993 owners--Has anyone diagnosed a bad hydraulic lifter on their car?

[David--Edwards]

On my '95 993, with hydraulic lifters, I have been noticing excessive valve clatter on the exhaust / driver side of my motor. I'm not exactly sure how to go about fixing this. I plan to first replace the oil to see if it is something like a clogged lifter.

From the shop manual, it looks fairly easy to dissemble; and it looks like they could be taken out for inspection; although I don't know what a bad one looks like. I'll probably use a stethoscope to try and pinpoint which one is bad, since the exhaust side is easy to get to.

Has anyone had any experience with this? The manual states that the lifters come in different sizes, and after valve work, these should be replaced, and the play should be measured to determine which size lifter is needed. I would assume the smaller size (they only come in 2 sizes) would automatically go for the exhaust side, as it allows for more of a clearance due to greater heat expansion of the exhaust side. Does that sound right?

Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!

[Britwrench]

The lifters are the same for the exhaust and intake. I would suggest changing all twelve of them and the valve cover gaskets. The part numbers are different to account for differences in manufacturing tolerances.
Check with your parts supplier to obtain the correct parts, you only have to replace the lifter elements not the whole rocker.