Lifters: To Soak or Not To Soak

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harrisonm

harrisonm

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OK, I am confused. I have seen on MANY TV shows where they say you need to soak hydraulic lifters in oil before installation. I have also seen MANY shows where they said do NOT soak the lifters (most recently tonight; which prompted this thread). I have probably built 5 motors, and I have always soaked the lifters. Any thoughts.
 
If you soak them, you may hydrolock them and not get the proper preload. I wouldnt soak them. They will get their oil in due time, like as soon as the oil pump pressurizes the galleys. Solids are just...solid.
 
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Do not soak the lifters.
 
I dont see how oil gets into the lifter by just soaking them. Dont soak, just a waste of time. Like said, oil will get in soon enough!
 
OK Thanks for the replies. I just wondered due to the conflicting info from TV.
 
They get oiled
When I pour oil on them,
prime the engine with a priming rod, oil system checks out...
install the intake and valve covers
start the engine
 
I have some older factory service info on various engines from 20-40 years ago that definitely says to not only soak them, but to submerge them in oil upright and pump them tho get the air out. Dunno if the internals have changed that much or if the bleed-down rates are different from say Ford to Mopar, but that type of info has been out there for decades in various forms.
 
I will be honest, I built a few engines back in the 90'es (2 360es, one 340) and did soak the lifters, looks like I won't be doing that anymore :thankyou:
 
It doesn't make any difference if you soak them, pump them up with an oil can squirter or just oil them and drop them in. You need to be smarter than your hydraulic lifters when you set up the valve train and prelube your engine before you fire up.
 
What IQ said...
In the 80s I pumped them up in a can of oil (yes... actually a can...lol).
Now I assemble the engine with them dry, set preload carefully, pre-oil it, and have no problems.
 
Hell I think that is the way we all were taught years ago. I can remember lining them up in a coffee can,filling it with oil above the top of them,then using a Phillips screw driver to pump the plunger till the air was out. Then trying to start the engine and wonder why it didn't have compression?
moper said:
What IQ said...
In the 80s I pumped them up in a can of oil (yes... actually a can...lol).
Now I assemble the engine with them dry, set preload carefully, pre-oil it, and have no problems.
Click to expand...
 
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moper said:
What IQ said...
In the 80s I pumped them up in a can of oil (yes... actually a can...lol).
Now I assemble the engine with them dry, set preload carefully, pre-oil it, and have no problems.
Click to expand...

That's how I do it, too.
 
And on some engines it does not matter 'cause you can't set the preload specifically any way. 351C is a good example.
 
The instructions that came with my cam and lifters made it very clear NOT to soak them.....
 
Little bit of 30 wt on the body of the lifter and moly lube on the bottom if it's a flat tappet, then prime it before you start it. No soaking necessary. Should be good to go.
 
moper said:
What IQ said...
In the 80s I pumped them up in a can of oil (yes... actually a can...lol).
Now I assemble the engine with them dry, set preload carefully, pre-oil it, and have no problems.
Click to expand...

You just gave away the fact that you are old!

I miss the days of grabbing the oil spout, pushing it into the oil can when you get the smmooooosh like sound, and then filling the engine. Those were the last of the good days for sure.

And yes, I'm that old too.
 
yellow rose said:
You just gave away the fact that you are old!

I miss the days of grabbing the oil spout, pushing it into the oil can when you get the smmooooosh like sound, and then filling the engine. Those were the last of the good days for sure.

And yes, I'm that old too.
Click to expand...

So do I! I still have a few of those spouts......plus this that I used to use at the service station where I worked as a kid.

OIL CAN.jpg
 
Soak them if you wish,they will not automatically bleed themselves just sitting there,but definitely DON'T pump them up. As already stated,pre-lubing/priming is mandatory as far as I'm concerned.I fire-up the 1/2" McGraw-Edison drill,preferably w/an assistant,and roll the engine over 2 revs by hand slowly w/the cam & lifters in, but no p-rods,and wait for the oil to come out everywhere it's supposed to(rocker shafts just fingered on). Then I paste the cam&lifters,and button up the works. I give it one more prime rite before I drop the gear & dizzy.This has not caused any "pump-up" problems for me,but even if you have a lifter pumped up for some reason,go slow esp. w/non adj. systems,the springs will slowly push out excess oil,this isn't the time of the job to be in a hurry.
 
Oh, I still have a few spouts, and cans for that matter,lol! Wonder if anyone wants some pennzoil or quaker state in cans? How about a sparkly royal blue Andy Granatelli sig. STP oil filter? I could go on & on.......
 
I'm not that old...lol. Plus I'm immature as hell. But yeah - I loved those "nascar oil cans" as I nicknamed them 'cause they'd dump it in so fast. One of my earliest teachers said to pump the air out and while not being that bright, I was bright enough to realize I needed to listen to him...lol.
 
moper said:
I'm not that old...lol. Plus I'm immature as hell. But yeah - I loved those "nascar oil cans" as I nicknamed them 'cause they'd dump it in so fast. One of my earliest teachers said to pump the air out and while not being that bright, I was bright enough to realize I needed to listen to him...lol.
Click to expand...
my vote "no soak". oil the lifter bores with oil/cam lube on the bottoms/preoil with the hex rod. #1 confirm fit with the Hughes "thunk" test #2 preload in the ballpark (but not so little that the cup is hitting the retainer clip). Plus the other checks: wipe pattern/threads showing/clearance on several areas/vp clearance.
 
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