Lancia Lybra- Hydraulic valve lifters

[Yugo_Turbo]

I'm having problems with family car- Lancia Lybra 1.8 16v VVti (2002.).
After the major break(the drive belt broke) the head was rebuild by local service and after that the engine was constantly consuming about 1.5-1.8liters of oil between swaps.Also the constant noise form the engine bay, when it's cold and when the engine is hot, too.
After finding the loose nut on the oil-sump the engine stoped using that much oil but it's still about 1.5liters I'm completelly out of myself.

My main suspects are:
-Valve stem seals- they could be warn after that mechanic swaped them probably using hammer and screwdriver
-Valveguide- they werent swaped even after changing all valves which were bent
-Hydraulic valve lifters(only one was swaped by the "professional" who did the rebuild)-how to check their condition?

Edit:
Sorry,l haven't asked the question wright way.
The head is now going tu be rebuilt by myself but cause I dont have expirience with hydro- valve lifters...the real question is , how to check ther condition?
What's the sign of lifter which needs to be chaged?

Thanks in advance!

[Georges Fonso]

Hello!
First of all, if the guy hasn't put new guides in, you've probably explained why the engine eats so much oil. To my experience, valve guides never behave themselves after having supported the bending of a valve! And of course, the general assemblying of the engine bears its importance as well.
As far as the lifters go, I know of no sure-hit way of "testing" hydraulic valve lifters/ tappets/ lash adjusters, maybe somebody has, i'd be most glad to read about it!
To save yourself a great deal of time and effort, I would suggest replacing all 16 of them. You will find that buying 16 original OE lifters is a rather costly excercise, but it is well worth it! Recently, I rebuilt a 16-valve VW Polo engine for a customer, that had suffered the same damage as yours. As a matter of course, i replaced all 16 lifters, since i didn't fancy the idea of having the same lifters that had managed to bend half the valves! Unfortunately, due to parts availability (literally lack thereof) and a tight schedule, i had to use lifters from some Spanish brand (i will not name names, as GC puts it). In the case of the VW, they're not really cheaper than the OE items, but in the case of your engine they definitely are, and by far! However, read on with my tale before you make any decisions.
So, the result of using the Spanish stuff was that almost half of them were terribly noisy, even after a couple hundred kilometres. I carefully listened to the engine, using a "stethoscope" style of probe and more or less found which ones were noisy. I spoke with the guy that sold me the Spaniards and he promptly offerred to exchange the noisy lifters under warranty. So, after taking the cams out a second time, and replacing the noisy lifters, I ended up with more or less the same thing: yet again a noisy engine, almost all the new lifters were also noisy and I mean the engine was sounding like a totally batterred diesel running on 40 ketane fuel!
So, after waiting for two more weeks until the dealership had stocked the OE lifters (made by INA), i went for yet another set of 16 new lifters and now the engine is as silent as new! Of course, i had to take the camshaft carriers and timing belts apart yet one more time!
What I would suggest, and a couple of tricks to make your life easier:
First, make sure you either get Original Equipment lifters or lifters made by the factory that makes them for Gruppo Fiat (I think they also buy from INA, but I'm not sure)
Second, make sure that anything coming in contact with the lifters is spotlessly clean. I mean cylinder head, hands, oil, anything! Even the most minuscule speck of dust can ruin a hydro lifter
Third, once you've assembled the engine, let it stand for a couple of hours before firing it up. This will allow any lifters under compression (open valve) to settle down and expel the excess oil they might have got from the factory. Not abiding by this might, in some engine designs, result in valves hitting the piston.
Fourth, it's a good idea to crank the engine without spark plugs, until the oil pressure light goes off and then some more. This will prime the lifters with oil and they will be a tad happier once the engine fires up for the first time
Fifth (in case you had doubts) make sure you have NEW oil and filter in the engine, of a proper grade as per manufacturer's specification.
Sixth: there are a couple of oil additives specifically designed for conditioning hydraulic lifters. I have found that using them with new lifters makes a really good job of "running in". I would recommend Hydrostossel Additiv from Liqui Moly, I've tested it many times and it works wonders even on really worn out and noisy lifters that are way overdue to be replaced.

In any case, do not forget that hydro lifters are THE MOST TIGHT-TOLERANCED PARTS OF YOUR ENGINE and they do not forbid any sort of neglect, be it during assembly or ordinary engine maintenance, such as oil and filter change.

Best of luck,
G.F.

[Yugo_Turbo]

Firstly, thank you for reply.
Yes, the guides are probably to blame, but until the engine is opened,I don't know anything more.
The valve-lifters are pretty expensive cca. 15eur/piece(not sure of brand) so changing the all is only if must be done cause the owner is on pretty tight budget :(

the engine was sounding like a totally batterred diesel running on 40 ketane fuel!

The same thing with this engine, the engine had this same sound just before the belt snapped.
After it was changed it was ok for a while, but then...all over again.

Great tips, it will help a lot!
Thanks!