Itinerant Air-Cooled

Agreed... I can only vouch for the last 2.5 years... who knows what happened before then.

Three shops this year have mentioned to me that they think new hydraulic lifters cannot use the full two turns preload. If this is true, do we think new lifters have a shorter piston bore than old VW lifters, or do we think the oiling hole is located further out on the lifters?

Would a lifter whose oil port is blocked by the piston ever pump up at all? Short of removing the lifter for inspection, is there any test to tell if the bore or oil is compatible with factory settings? (Other than a nice drive after adjustment…) Is there any proof that new lifters are sized differently anyway?

Robbie

asiab3 wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 9:56 am

Three shops this year have mentioned to me that they think new hydraulic lifters cannot use the full two turns preload. If this is true, do we think new lifters have a shorter piston bore than old VW lifters, or do we think the oiling hole is located further out on the lifters?

Would a lifter whose oil port is blocked by the piston ever pump up at all? Short of removing the lifter for inspection, is there any test to tell if the bore or oil is compatible with factory settings? (Other than a nice drive after adjustment…) Is there any proof that new lifters are sized differently anyway?

Robbie

Great question. Best experiment would be to line up a factory lifter with a new lifter to see if the oiling hole location differs.

Then a careful full crank-down of the adjustment screw to see what differences in range there might be.

THEN, we can speculate. I see no friggen difference between 1 1/2 and 2 turns as far as dynamic function. The lifter is rotating and moving in and out of its bore by a good 1/2" in normal operation. The oiling covers it all with a half crescent gallery lining up with a circumferential groove. The communication with the gallery occurs primarily at the closed position.

The piston inside the lifter gets pounded to the bottom of the lifter barrel if there is no oil. I do not know of a lifter that is designed to not open the port when the piston is down all the way.
Colin

I am in the middle of assembling a type 4, and the valve stem ends check out perfectly while the adjusting screws screw with my head. "Three threads farther out" says one adjuster screw, but "perfectly level" say all eight valve stems (rockers removed) on this hydraulic lifter 2.0L engine.

I am wondering if there are differences between rockers, left to right, or something that is causing our distress in trusting this otherwise unknown engine.

While looking this all up, I couldn't help but laugh at this information:
http://haysvwrepair.com/new/
(read time, 20 minutes)

Robbie

asiab3 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:00 am

I am in the middle of assembling a type 4, and the valve stem ends check out perfectly while the adjusting screws screw with my head. "Three threads farther out" says one adjuster screw, but "perfectly level" say all eight valve stems (rockers removed) on this hydraulic lifter 2.0L engine.

I am wondering if there are differences between .... lifters.
Robbie

Try this . . . maybe a lifter was replaced.
Colin

Yes, that would make sense. The engine responded well with 1.5 turns in on all eight adjusters, so it will continue to run as is. If the pushrod tubes weren't so slathered in RTV but leak-free, we would have dove in more. Once the first drip of coil comes off the tubes though……

Robbie