Chriskaw440

update: Just removed the lifter assembly, and I was right about the suspect lifter, but, when I removed it, the pad on it is worn halfway through! actually gotten concaved in shape...thus why it looked like it was sitting lower than the others in the lifter block. you know how when you look at the lifter pad...(what rides on the camshaft) it looks like there are TWO SECTIONS to it, kinda like two solid washers stacked on top of each other.... well half of that is gone...worn away, and its only been driven about 25 to 30 miles maybe since putting them in. I am HOPING it was just a bad lifter that was somehow stuck.... it seemed to be well oiled, and the oil passages all had fresh oil running out of them when was removing the assembly. All I can think of doing for now is to put another lifter in it and see what happens..even though I am sure that cam lobe is well worn now LOL. weirdness....

Yes I had to put some rags around the head when I ran it with the cover off....as the oil was spattering about while running. (it was at least good to see that there was good oil circulation!) The old lifters are out of order now sitting (still up right) on my work bench....so I dont know which one was originally in that spot....except for the two obvious bad ones that were removed from other locations in the lifter block.

funny you mention that.... when the engine is OFF, all others are nice and tight, cannot be moved....this one rocker arm is still loose, and....the lifter itsself looks like it is sitting lower in the lifter block by maybe 1/16" compared to the others. the shoulder of the lifter is sitting just below the lifter hole in the block, while all the other lifters shoulders are sitting either just barely over the hole edge, or higher, depending on how they are resting on the cam lobes. So I cranked it again for about 30 seconds, then looked again at that one lifter and its still sitting lower than the others. Tonight I will probably pull the lifter block off again and swap out that one lifter with one of the originals that I removed to see if that makes any difference. I doubt that suddenly with new lifters, one of the rocker arms would suddenly go bad but I guess just about anything is possible LOL.

I'll have to check on that....I see where you can buy the shafts and the arms as seperate parts......just a matter of how they assemble together.

how do you attach them to the shaft? I've never replaced one before....I assume (that's a scary word isn't it! LOL) they more or less 'press onto the shaft and snap into place or something like that? my other thought was if maybe the new lifter collapsed, making it too short ...but I think that's a wild guess.

Well apparantly here's the deal, removed the rocker arm cover, let it idle so I could take a visual inspection, and found that the rear upper rocker arm (closest to the firewall) seems to have some 'play' in it. I could move it around some while the engine was running so its basically banging back and forth on the lifter tip and the valve tip. It seems loose in otherwords. all the others are nice and tight. The rocker arm bolts are all still snug and torqued. Time for new rocker arm shaft and arms?? possibly THAT particular lifter is to blame? too short? Thats definitly where the noise is coming from though.

Maybe close to 50 miles if even that. Put them in last Friday night....did some local driving sat and sunday. All was quiet. then Monday evening, tapping louder than I have ever heard consistantly. With new lifters, I noticed that I could compress most all of them with my fingers, and one of two (I cant remember) didn't seem to move at all. Should they always be "springy"? I thought maybe the stiffness was just because they were new or my fingers were tired. I still have all the old ones, minus the two tore up ones of course, that I can swap out with to find the possible bad one or two. thanks

WTF....tonight I get into my Pathy to head to the gym, and TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP like crazy.....NON STOP....all the way to the gym and back even after full warm up. Coming from the passenger side lifters, the new ones most definitly. Oil passages all looked clear when I had everything out, rocker arms seemed ok, for two days it ran nice and quiet, then tonight, bang bang bang...sounding like a broken sewing machine. Options???? I'm thinking maybe one or two (or more??) lifters are defective? I'm going to get back into it this week and hopefully see whats going on. I should be able to at least let the engine idle with the valve cover off right? to help pinpoint the source of the tapping. Frustrated. Another reason I liked Rotary engines much better. thanks, Chris.

Uhh...wow LOL......I just wanted new lifters That's too much like Quantum Physics for me. But for the die hard engineer....rock on!

I tapped on my new ones too a bit banged the bucked up and down from time to time (also used 5w30) and did see some tiny bubbles creep out of the tops. Like mentioned earlier though....I doubt anything else much would work better than actually putting them to work in the car. Fussy little buggers aren't they! Thanks for the photo posting info too! Hope the link(s) below work. One shows the damaged top of one of the original lifters. -chris My link My link My link

thanks for the info. I kinda figured they may tap at first because I don't see how soaking them could really get all the air out, even though I did toss them around a lot from time to time in the oil. I hear ya on the 'compressing them repeatedy" by hand...I tried and it's not so easy LOL since they are small and it takes a bit of effort to compress them. as for the wear, I was just glad I didn't see any extreme stuff like groves and such. I am extremely adamant about oil changes and top grade oil use. I wanted to post a couple of pics here but can't figure out how to. -Chris

Finally got to replace my passenger side lifters tonight. Even after soaking (and shaking) the new lifters in oil for a couple days, they still tapped like hell on first start up after the job was finished but after a few minutes total they went quiet. I will try attaching a couple pictures to show my "milk jug oil bath" and also what one of the original lifter tips looked like ....actually worn to the point of it having pieces broken off (two were like this actually). The bottoms (that ride on the cam shaft) showed absolutely NO WEAR whatsoever and neither did the cam lobes....after 250,000 miles. I was somewhat expecting to see a little wear or groved spots but they looked at good as the new ones. Easy job to do, although now I have to get ready for the drivers side.....fun fun...all that intake coming off again. Urgh.

...also makes me wonder with all the videos I have seen with people revving the hell out of their engines after adding seafoam to the intake system and oil system....all the white smoke, diluting the oil properties and such....in fairly new vehicles too! how could they possibly be gunked up so bad already that they should need to use engine 'cleaner'?? if they took care of them properly in the first place... I think it must just be for getting their kicks with the white smoke and the "oh baby my engine is gonna be sparkeling shiney new on the insides when I'm through with this stuff!! Yeeeaaahhhhh check it out!!!! RRRRRrrrrrrrrooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooommmmmm VVVVVRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmMM.....(for another 15 minutes.....)

