We'll still no luck but I think I have finally identified the real culprit. It's still the lifters. I was finally able to get a good listen with a mechanics stethoscope and the ticking is coming from the pushrods at the rockers. So my guess is the lifters are collapsing for some reason and it likely is not the lifters, but an oil pressure issue. I'm swapping out the rocker boxes tomorrow anyway as the S&S boxes are hitting the battery terminal and I am not sure how to rectify that just yet, if it can be rectified.

 

The intermittent tick you have is an odd one for sure. I’m new to the evo and my best advice is not to take my advice. However, I think swapping to stock rocker boxes will be a massive help in troubleshooting. A pressure issue would tick at all times when hot, so what’s causing the intermittent bleed down?

I was sure you had it pinpointed correctly to the lifter, but you’ve been down that road.

Like the wise old saying goes “ain't no wrong and right, just right and learning”.

Thanks for sharing, definitely going to help me and others.

 

Well new (old) rocker boxes are installed. Top end is much quieter with these rocker boxes overall. Issue still persists of course.




I like these rocker boxes better actually and will keep these on. They are a little smaller footprint and with some of my other mods the S&S rocker boxes were a little tight.

Well I guess the next step is to pull the oil pump and have a look there. If nothing pull the cam cover and lifters again and start tracing through the oil ports and see if any are clogged up.

 

IIRC, you are using aftermarket lifters? The valve is not the issue?

John

 

Hy-Lift Johnson lifters brand new. I actually believe it is the rear intake lifter losing pressure.

 

Cleaned up the garage today. I like to clean everything up when I finish one tear down and start another. Bike looks great too bad it runs like crap. I'll begin tear down number 3 to try and resolve this issue after lunch I guess. I have a target this time though as I am pretty sure it is the rear intake valve lifter collapsing. I thought it was the exhaust valve but with the new rockers on it is much quieter up there and now it is easier to hear where the tick is coming from. Maybe it's an oil passage blocked or the pump is mucked up or something. But I am convinced it is still a colapsing lifter. The question is why. I replaced the entire oiling system when I rebuilt the motor. I did not blow out all the oil passages though. That may have been a mistake. I did find an old piece of paper gasket in one of the camshaft bushing oil passages when I first tore down the motor originally.

At least the bike looks good in a clean garage.

Pretty happy with the end result once this lifter nonsense gets resolved.

 

Been following along.
Love that springer front end.

 

Bike looks great. Aren’t the lifters a fed from common feeder? Sorry for the questions while you’re in the middle, I was thinking it would have to be in that specific lifter bushing as bouncing pressure from the oil bypass should hit all four.

 

Off topic but man, that's a great looking Sporty you got there. I hope you get it to run as good as it looks.

 

They are all fed by one passage I believe. If it is an oil issue then my guess is it will be the pump or maybe the bore is damaged in the case. The only way to know is just tear it all back down. I am going to remove the oil pump and go through that before I pull the cam cover or anything. Maybe just cleaning out the oil pump fixes the issue.