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S&S HL2T lifters

31K views 34 replies 12 participants last post by  HDMD88 
#1 ·
what are they trying to say here
1.set them at 0 lash lifter bottomed out of limiter
2.set 1 turn off bottom .032 or is this an option
3.set up to 1 1/2 truns off bottom ???

does anyone know how much travel they take up ???

The S&S® HL2T Kit is designed to limit the travel of the hydraulic
lifter making it impossible for the lifter to collapse. Stronger
valve springs are often used to avoid valve float at high rpm. The
HL2T kit prevents high valve spring pressure from collapsing
lifters. With the HL2T Kit installed, stock hydraulic lifters work
like solid lifters at high rpm, while retaining normal hydraulic
function for minimal noise and maintenance under normal
conditions. Another advantage of the HL2T kit is that if a valve is
held open when the engine is not running, valve spring pressure
will not cause lifters to bleed down and collapse. Collapsed lifters
can cause hard starting and excessive valve train noise when
engine is restarted. Adjustable pushrods must be used with the
HL2T Kit.
Picture 1.
.
A. Remove spark plugs.
B. Bring piston to TDC on compression stroke in cylinder to
be adjusted. Normally both tappets will be at their
lowest point of travel.
C. Extend pushrod adjustment, collapsing lifter until piston
assembly is in contact with HL2T spacer and pushrod is
tight. If tappets contain oil, as when pushrods are
readjusted after engine has been run, or if all oil was not
removed during installation, extend pushrod
adjustment until valve is open (about five additional
turns of adjusting screw). Allow 5 minutes for hydraulic
unit to bleed down. If pushrod can be turned with
fingers after bleeding down, lifter is not completely
collapsed, and this step must be repeated.
NOTE - perform this operation on one cylinder at a time. Do not
turn engine until pushrod adjustment is complete.
Turning engine while valve is held off the seat could result in
valve to valve or valve to piston contact and serious valve
train damage.
D. Loosen pushrod adjustment until pushrod can be
rotated with the fingers with slight drag.
NOTE - Shortening adjuster an additional six flats or full turn
from zero lash often results in quieter pushrod operation. This
provides additional travel for the hydraulic piston assembly,
which can improve the ability of the hydraulic unit to maintain
zero lash under normal operating conditions.
E. Tighten lock nut.
F. Follow the same procedure for all four push rods.
G. Recheck pushrod adjustment after a few hundred miles.
NOTES
l It is a good idea to recheck pushrod adjustment in a new
engine as valve train may tighten up due to gasket
compression and valve seat wear.
l Upon initial start up after modification, HL2T equipped
lifters may be somewhat noisy for 10-20 miles. If lifters are
still noisy after 20 miles it is recommended that pushrods be
adjusted 1⁄2 turn looser. See step D.
2
 
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#3 ·
dog155 said:
These lifters are great in big motors,much easier to start them.It seems to me that I read a full turn 6 flats is .020.I can check tommorrow,if wrong I will post the correct number.
their pushrods are 32 threads per inch.... but it reads like there saying to set it up at 0 lash I have mine backed off 1 turn but there pretty noisey when it warms up


D. Loosen pushrod adjustment until pushrod can be
rotated with the fingers with slight drag.
NOTE - Shortening adjuster an additional six flats or full turn
from zero lash often results in quieter pushrod operation. This
provides additional travel for the hydraulic piston assembly,
which can improve the ability of the hydraulic unit to maintain
zero lash under normal operating conditions.
E. Tighten lock nut.
 
#7 ·
Lifters

Very tough lifter to get quiet. It may take 200-250 miles or so before things settle in, and you may be in there several times adjusting them.
 
#10 ·
ATTILA said:
1.set them at 0 lash lifter bottomed out of limiter
2.set 1 turn off bottom .032 or is this an option
3.set up to 1 1/2 truns off bottom ???

Not Zero lash...you need to compress the lifter fully inside the lifter bore....just to the point where the pushrod begins to lift the valve off the seat. This is best done without oil in the lifter otherwise you may need to wait a few minutes for the lifter to bleed out the oil inside. It will be very obvious when you begin to move the valve.

Once you are sure the lifter in fully compressed then shorten the pushrod by one to 1.5 full turns.
 
