thick, very hard, and very cheap (10 cents each). Some do not trust washers, so use them at your own risk.

I replaced all the lifters at the same time for about A$10 each from Carl at Engine Parts Ltd here in NZ (www.engineparts.net.nz) and they work fine. This is by far the best price I have found. They have metal retaining rings instead of black plastic, which don't contact the bore and don't get brittle. He orders them from Oz, so he may be able to tell you where to get them over there.

well when a lifter goes it jams up and don't return and the new lifters i bought threw coventrys/bursons dont the that black seal on them any more they redesigned them

genuine ford items! expensive, but the repco have nothing but troubles