mattirons76

hello i have a 2004 5.4 that has a bad lifter or lash adjuster i think. i ruled out the cam phaser because it ticks above 1200 rpm and so on, so i removed the valve cover to find that a rocker has a lot more play than the others do so my qestions are do i half to remove the cam in order to replace the lash adjusters and what steps should i take to replace the lash adjusters. the truck has 160000 miles, has lost alot of power when the ticking started thks

noles4x4

I am going to bump this thread because I am having the same issue. No body can help on how to replace a lash adjuster??

Austin97

Lifters and lash adjusters are the same thing. Yes you need to remove the camshaft. After you remove the camshaft be sure to lay out the followers in the order of which cylinder they go in. With the camshaft out of the heads you can pull the lifters out to replace them. You need a special valve spring compressor tool http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/18051...fvi%3D1&_rdc=1 when you compress the valve springs you have to watch that the whole valve and everything compresses, if you compress just the spring and the keepers fall out the valve can fall down into the cylinder and you'll be royally screwed. just be careful, it's not that difficult. Also make sure you torque down the cam with a good torque wrench, I believe the 3 valves are like the 2 valves where there are no cam bearings, they ride right on the journal and oil is all that keeps it from wearing.

Maverick163

I was surfing the threads on lash adjustor replacment and saw this.

My quesiton is, why would you recommend removing the cam and then tell the guy to use a spring compressor.

The spring compressor tool negates the need to remove the cam.

Nothin' Fancy

Pop off the rocker arm with a flathead screwdriver, replace the lifter, and pop back on. It doesn't seem like it would work, but trust me it does, I've done it 16 times

Nothin' Fancy

The video helps it make more sense http://youtu.be/mbqKWzhpsHQ

Maverick163

Yeah, but I believe a saw him scar the cam lobe when he missed on the first try.

Also, I noticed the intake is off. You don't have that much room when the EGR tube and various intake attachments are in your way.

Nothin' Fancy

It's worth a try, and I are your pout about the heads being still on the truck.. Spring compressor is going to be the only way in your case, and they ain't cheap

Maverick163

Yep, I plan to open her back up in a couple weeks and replace all of them. I have another thread I posted where I did 4 lash adjusters last week. I had to loosen the cam to get them back in. I believe the screw driver pry would have worked. I didn't think to use the cam lobe as a fulcrum. I'm ordering the spring compressor and new cam cap bolts.

This will be the third time diggin into the driver side. I got the valve cover gasket sideways on the first time so I had to pull it apart again. Lol, I've got the diassembly down to about 30 mins now.

Funny how that happens. When I raced 5.0 mustangs I could have the intake headers and heads off in about 2 hours. Blow a few head gaskets and you start getting use to what wrenches to grab.

lc

cabrego

has anyone tried the screw driver trick with the 5.4 L?