HLA question

Ok I read a forum over at NASIOC explaining how to refill hydraulic lifters, to stop that annoying Subaru tick. I followed the steps exactly and all went well, but I could not get the HLA to refill. After several attempts I called it quits and decided to just put everything back together. I was unknowingly using a faulty torque wrench while putting the rocker assembly back in. I was trying to torque the bolts down to 96 foot pounds. After a short while turning on the bolts I knew something had to be wrong, so I lowered the torque down to 30 foot pounds and still no click, I then lowered it too 10 foot pounds. At that point the wrench clicked like it should and I assumed all was well. So I turned it back up to 96 foot pounds and shortly after I felt a snap! It felt like the bolt had snapped but it was still in there fairly tight, I could keep turning it with the wrench and it would never tighten up but I could not turn it with my fingers. My questions are as follows, What has most likely happened? Will this affect it a whole lot in the long run? Will I be able to get the bolt back out when I change the lifters? The car still runs fine as is and there are still 7 tight bolts holding it on. Thanks for any and all help

Hi,

I would think 7 is enough. Just make sure the snapped one isn't going to come loose.

 

Another 'trick' w/the HLA's - assuming you have your oil level @ F and it's fresh oil - is to run it @ high RPM -near redline - for a few seconds. Both with and w/out a load on the engine. That worked for me on a recent HLA issue.

 

GL,

Td

Try 1 oil change using Redline 5W30. It quieted the ticking for about a year.

Thanks everyone for the replies, also thanks for the tips. I just changed the oil so I don't really wanna change it again. I've already ordered new lifters so I'm not worried about shutting my lifters up right now. Back to the original questions. I'm not sure what exactly happened when I heard the snap, I'm not sure if the bolt snapped or if I've damaged the threads, has anyone dealt with this in the past and perhaps know what may have happened? When I go to change my lifters, does anyone think I'll have troubles getting that bolt out? Thanks for the replies so far and thanks in advance for the future replies!

I believe that should have been INCH pounds. You've snapped a bolt. Depends on how far down the broken part is. PB and a small quality drill bit in the center. You may get fortunate and be able to run a regular screw into it then back it out. I've had no luck with reverse thread drill bits. If you have the old type manual chuck on a reversible drill you're good.

Am sure others will have suggestions.

Don't use a screw extractor. They will surely break and you'll have a hardened steel shank in there.

 

O.

what's done is done.

try and fix it if you feel the need,

but be prepared for the bolt not coming out,

and know where you can get a used head.

 

or drive it until it fails,

and then have a used head ready to go.

 

one solution,, expensive compared to a reverse drill bit,

just replace the head and rocker assembly.

only slightly more work than a timing belt job.

buy a new head gasket and a used head (150$).

when was the timing belt last done.

 

if you do your own work,

the head replacement is not too bad.

if you can remove the blot,

that would be easier.

Hey thanks everyone for the responses. Osei, you are correct it is suppose to be in inch pounds. I won't make that mistake again, lol. I received my new lifters in the mail yesterday and I just got done installing them. I'm getting ready to torque them down in about 10 minuets and then put it all back together. I was not able to remove the broken bolt so I am hoping it will do ok with just the 7 holding it on. I will eventually try to fix it correctly.

So far so good. I got it all torqued up correctly and she's running smooth and quiet! I just put all new lifters on the left side(looking at the engine) I haven't messed with the right side yet but I think I can hear a VERY faint tick coming from the right side. I'll get to that another day. I still have 8 more lifters and I saved the 5 good ones from the left.

That's one thing that does drive me a bit mad on mine, I wish the lifters were easier to set and change. I had a honda many moons ago, and almost prefer their style. Yeah I had to reset them every 40k miles, but they made almost no noise at all.

Hey everyone just a quick update. The ticking has made it's way back pretty quickly, I've only put I think 10 miles on the engine since the lifters were changed. I took everything back apart today and it turns out 2 of the new lifters I installed were bad. I installed 2 of the old ones, which I thought were good but it's still ticking. The ones I reinstalled were solid but the nipples were recessed a little more than the rest. I'm wondering if that has something to with the ticking. I'm also wondering if my missing bolt lead to the early demise of my lifters, however I did buy really cheap ones. They cost under $50 for all 16 lifters so i didn't expect much. I do have a warranty on them and they will be replaced for free so it's no biggie. I wanna say this car isn't even on the road yet, it's just sitting in the back yard but I do take if for occasional short drives. It still needs a fair amount of work before it's ready for the road. It desperately needs rear struts and front brake work.. but the brakes may just need bled. I'm hoping to get some work done soon as the weather here in WV is still unseasonably warm... we're still seeing temps up to 60 degrees.. thanksgiving day was 70. On a side not I've been doing some work on my mother in laws '07 Legacy, just installed drilled and slotted rotors on the front. I have the ones for the back but haven't made it to that yet. The guide pins in the front are a little funked up so I'll be working on that soon. Even with the guide pin problems and the rears not being installed that car stops on a dime. I mean it you hit the brakes and you STOP. I will most likely be putting drilled & slotted rotors on the '96 Subie if we keep it that long.. and also a set on the front of my '93 Cutlass.. just for the stopping benefits, lol. Well thanks for reading everyone! I will update as I progress.

if the lash adjusters are new,

i doubt the problem is with them.

it could be a blocked oil galley.

the blockage reduces the oil pressure

and they don't pump up as they should.

has this been mentioned yet?

 

when resealing the oil pump,

if some RTV oozes to the inside and drys,

it can come loose and flow with the oil up to the HLAs.

if you remove the rocker assembly

and ''rod out'' all the oil ways it may give up a blob of dried sealant.

 

good luck.

Well the only reason I believe it may be the HLAs is because they were of pretty cheap quality. The two I believed to be bad have a lot of movement in the nipples, just like the one's I had previously removed, while the rest are still very firm.

Ok so after changing the lifters that time, it still ticked, but I used old lifters. I have since replaced the lifters again, and the ticking was gone for 2 days. Now it's back! I believe the lifters keep going bad at the same spot, same 2 lifters every time I mean. I can't stress enough that these are just cheap lifters, but I know they can't be going bad this fast, and the same ones every time. So it must be something else. johnegg mentioned the oil galleys? Is there a way to clean the oil galleys? Thanks everyone for the help! This is now my everyday driver.

Try some Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO), or Lucas stabilizer on a regular basis. It MAY help.

 

O.

will do thank you Osei

Hi James here, Just wondering if you had figured out the problem? I have lifter/ lifters ticking bad on 93 legacy. I removed the rocker assembly and the lower 4 were squishy so I pumped all of them up (well the 8 on passenger side and seemed good) reinstalled and 2 hrs later ticking again. Thanks for any help or info

Also doesn't seem to be much oil inside valve covers... thinking maybe oil galleys plugged up

Hi, I actually got rid of the car. In the end I just had to deal with the ticking. The same lifter kept going bad so I assume also the galleys were plugged. So unless you pull it apart you may just have to live with it, lol

 

 

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Okay thank you very much. And I'm pulling it apart right now. I read somewhere that you can blow compressed air through the oil lines to clear blockage once you take it apart in the oil and oil filter removed so I'm searching for the info. Just don't want it to destroy my car if it's not getting oil...

It's my only car. Anyhow thank you and have a great day