Nederlands | English | Deutsch | Türkçe

Project Sports

Questions and answers about sports

How does a hydraulic roller lifter work?

3 min read

Asked by: Gregory Kowalewski

How does a hydraulic lifter work?

Hydraulic Lifters



Here’s how they work: Pressurized oil enters through a hole in the lifter body and flows into a narrow channel. This oil enters the internal lifter cylinder but flows freely out the other side. When the cam presses down on the lifter piston, it closes the channel.

How do you pump up a hydraulic roller lifter?


Lifters we want to manually pump them up we highly recommend using an oil squirt can. And manually pumping it up through the side feed hole.

How do you test a hydraulic roller lifter?

We can tell it moves freely it's not bound up it's hard to tell that when it's pumped up with oil so i always take it apart verify double check.

Are hydraulic roller lifters good?

World this is because they offer many benefits over the traditional flat tablet lifters. One of the main benefits is that they are much more durable.

Are roller lifters better than hydraulic?

That being said, roller lifters will offer major power advantages, along with a smoother operating engine. One reason is that roller lifters have less friction on the camshaft, which makes it easier for the cam to spin. Additionally, lobe profiles can be much more aggressive.

Why do hydraulic lifters pump up?

“Pump up can be the result of several problems in the hydraulic valvetrain. The most common is dynamic instability of the system. This occurs when the spring is unable to retain contact between the system components, due to insufficient spring load,” Herheim explains.

Do you have to bleed new hydraulic lifters?

The main goal is to ensure that before installation, hydraulic lifters are properly filled with oil and oil only. By bleeding them, unwanted air is removed from the lifters. The uncompressible oil content in their pressure chamber is what makes them effectively work as solid lifters during operation.

Do you have to preload hydraulic lifters?

Hydraulic lifters use what is called lifter preload, which compresses the small piston inside the lifter a given distance. This preload compensates for growth so no lash is necessary.

Will hydraulic lifters bleed down overnight?

All hydraulic lifters will bleed down overnight. Completely normal.

Do roller lifters add horsepower?

The total difference in horsepower between the solid roller and hydraulic roller setup is just slightly over 8 horsepower. In fact, both cams actually made about the same ft-lbs of torque at the same RPM.

Will a flat-tappet cam work with roller lifters?

It is possible to run hydraulic flat-tappet lifters on a solid flat-tappet cam, and hydraulic roller lifters on a mechanical roller cam. The rules in some racing classes restrict competitors to running hydraulic valve lifters. Cheaters have been known to run hydraulic lifters on a mechanical (solid) cam profile.

How long do hydraulic lifters last?

Lifters like good oil change schedules and can last over 100,000 miles. Lots of things have an effect. Being hydraulic helps. Some noise is normal.

How do I know if my hydraulic roller lifter is bad?

The most obvious symptom of a faulty hydraulic lifter is the noise it creates in your car’s engine. You can usually distinguish the faulty lifter by the distinct sound. Instead of a knock or ping, a faulty hydraulic lifter will usually make a sound more reminiscent of a tapping sound.

What causes roller lifter failure?

Not good improper cleaning of roller lifters is number five dirt. And debris is the number one cause of lifter failure dirt gets on all these little passages.