Mushroom lifters. Important!!!

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RdKryton

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Hello
Everyone with an NE5 engine should pay close attention to this post. Only the latest NE5 engines come with mushroom lifters. It is a pretty good bet that if your engine came with the aluminum intake spacer, it most likely has the mushroom lifters. It seams like these two changes to production were made at the same time. On the advise of our very own Whizzer engine guru I put mushroom lifters in my WC-1 when I upgraded to the NE5. At the time I thought it was just a performance thing but I have come to learn the other reason Quenton recommended them.
Yesterday I helped my brother (Kilroy) put mushroom lifters in his 2005 NE5. The engine only has 300 miles on it. This is an important fact because the lifters I removed from Kilroy's engine were shot! The ends of the lifters that ride on the cam were beaten and mushrooming out! The exhaust valve actually had a sliver of the lifter about to break off! You don't need a degree in mechanical engineering to know what kind of damage bits of metal can do to bearings. The reason this is happening is very simple. The NE engines have a higher lift cam than the WC-1 engines. The lifters I removed from my WC-1 were perfect. The problem comes from the higher lift cam. The lifters can not ride the cam lobes without damaging the cam because the lifters are too narrow. Now this is the sad part of the story. Instead of changing to the mushroom lifters they decided to soften the end of the lifter so it would mushroom out on it's own. This was a bad idea because it sets up every NE engine for mechanical failure! Bits of loose metal floating around in the block is a failure waiting to happen.
Now the good news. This defect is easy and relatively inexpensive to correct. Contact your local Whizzer dealer and order a set of mushroom lifters. Then contact Quenton and he will tell you how to make sure they are ready to use. As it turns out the QC is a little off on these too. They may need a little work to get them correct for use.
The potential damage that could occur if the stock lifters are not replaced is serious. A few dollars spent now could possibly save you much more down the road.
This post is not intended to bash Whizzer. It is intended to help us Whizzer owners get the most out of our investments.
I still love mine and have no intention of selling it. I have too much fun on it.

Jim
 
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I agree with everything RdKryton said, and if you have a higher mileage NE5 it will behoove you to check the lifters. If you have an early NE5 that was made before the lifter ends were softened (or a converted WC-1), you could have a different set of problems. Namely, the hardened lifters will likely start gouging the cam lobes. Again, we are not trying to bash Whizzer by any means. The route they took (by softening the end of the lifters) was a means to avoid gouging the cam lobes, but it unfortunately caused a problem of its own. It took some thinking outside the box to ultimately come up with the correct solution, and since the correct solution is available, I strongly suggest you retrofit these lifters to protect your investment. I plan to take some photos of the lifters that came out of my engine and post them on Wednesday so anyone will know what to look for.
 
Good on ya' fellas for this post to help everyone out! That is what this forum is all about enthusiasts helping enthusiasts; comraderie and community.
 
I have a 24" 2005 ne5, how will I go about figuring out if I have the mushroom lifters on without taking everything apart?
 
Thanks for the kind words Rif. It means a lot.

now frenchlayer
The only way I know is to look at them. It is easy enough to do though. The best way is to drain the oil and remove the engine side plate. If you lean the bike over on a 45 degree angle you don't even need to drain the oil. Unless your engine was worked on before you probably don't have the mushroom lifters.

Jim
 
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Here are the photos of the lifters. First, both lifters showing the wear on the bottom.
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z21/KilroyCD/100_1355.jpg
Next, one lifter with a sliver of metal about to break off (look at the two o'clock position):
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z21/KilroyCD/100_1358.jpg
Last, a side view showing how it's starting to mushroom on its own (look hard, it's there). Notice how the metal is darker on the end, this is where the lifter was heated to soften it.
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z21/KilroyCD/100_1359.jpg
These came out of a 2005 NE5 with only 294 miles on it at the time.
 
Does anyone have a pic of one of the new mushroomed lifters that are in the new engine? I would like to see what the new one looks like. I heard someone used the lifters from a Briggs & Stratton engine worked over to fix the problem. Have fun, Dave

Pic of my cam. I like the rust on the crank, I guess the Chinese built my engine out in the rain.
 

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Hi Egor,
Send me an email requesting pictures of mushroom lifters @ quincy163@yahoo.com and I will send pictures of the different versions. A friend of mine made me a couple sets using B & S parts, but it requires a lot of talent to make them. The Whizzer versions have some problems including the base is too tall [some hit the cases at the lifter bores], the O.D. on some are too small, on some the base wasn't ground straight [changes the clearance as the lifter rotates], and all are way too heavy. The Whizzer versions can be re-worked to work well [as long as the O.D. isn't too far off .393"]. I am in the process of having some quality lifters made, and hope to offer them in the near future [if I can get the price in reason using American labor].

Have fun,
Quenton
 
Titanium Lifters:

I read an online article called: "The New Whizzer...Making It Go", by Ron Dow.

Regarding one of his modifications, he says:

"I experimented with mushroom-based Titanium lifters (0.50" diameter mushroom, 16 grams), with a net result of a crankcase full of ground-up Titanium!"

HAL
 
Hi Hal,
Guess who builds Whizzer motors for Ron Dow. Yes you are correct, I do!
He uses my mushroom lifters, and camshafts, in most of his fast motors. In fact I think the NE motor I modified in 2005 for him is still one of the fastest around. The article you are talking about is old and is about the earlier WC-1 motor, not the NE version. In the article he used larger valves, but the NE already has a larger intake valve.

Have fun,
Quenton
 
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