Can noisy lifters cause damage?

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asked Jan 21, 2020 in Repairs/Maintenance by chefsaidker (320 points)
Can noisy lifters cause damage?

1 Answer

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answered Jan 21, 2020 by Essmann (42,860 points)
Most times noisy lifters are just an annoyance and don't cause much if any damage to the engine.

The noisy lifters will usually make a clicking, tapping noise etc and gets worse as you accelerate.

You can sometimes add an additive to the engine oil to help stop the lifter noise and sometimes it requires replacing the noisy lifters.

Fixing lifter noise in an engine usually requires disassembly of the intake manifold or other parts of the engine to get to the lifters.

Sometimes the lifter noise will go away by using some oil additives such as Lucas and then allow the engine to idle for awhile.

But if the lifters are really damaged and failed then they will need replaced.

If you do it yourself and replace the hydraulic engine lifters you could likely do so for $150.00 or less and the time it takes to replace the lifters.

If you have a shop do it it could take the shop 4 hours or more and the cost is around $500.00 to $800.00

I've driven an old car another 50,000 miles before with hydraulic lifter noise and it wasn't worth repairing.

I drove that car to work and back and paid $500.00 for the car and it had lifter noise when I bought it.

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