Hi:

Following up on my previous threads on 1.7 engine noise, I finally got around to pulling everything apart this weekend. Pulled all the pushrods and lifters and inspected the rocker assys. Unfortunately no obvious simple noise source. The only thing I could find that was curious is that the #2 Exhaust lifter has unusual wear marks. The opposite lifter on the same lobe, #4 E, is not nearly as bad but it also has some swirl marks. All the other lifters are perfectly smooth. In the photo, 2E is on the bottom, 4E on upper right and one of the others is upper left for reference.

I put my bore scope on the related cam lobe and did a full rotation. Could not see any unusual wear but very hard to tell with all the reflections. See 2nd photo.

Any engine gurus out there who have seen this type of wear pattern before? Is is indicative of a bad cam or not that unusual? Could it be causing my knocking noise?

Thanks,
Ron

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On a new lifter you should be able to not see any daylight under a straight edge. Used lifters will show indentions like those shown in top of picture. How many miles on engine and are all the lifters the same brand?

Thanks. The car is new to me with 70K on the broken odometer so no idea of mileage. There's no sign anywhere of prior rebuilds or much maintenance so I'd be surprised if all the lifters aren't original and the same.

Ron