#11 ·
dog155 said:
The set in my 124 Evo after 4 yrs sound great.Just what I expect out of a set of Hi-Po lifters.It is an aircooled engine after all.

So what your saying is you except the noise they make....and thats all well and fine if you like noisie motors.
My question to you two is why did you select to use them...what was the reason you thought you needed such a lifter. I'm not trying to start a war hereor sound rude..... I'm trully intrested in your answer.
 
#12 ·
Mcfly said:
Not Zero lash...you need to compress the lifter fully inside the lifter bore....just to the point where the pushrod begins to lift the valve off the seat. This is best done without oil in the lifter otherwise you may need to wait a few minutes for the lifter to bleed out the oil inside. It will be very obvious when you begin to move the valve.

Once you are sure the lifter in fully compressed then shorten the pushrod by one to 1.5 full turns.
I'm using them now and the quietest is 1.5 turns. Set them at 1 turn and yes they are sorta noisey.

Kevin
 
#13 ·
HDMD88 said:
So what your saying is you except the noise they make....and thats all well and fine if you like noisie motors.
My question to you two is why did you select to use them...what was the reason you thought you needed such a lifter. I'm not trying to start a war hereor sound rude..... I'm trully intrested in your answer.

Well...I can tell you that I chased valve noise in my TwinCam ever since I went from Stock 88 to 95 /w SE203 cams up through my now 107" w/ Andrews tw60 cams.

I believe that the stock tappets are not sufficient for other than stock profiled cams.

I tried the Stock "A" tappets. I tried the Stock "B" tappets. I tried JIMS Hydrosolids (which I have since found that I was not adjusting properly) and I have tried AMS lifters with and w/o the S&S travel limiters.

The ONLY thing that stopped MY valve train noise was the AMS w/ S&S travel limiters.

It is my asscertion that the stock lifters bleed down too much under sustained use on higher than stock cam profiles which contrubutes to some of the noise folks are hearing.
 
#14 ·
Mcfly said:
Well...I can tell you that I chased valve noise in my TwinCam ever since I went from Stock 88 to 95 /w SE203 cams up through my now 107" w/ Andrews tw60 cams.

I believe that the stock tappets are not sufficient for other than stock profiled cams.

I tried the Stock "A" tappets. I tried the Stock "B" tappets. I tried JIMS Hydrosolids (which I have since found that I was not adjusting properly) and I have tried AMS lifters with and w/o the S&S travel limiters.

The ONLY thing that stopped MY valve train noise was the AMS w/ S&S travel limiters.

It is my asscertion that the stock lifters bleed down too much under sustained use on higher than stock cam profiles which contrubutes to some of the noise folks are hearing.
I use stock lifters in all the builds I do...so the statment that stockers don't work in anything else but stock is blown out of the water.

What I'm looking for here is your knowledge of what the limiter really does or where you just lucky in your adjustment and now all of a sudden they are the best things out there.
 
#15 ·
HDMD88 said:
I use stock lifters in all the builds I do...so the statment that stockers don't work in anything else but stock is blown out of the water.

What I'm looking for here is your knowledge of what the limiter really does or where you just lucky in your adjustment and now all of a sudden they are the best things out there.

Slow your roll there chief.... I don't like your tone....are you trolling for a fight?

I was presenting my empherical data for discussion on the subject.
I know exactly what the S&S travel limiters do.
There are a lot of people running around with cam profiles that have lifts in the .600 range with some that approach .700 lift. The stock lifters have approximately .200 of lifter plunger travel. I believe that under sustained load the high spring rate of the vlave springs force the oil from the lifter causing it to collapse in its bore. The oil pressure is not sufficient to "pump" oil into the lifters when the engine is under this load. Travel limiters effectively give you the performance of a solid lifter with the ability take up limited slack from expansion. When the engine reaches the point where the oil is forced from the lifter you are then running a solid lifter.

As for what causes the noise...I would only be guessing but I suspect cavitation within the lifter bore or galley.
 
