What are the symptoms of a collapsed lifter? - sbc 350 (1 Viewer)

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nat

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The Pig is at my folks house, I was barely able to get there.

What are the symptoms of a collapsed lifter in a Chevy TBI 350?

I can hear an odd sound from the number 5 area, it revs up then nearly dies. I have no power. The sounds seems to get better after it has ran a bit, like the lifter has pumped up, but the motor still runs like crap.

This just started, my only complaint was a fast idle and an exhaust donut that gave it up. I just replaced it with a sintered metal kind and no issues or leaks..................then this happens :rolleyes:

Any ideas or comments would be very appreciated.
 
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It will miss real bad and the vacuum will pulsate. Pull the valve cover and run it to see which if any aren't getting the full stroke. Might be a lobe wore off the cam. You may be able to isolate which cyclinder it is by pulling spark plug wire off one at a time to find the one that doesn't make it run worse yet.
 
A collapsed lifter will make an engine go flat on one cylinder and a reduction in power but would not cause the "no power" situation you are describing.

May be time for a compression check to see if cylinder pressure is being dumped between cylinders (head gasket).

R
 
excellent idea...takes all the guesswork out.
 

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