Roller Lifters With Concentric Grooves - Ok To Reuse ?

waid302

Member
Sep 25, 2012
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My 5.0 refresh is complete with GT40 heads, TFS1 cam & stiffer springs from Alex Parts.

I am not too sure about my roller lifters which I am reusing. Not sure what went through the Explorer 5.0 but all of the lifters have tiny grooves on them. I can feel it with my finger nail. The old lifters will not see double the spring pressure from 60 lbs closed to 120 lbs closed. I did take all of the lifters apart and clean them really well.

New set of roller lifters are $125.

What do you guys think. Should I reuse them?

Thanks

Waid
 

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If you're really strapped for cash, I'd say go ahead. Be aware though, if the roller has wear on it, what kind of condition is the rest of the lifter in? Were they noisy before coming out?

FWIW, I matched used lifters with a used camshaft and am not having any issues. It's a little noisy, but my cam is pretty stout, which is to be expected.
 
The motor had 70,000 miles on it when I bought it. Something went through #3 piston bore. Looks much better now with a ball hone!
 

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It may be fine but if it were me, I'd buy new ones and not take the risk . If you can feel ridges with your finger, imagine what that will do to your cam at x1000 rpm over x thousand miles, and how it will impact oiling. You always have the money to do it right the second time.
 
I wouldn't worry to much about oiling....as that area of the lifter isn't responsible for providing oil anyway. It looks to me like there might have been some dirt, or sort of debris in the engine floating around in the oil and it got hung up on either the cam lobe, or the roller.

Did you inspect the cam to see if it had the same marking?

As I said, if you're strapped, and know they were functioning properly, go ahead and reuse them. If you're really worried about the scratches, go ahead and give them a polish with some fine emery cloth to take the sharp edges off.

Running used rollers aren't necessarily "doing it wrong". I think out of the dozens of engines I've built/rebuilt, I've installed new lifters once....and even then that was because they came as a kit with the camshaft I was running. It's more of a comfort thing....like buying new head bolts every time you take the heads off. In my experience though, if it isn't bloke, or an area known for causing trouble, then don't sweat it.