Editing Lifters (section)
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===Solid lifter=== Originally, virtually all lifters were a solid or "mechanical" lifter design that required regular maintenance to check and set clearance in the valve train to account for wear during normal engine operation. This insured that the valve would fully seat against the valve seat, which is important not only for good engine performance but for the valve (especially the exhaust valve) to transfer heat from the valve into the seat then on to the cooling system to prevent the valve from rapidly eroding (aka a "burned valve"). With a solid lifter valve train, a predetermined amount of play is introduced between the tip of the closed valve and the rocker arm. This clearance is sufficient to allow for heat expansion of the components during operation. The solid lifter valve train requires periodic maintenance to account for wear, else the valve could eventually be damaged by insufficient clearance. That causes the exhaust valve to overheat and/or burn and a loss of performance can result from the intake not seating and sealing as it should. Excessive clearance can cause valve train damage and reduced performance and mileage. Solid flat tappet lifters are still used in some high performance engines, solid roller valve trains are the choice for racing when allowed and street/strip engines used at high RPM. They are as durable as a hydraulic lifter in flat tappet form, but suffer the same wear problems due to the decrease of wear additives that have been removed from current motor oil. Solid lifters are not used in modern engines because they make enough noise that they could confuse knock sensors, and the need for periodical maintenance is seen as too costly for the manufacturers to do under warranty.
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