Bad Lifter (stock or upgraded replacement?)

[tacollins]

So I went to the dealer garage and had the guy listen to some noises and stuff and he said that it sounds like I have a collapsed lifter, and I got to thinking about stuff I'd like to do to my car in my life time and it includes upgrading the 3400 engine to stage 2 or stage 3 naturally aspirated with a ZEX wet nitrous system. So I found these improved lifters on Milzy Motorsports for a dollar more each than stock lifters from AutoZone or O'reilly's and I was thinking if I ever did get my engine upgraded that the improved ones might hold up better to stress.

Anyone have any suggestions, this is gonna be a while in the future but I don't want to wait so long that the lifter causes permanent damage (if that's even possible (>.>) my dad says that sometimes it burns the area around the lifter or makes the car miss).

[tacollins]

forgot the link... http://www.milzymotorsports.com/impr...-3500-engines/

[tacollins]

Exactly how hard is it to replace the lifters, if I do it myself I'll probably end up buying a service manual, but I was wondering exactly how hard it was and if there's anything I should be wary of.

[sleepyalero]

Nothing is hard to do... just gotta know what you are doing. You will basically have to tear down the motor. A haynes manual will help.

[tacollins]

Thanks

[a.graham52]

Old worn out oil can make them lifters clatter too

[tacollins]

I change my oil every 3-5k miles and just changed it, switched from stp oil treatment to hyper lube oil supplement and it helped a little at first but then it just started again.

[tacollins]

This is the closest I can find, is there one that covers the 2004 Alero?

http://www.haynes.com/products/productID/183

[MMGT1]

Did a set on my 3400 in just under 4 hours, not a bad job at all. The hardest part is getting the lower manifold seated properly. On the 3400's you have to do that right or you'll be doing it again, and in short order! Yes, get the lifters from Milzy, that way you do it once and not have to do this again when you start to upgrade the engine. Its a dam good deal he has there on them

[sleepyalero]

All aleros 99-04 should all be the same to do work on for the most part.

[tacollins]

Thanks again.

[negolien]

Ah missed that thanks

[negolien]

I got lifter chatter after the lamo Pontiac dealership did a fuel injector/throttle body cleaning. I went back the next day pissed beyond belief. They replaced the lifters and it still chatters. That pisses me off to no end. Needless to say I no longer go there.

[tacollins]

Wow, and so here's a summary of what I did the last 12 days: Did agricultural stuff, getting ready to start farming rabbits again..., found out that I have worse problems than a lifter... My car was missing just here and there but now I've lost tons of power (taking off from lights, trying to pass, and I feel like I'm gonna get ran over by that semi that seems to just love picking on cars that are slower...) I've tried new plug wires that helped a lil at first, then I tried swapping coil sets from my olds cutlass ciera, and a camaro at a junkyard seemed to help at first then not so much, I haven't checked my plugs but I changed them three months ago when I had problems with my other set of plug wires so I don't really think they would be the culprit because the factory ones I took off were still in great shape, just had octane booster residue (found that it seems to actually clean the engine, when the engine is running right...) on them. I'm thinking that it's my fuel/ignition control since it's the only part that hasn't been moved around or changed. I know that it doesn't really have anything to do with the topic, but I'm trying to handle things one thing at a time. (My to do list actually looks something like this... fix missing problem; save up for new tires, for those who followed my tire thread I settled on the Nitto NT450's cause the 15 and 16 inch versions have 45,000 mile treadwear warranty; then save up for new lifters; then maybe start looking for the parts for my dual header back exhaust system, including a modified rear bumper)

Any ideas on what is wrong with my car causing it to miss?(if you don't wanna read the above read below)
-It misses when taking off from stop lights, while passing people, or going up hills, and has a loss of power at pretty much all times.
-I had the parts store run the code: says random misfire multiple cylinders.
-I have changed pretty much everything except the F/I controller which is the stock piece, and the spark plugs which I changed about 3-4 months ago.

[sleepyalero]

Plugs, wires, ICM, coils, all changed?

[tacollins]

The ICM is my next step, the plugs where changed about 3 months ago. The ICM is what I was talking about when I said F/I control(the dealers mechanic told me it controls both the ignition and the fuel supply). Hmm... I guess I should check some of the plugs, make that I'm switching the new plugs out with the old ones, so that I can see what's going on with them.

[tacollins]

I drove my car with the old plugs in it and it ran like it should considering. The plugs I took out had motor oil in the threads, which I thought was strange.

[tacollins]

Yeah It was the plugs, still have a slightly rough idle from the lifter but it's running without a miss so far. After I got off work I took it north of town to where I could turn it loose on the 65mph speed zone (all seems well).

But if anyone has any idea of why there was motor oil on the threads of the plugs I'd like to hear it. Thanks for y'alls help again.

[negolien]

Leaky leaky.. We had that with our Saturn they had to change a gasket.

[tacollins]

Okay so it's been a while and I've just about decided to do the lifters myself, (saves 300 usd), though my dad mentioned that you used to have to adjust them, do we need to adjust them on the LA1 or is it a preset or what? The local Oreilly's guy said that the Haynes books only cover the basics (how to tear it down and put it back together), however not how to adjust them. Thanks for all the help so far again.