are hydraulic lifters a bad thing?

[bajorek]

I was just reading posts over at the ShopTalk forums and they were saying that hydraulic lifters are crap.
In theory, they seem like a good thing- no adjustments.
Anyone with a late model bay with hydraulic lifters have anything negative to say about them?
Is there anything I should watch out for with them?

[NeverHadaBeetle]

Shoptalkforums.com is great for really technical advice especially with regards to type 4 engines, but keep in mind who most of the members are. They are guys that build up large engines with several $000's in them and drive like hell in their 914s or type IV Beetles. Needless to say they are into high performance rather than reliable economy. Hydraulic lifters are good below 6,000 RPMs, but they become unstable at higher RPMs. Needless to say this is not an RPM range that most bus drivers have ever seen and even if you have it was probably not on purpose and certainly not a regular occurence. Hydraulic lifters are quieter, generally remain in perfect adjustment, and the factory type IV lifters are dependable. If you want 200 HP with some monster high lift cam and you do regular 7,000 RPM burnouts then hydraulic lifters are not for you. Otherwise just smile flash those guys the peace sign as they pass by and keep on bussing. Good luck.

[ratwell]

Hydraulic Lifters are an improvement. People don't like them for the same reason's they don't like fuel injection, especially the crowd metioned above. Even Porsche brought them back to the last of the air-cooled 993 motors.

The only problem you'll likely have is if the PO didn't change the oil or let it go too low the lifters can break because they have moving parts unlike solid lifters. If the oil is left in too long and gets dirty then they can become noisy. If the bus isn't used for 6 months they can bleed down. As long as you use good oil and change it regularly to keep it clean and run your bus you'll likely never hear a problem. Who doesn't want to do that anyway? If you do get a nosiy one, it's not the end of the world and you can get them to go quiet again with a little tlc.

[bajorek]

Cool.

Ok, to tune the hydraulics it seems the overall concensus here is 2 turns, right?

Ratwell:

What oil do you use? What's your take on synthetic- I know there are threads on it, but I just want a quick answer- I'm aware of the opposing sides to its use.

Also, how often do you change your oil? Mine is a NON-daily driver.

[ratwell]

2 turns is correct. I posted earlier that someone measured the piston travel as 4mm so two turns of the screw with a 1mm thread pitch will center the piston when it's already pumped up with oil (firm).

Oil: I eliminated the oil leaks first then switch from Castrol 15w40 (winter) and 20w50 (summer) to Mobil 1 15w50 year round. Air cooled engines run hot so I decided to use synthetic because I know it doesn't break down until 300F when conventional oils do so at 250F. The general wisdom is that at 20w50 oil will turn into 20w as it breaks down at temperature. I buy it at Sam's Club for about $23 for 6 quarts. Walmart doesn't seen to stock the gallon jugs of 15w50. I'd like to find a place that does.

I change the oil every 3000 miles. VW says the interval is 7500 miles but I do a lot of short trips so based on the advice of anal vw mechanics I aim to keep the oil clean and change it twice as recommended. I also put on a new filter each time instead of waiting for 15,000 miles. If I put on serious highway mileage during the year I may alter those practices but right now it's costing me about $60 a year to make me feel good about the state of the engine.