I just rebuilt the cam chest on the 05 SE Electraglide due to front lifters going bad, (roller faces were pitted) . I used a screamin eagle cam plate/oil pump and adjustable pushrods along with S & S lifters and 551 cams. I replaced the inside bearings with the new torringtons that came with the cams. I aligned the oil pump by rotating the rear wheel and slowly tightening down the bolts. For the first 150 miles it sounded fine,but as it came to idle after it was warm I heard a faint sound that almost sounded like how the lifter was acting before it failed causing the replacement. The sound only seems to be there at idle and sometimes not even then. Oil pressure at idle is 30+ and going down the road it is at the 3/4 mark. As soon as it cools down I will look at the lifters but if is not them I guess I will take the cam cover off and have a look. When the front lifters initially went bad it was suggested that they might be oil starved, but everything looked clean on the inside. I'm not sure what I should be looking for. I'm guessing the failure rate of new lifters is almost nil. I did have the rocker covers off and the rockers out when I was originally searching for the problem. Could it be something up there? It really doesn't sound like it is coming from that high but I want to make sure I'm not overlooking anything obvious.

 

You might have a clogged oil passage that supplies that lifter.

 

Just got done looking at the lifters and they look OK, both front and back. They all were completely oiled up and I couldn't see any signs of them being oil starved, nothing obvious anyway.

 

While they might have had enough oil to lubricate them they might not be getting enough oil to pump them up. I might be way off but its something to think about. I am not sure what port you would tap to flush to see if you have something like a small piece of gasket or silicon blocking it. Good luck.

 

There was a nut loose on the exhaust pushrod on the rear cylinder. I don't know if that could have anything to do with it. I put it back together and will see if I learn anything tomorrow on my way to work. Checkng the ports is probably my next step. Thanks

 

Are your S&S lifters HLT2 lifters? With the travel limiters in them? If so, these are inherently noisey. I have them, and they sound like solids. That's not what you described, with an intermittent noise, but if those lifters have the travel limiters in them I don't think you're ever going to get them to be silent. At least I haven't been able to.

 

Sounds like the problem.

 

I am not using the bushing in the lifters. I'm really hoping that it was the loose nut on the pushrod but I am dubious about that. The bike has to run at least 30 minutes before the noise shows up so hopefully I will know something new tonite.