Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Noisy lifters?

I suspect you can find the noise without removing the pushrods. Take a large screwdriver, make a fist around the handle and hold to your ear, put the other end on the rocker arm nut. The screwdriver transmits the noise. (be careful, if you get the tip on the recriprocating portion of the rocker arm, it will whack your ear! ...ask me how I know! ) A stethoscope is better but this will work. Piece of vacuum hose with a punch in one end will work also as a shadetree stethoscope.

Another thing to try is to just pull a plug wire while it's running. Removing the load from the engine will frequently change the sound that particular cylinder mechanisms are making.

if you've got a wiped cam, there will be a very noticable difference in the lift of each pushrod that you can see just by looking at them.