#17 ·
I just put the S&S lifters in last week. After 3 adjustments they are quiet at 2800 RPM's and above. Around 2500 RPM's I do have some chattering that I'd like to try to get out. The install instructions are somewhat confusing, especially when using pushrods that may have a different thread count like mine. If anybody has some tips I'd appreciate it also (Although I may be better off than some here with noise only at 2500 +-). I do notice a performance difference when I hit it hard...Almost sounds and feels like I'm getting the lift out of the cam that I'm supposed to without the lifter compressing as much as the stockers. The MOCO dealer that put the motor together before delivery said he'd leave the stock lifters alone. (Of course he had an SE-257 on my 06 Ultra w/10:1 compression build and left me with 90HP/91TQ after a feeble attempt at tuning). Anyway, I changed the cam last January 06 and put in a Woods TW-6w/+4 gear (95HP/101 TQ)and the lifters lasted until 2 weeks ago. At least one of them, pooped out on me after a 800mile ride.
 
#18 ·
prophet said:
I just put the S&S lifters in last week. After 3 adjustments they are quiet at 2800 RPM's and above. Around 2500 RPM's I do have some chattering that I'd like to try to get out. The install instructions are somewhat confusing, especially when using pushrods that may have a different thread count like mine. If anybody has some tips I'd appreciate it also (Although I may be better off than some here with noise only at 2500 +-). I do notice a performance difference when I hit it hard...Almost sounds and feels like I'm getting the lift out of the cam that I'm supposed to without the lifter compressing as much as the stockers. The MOCO dealer that put the motor together before delivery said he'd leave the stock lifters alone. (Of course he had an SE-257 on my 06 Ultra w/10:1 compression build and left me with 90HP/91TQ after a feeble attempt at tuning). Anyway, I changed the cam last January 06 and put in a Woods TW-6w/+4 gear (95HP/101 TQ)and the lifters lasted until 2 weeks ago. At least one of them, pooped out on me after a 800mile ride.

Try adjusting them per my instructions in post 10.
 
#19 ·
Mcfly said:
Slow your roll there chief.... I don't like your tone....are you trolling for a fight?

I was presenting my empherical data for discussion on the subject.
I know exactly what the S&S travel limiters do.
There are a lot of people running around with cam profiles that have lifts in the .600 range with some that approach .700 lift. The stock lifters have approximately .200 of lifter plunger travel. I believe that under sustained load the high spring rate of the vlave springs force the oil from the lifter causing it to collapse in its bore. The oil pressure is not sufficient to "pump" oil into the lifters when the engine is under this load. Travel limiters effectively give you the performance of a solid lifter with the ability take up limited slack from expansion. When the engine reaches the point where the oil is forced form the lifter you are then running a solid lifter.

As for what causes the noise...I would only be guessing but I suspect cavitation within the lifter bore or galley.
Good answer, as I said in the begining of this thread I'm not looking for a war I was trully interested in seeing if you guys that used these lifters know how they work why your would install them. As far as you not liking my tone, tuff McFly..... there was never a tone directed at you tiill now.
 
#21 ·
I run them with no problems. Mine are set at the bottom of the travel & are quiet. I just put a set in an Evo and adjusted the same way were noisy. Backed them off a turn & they quieted down. I always start with the adjustment at the bottom then if they're noisy back them off. I've been using them for a long time. Evo lifters couldn't handle the higher spring pressure & the quick & cheap fix were travel limiters. The lifters you get now are much better & with the Beehive springs having less seat pressure you really don't need them. But put in a set of springs with 200# of seat pressure & you will want to use them.
 
#24 ·
ATTILA said:
I just went from 1 to 1 1/2 turns seems quiter how far can you go from bottom on these ???
Each motor will be a little different. Some like 1 turn....some like 1.5 or even 2. You have to try a few settings to see which works best for your motor. Remember that there are different TPI for the different pushrod makers. If 1.5 was quieter than 1 was you could try 2 and see how it sounds. At some point you will hit the other side and they will get noisier again. The thing you need to remember is there are many factors in a noisy valve train. Lifters are only one of them.

Later
 
#26 ·
Get rid of the toys in the lifters, there is really no need for those in your motor....your not gaining a thing except noise. Call Woods see what he says to do with them...call Andrews see what they say to do with them.
Then as me what I REALLY FEEL FOR THEM.....lol..lol
 
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