If it runs fine.....there is no need for such additives. I should have listened to that little voice in the back of my head. D'ohh! lol

I feel gullible for believing in it. Im about to do hydraulic valve replacements so once I take the valve covers off I'll be anxious to see if the seafoam really did 'clean' anything much....I know how things looked before from when I did my knock sensor replacement job (and yes i put new valve cover gaskets on) When I have time later I will go inspect further to see where it's coming from. BTW, I'd rather have some gunk helping to seal some old seals instead of a little cleaner engine interior....but, lesson learned. Just keep using the good oils and don't fall for all the hype about snake oil. It's an older engine, it will never run perfectly again anyway. DANG I SHOULD HAVE USED "MOTOR UP!!" LOL

Went outside this morning to see a good size oil stain on the driveway from my Pathfinder.....great, appears to be from the front main seal but I haven't looked thoroughly yet. My engine has always been perfectly leak-free......until I used that Seafoam crap.

yeah I used the same bolts, since the new line only came with new washers, which I compared with the old, to see they were an exact match. It was just a matter of getting that one banjo end to stay in the exact right spot so the bolt could be threaded....just took an extra pair of hands to hold the line while I threaded it. It was also easier to reach after removing the air intake (K&N cone).

success! now that the holidays are done, I finally ordered the PS HIGH PRESSURE LINE from Rock Auto (I think they are great by the way) and installed it today....Only frustrating part was getting the bolt threaded back onto the steering gear box (whatever it is...located under where the air filter is....) since the new line wasn't a PERFECT EXACT FIT as the original was, it was tough to get the bold at just the right angle, and still keep the washer on the underside of the bolt/fitting.....but with the help of my wife getting under the rig and pushing up just a little on the hose line....it was all I needed to get the angle right. So nice not having to wrestle with the steering wheel anymore Oh and I have had a PS PUMP blow up on me before too..many years ago.....apparently the pully shaft just plain broke apart/snapped and I guess I was leaving a trail of ATF fluid a few miles long up I-85 until I finally heard the banging noise coming from the engine compartment....in between songs on the CD I was jammin to LOL. Next.....replacing the hydraulic lifters on passenger side....they are on the way!

mother FSCKERS!!!!! lol

Got my 1990 SE thanks to my wife wanting me in a bigger safer vehicle than my '84 RX-7.....from a rinky dink used car dealership on a street corner (I know...worst place to buy a car...and its true!) It had a lot of problems that we discovered shortly after the purchase, that THEY had hidden or lied about, but I wanted it pretty bad so we sucked it up and I learned how to do a lot of work on it myself (besides having to get a new clutch, and on a 4x4....not cheap). Long story short, it had 205,000 +/- miles on the odometer at the time, we paid too much for it, but....as 2009 comes to a close now, I still have it....with 250,000+ miles on it. Still runs great, the AC crapped out 2 years ago, only had to buy tires for it once so far, replaced knock sensor myself, added some accessories like a brush guard and better nerf bars, etc etc.....no power steering at the moment but thats just a new high pressure hose away, and I still love it. Original engine, and transmission and transfer case. Never had to replace the brake rotors...only the brake pads....once so far (because unlike my wife and her vehicles shes had, I know how to BRAKE NORMALLY!!) I have more faith and reliability in my 1990 5 spd Pathfinder with 250,000 miles on it than I do my wifes 2006 Chrysler Pacifica that just rolled over 40,000 miles......that thing is a hunk of @!*% that has been through more repairs (covered by warranty thankfully!) than my pathfinder since I have owned it (aside from the clutch job). Long Live the Pathfinders! (and yes I have been airborne in it while romping through a new neighborhood nearby that is under development...before the houses were built.)

ah ha there it is....thank you! the recessed part of the door handle had enough dust and dirt in it to cover that little round screw cover hole so it was barely visible. thanks again, I already took care of the issue now and put it all back together. -Chris

How in the world does one remove the front door panels on a 1990 SE? Since there are no visible screws in the handles...everything seems to be hidden and I don't want to force the armrest to gain access.... retaining clips around the outside edges, no problem. Power window and locks array...no problem, disconnected and off. its where the armrest and door handle latch art thats puzzling me...and the lame ass Hanynes manual only shows older model diagram with manual door controls. Thanks, thought I would ask before I break the snot out of it. Reason: the speaker in the door no longer works, lost connection at the speaker. Its not the factory one....I had a new system installed years ago.

If you change your oil regularly and use a good name brand oil (with detergent) you shouldn't need to do any engine flushing ever. In my opinion, it should only be use in older neglected engines or ones where crappy oil was used and rarely ever changed.....thus allowing for gunk to build up.... If the engine has a billion miles on it...just leave it be as is and use good oil. I reluctantly used seafoam to flush my oil with and now I just have a noisier engine with no performance improvement. If you REALLY want to clean up the engine, just break it down and do it the right way...by hand. Then you can also replace the worn gaskets and seals where possible. Of course this is, if you are knowledgeable with engine work. I never trust many of these "snake oil" products that make such fabulous claims like "soaking into the metal" or "improve performance with one application!!" (if it looks like something Billy Mays would be pitching....it's CRAP) Of course, if the engine is on its last legs anyway and you will try anything to get a few more months or miles out of it.....anything goes! but like others have mentioned, dont FLUSH IT, you may ruin already worn seals....if anything, use a heavier weight oil and just live with it.

cut first....then check vehicle specs.... or is it the other way around??? D'oh!