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Date:         Tue, 2 Nov 1999 13:00:35 -0500
Reply-To:     Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bulley <gmbulley@BULLEY-HEWLETT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Bad valve? Lifter? Help!!! TICK TICK TICK!!
Comments: To: Mike Ray <Mike.Ray@AMMOBILE.COM>

Mike-

Collapsed lifters are a very common Vanagon problem. Don't go ripping your motor apart just yet. They are caused by two circumstances, both can be cured in seconds. You won't do any damage to your motor while it is ticking, (in fact it will temporarily refill after about 10 miles).

First you prolly have a piece of trash in on of the lifters. Run a can of Marvel Mystery Oil in the Crankcase until your next oil change. The MMO will dissolve the little piece of poo, and the lifter will work as designed. Second, use MANN or VW oil filters. They have an anti-backflow valve and some German magic in them that lesser filters lack. If these things fail, check the archives for heaps of other info on how to clear a sticky lifter (ATF is most helpful as well).

Cheers, and welcome to the sticky lifter club.

G. Matthew Bulley Director Bulley-Hewlett & Associates www.bulley-hewlett.com Cary, NC USA 888.468.4880 tollfree

-----Original Message----- From: Mike Ray [SMTP:Mike.Ray@AMMOBILE.COM] Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 1999 11:03 AM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Bad valve? Lifter? Help!!! TICK TICK TICK!!

Thanks all for the info on the drain plug... I now have a real problem!

TICK TICK TICK. Valve probs! They are loud and came on instantly. I parked the van after coming home from work (1/2 hour trip) Had no problem. Started it the next day to park in the garage. Ticking. hmmmmm. Started it up this morning. Ticking. I crawled under with a screwdriver to my ear, Pass side valve cover is really loud. You can hear it in the house over the engine running. The other side is quiet and it's never made any noise prior to this. I unfortunately, don't know much about the maint history of the motor. Doesn't leak and is real clean w/ 120K miles on the van. May have had a motor swap in the past.

So where to start? I've never worked on VW horizontal motors.

1.. I assume a lifter or pushrod. I haven't opened or verified which valve it is. Assuming that while hand cranking the motor, I don't see anything weird, how can I tell which one it is? Should I change all the lifters and pushrods to be safe? 2.. Could a rocker arm have gone out of adjustment overnight? 3.. Can the lifters be removed w/o head removal? I assume not, but the Bentley is unclear. Can you just remove the pushrod tube w/o the head?

I've done head work on American mid-cam cars and several overhead cam cars but never a horizontal motor. Any help on where to start would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mike `87 Westy


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