lifter springs sx /big red

[darrel632]

Has anyone had lifter springs collapse on a 250 es / sx?

If so can they be changed without pulling the head?
It appears the outer spring on the exaust side of my 250es has collapsed, the rocker is not engaging the valve stem / springs properly all the times. Makes a serious ticking noise, but still has good compression and runs ok (sort of) no loss of power anyways. I want to just change springs if possible and not pull the head.
CAN IT BE DONE? not theoretically, practically.
Any help please.
Darrel

[thefox]

You can not change valve springs without pulling the head. You need to hold the valve in place to compress the spring so you need to press on the face of the valve; I use a giant C-clamp. I would check for a worn cam and/or rocker arms first though, that is usually the cause of the ticking.

You have tried adjusting the valves right?

[darrel632]

Yes, adjusted to spec, cam is new, what I was hoping is with the piston at TDC I could compress the springs, remove and replace without pulling the head. Its only 37.5 PSI to compress the spring and insert the cotter pins.

[K1500]

darrel I have seen it done this way before. Pull the spark plug and get the engine at TDC of the compression stroke and then turn it back about 90 degrees or so. Take a small diameter cotton rope about four or five feet long and feed about half of it into the spark plug hole. Then turn the engine over by hand slowly until it stops. (You will need someone to hold your ratchet to keep it from backing off) That should hold the valve up enough to change out the spring. Change your spring back off of the ratchet and remove the rope and you are ready to go. I have also seen it done using compressed air to keep the valve closed.