Hi, I am in the process of removing and cleaning the lifters in my 2WD Cosworth YB and have followed a guide I found on here. When I have removed the lifters all the inlet side ones came out fine using a valve grinding sucker. When I removed the exhaust side lifters only 2 out of the 8 came out using the sucker method. The other 6 were stuck in their bores and the only way I could get them out was using some long nose pliers. All the inlet side ones drop in and feel smooth but all the exhaust side ones have some resistance and don't feel right going in. The only way to get them fully in is to push them quite hard which doesn't seem right. I have checked the bores in the head and there is no obvious signs of wear/scoring and I have tried the exhaust lifters on the inlet side and they all drop in nicely which in theory rules out an issue with the lifters.

Has anyone else come across this problem before and is there anything I can do to rectify the issue without removing the head. I was thinking of using some 1000 grit wet and dry with some oil to see if I can clearance the bore but don't want to ruin the head. I am also concerned about getting debris into the valve spring area as there isn't much room in there to put rags etc to catch it.

Can anyone help ?

Thanks in advance

Andy...

 

why did you feel the need to remove and clean them?

when only 2 exhausts came out using the sucker, do you mean that all 8 exhaust lifters could be moved up & down / rotated ok whilst fully in thier bores using the sucker, but 6 of them would not fully extract (so you resorted to the pliers at that point for the 6) or do you mean that the stuborn 6 lifters were siezed whilst still in thier running position?

when you push the stubborn 6 lifters back in to thier running positions are you then able to rotate them in thier bores? in other words, is the resistance to free movement only apparent when you try to extract them?

what happens if you swap exhaust lifters in exhaust bores?

 

Thanks for the reply, the engine had been sat for a few years whilst I built a car around it and has always been quite rattly. After I got it going again I felt it wouldn't do any harm to clean the lifters. Only 2 of the 8 exhaust lifters could be removed/rotated with the sucker. The other 8 were firmly stuck in their bores and wouldn't rotate or lift out with the sucker. The only way I could get them to move ( out or rotate ) at all was with long nose pliers. If I push them back in again to their running position I am still unable to move them in any way with the sucker.

If I fit the lifters from the tight bores into any other bore they are fine. If I fit another lifter into one of these 6 I have the same issue.

 

if you've had the lifters in and out a few times then maybe the bores which are a bit tight will be freed up.

if you can them in and out (albeit with pliers) then the cams and springs will have no problem moving them. they may have been fitted dirty last time and the dirt has been ground into the bores - if thats case then a few in/out sessions might clear the problem. when the head heats up the clearance will increase.

 

No harm to stick a new set in