T25 1984 1900cc water cooled: Hydraulic valve lifters (HVLs)

[Nigelg37]

Hi all,
Upfront apology: if the answer to my question below is already posted, I'm sorry to ask it again; I have used the Search/Advanced search but cant see the answer or suitable Thread.

Question: please can you tell me if it is possible to remove all 8 HVL's with the engine still in place? i.e. I am hoping to leave cylinder heads in place, but remove rocker gear, exhaust sys and heat shields - to get to the tubes, rods and lifters. If the answer is Yes then please can you point me to a resource that details the method. Thank you.

Why do I want to change them: 1. My van has 278000KM on the clock and even if has not run for only a couple of days, invariably for the first 20+ miles my lifters are rattling like mad, the engine runs like a bag of nails and power wise feels like its really struggling. BUT,, as soon as the oil gets to work and the lifters go quiet, the engine purrs which is great but its time to fix the route cause which i believe to be that the lifters are ready to be changed. 2. Starting next March we will be doing about 3,000 miles over 3 months so now's the time to give the engine an overhaul but stick to what is needed; 'if it ain't broke...

Thank you for your help, Merry Christmas all and cheers to '24.
Nige

[davidoft1]

You can change them without removing the heads but you have to cut the push rod tubes and replace with telescopic ones

[Rosie n' Jim]

I only know about the 2l Aircooled engine. It was an improvement over the earlier engines in that the pushrod tubes could be removed through the head. Did they really go backwards in the WBX design?

[Nigelg37]

Morning, thank you both for taking the trouble to reply, its very much appreciated.

My still-in-bay strip down of all ancillaries is going well and not much blood loss up to now! So over the Christmas break I'm going to weigh up the pros and cons of dropping the lump out and going for a complete strip down. Or, stick to what is necessary now - HVL's - plus oil pump for good measure.

Thanks again and I hope you have a great 24.