Alec

Solved! The offending lifter came out of the rocker easily enough - using a knife edge to lever it out. All the oil channels/feeds were clear, in the shaft and rocker. The hydraulic lifter itself has a ball valve in the base, which admits oil. I probed this ball with the end of a paperclip, and initially it appeared very stuck - a little more pressure freed it up with a distinct 'click', although I had managed to dislodge it off-centre slightly; tapping the lifter sharply on a clean surface, oriented so the ball would shift into place, re-seated the ball OK. In order to minimise the time required for bleeding the lifter, I held the rocker with the hole for the lifter inverted and filled it with oil; with my thumb over the hole in the main rocker bearing surface to prevent oil escape, I pressed the lifter in and hopefully forced some oil into it. Bolted everything together again and everything is now nice and quiet - no tapping at all, and apparently no time required for bleeding the lifter as it was quiet straight from the start. I can only presume that the ball valve had become stuck by a build-up of varnish. Anyway, thanks for the advice, and general thanks for this forum - a great source of info which has saved me a lot of time and probably money.

Thanks for the reply! I now have the rocker assembly off and have found the offending lifter - free to depress unlike the remainder - so I guess the next step is to find out if the oil supply to that rocker is blocked, or if the lash adjuster needs replacing. Not an expensive bit - around $20 US (but £50 UK - $90!! Almost worth flying out to buy one) so can be easily replaced if necessary. Had a good look for the ECU diag leads - still not found! No sweat though; maybe I'll just have a look at that valve... Thanks again.

Hi all. I'm probably going to have to replace a hydraulic valve lifter on my '91 Legacy; it looks like an easy job to get the rocker assembly off, but could anyone tell me if it is a straightforward process to change the hydraulic bit? I think the hyd bit is mounted in the rocker arm somehow... Also - this car is a bit of an oddball, a U.S. model with RHD - designed for mail delivery (available at mucho cheapo price in the early 90's and just the biz to import to the UK). It's a Legacy 2.2L, Non-turbo AWD Auto. Question - how do I interrogate the ECU for Check Engine trouble codes? There isn't a set of connectors in the places mentioned in many threads which all pertain to LHD cars, and the UK guides don't tally either. There are a couple of connectors to the left of the steering column under the dash, one black single with an associated lead to plug in, and a yellow connector with several wires that look like they are there for an external diagnostic tool. Maybe one day I might find out what the Check Engine light is trying to tell me. Still runs OK though, except the recent valve lifter noise...