02 chevy lifter stuck in bore

[kev63rod]

so have a bad lifter in my 6.0. finally had a chance today to pull the heads to get at the lifters and of course that lifter is stuck like no other. its the exhaust valve lifter on cyl 3. it comes up a half inch or so then dead stops. so can i pull the cam with the lifter stuck in there? wanting to pull it then push the lifter into the cam area. is this doable without tearing the whole engine down? and also the exhaust valve smacked the piston. dont look like it was super hard but definitely left a mark. planning on changing the valve but was wondering if anybody had any idea what would make the valve hit the piston with just a bad lifter?

[crazy longhorn]

It sounds like it stuck the valve, as far as the piston witness mark? If you can pull the lifter up 3/8- 1/2 "....you should be able to slide the camshaft out. Figure ,that these (stock engines), are around .500 lift @ the valve, or a little under. That is with a 1.7 rocker ratio (IIRC), so the lift on the lobe is not that high As far as , can you push it out the bottom?.....you could on the Gen I, but I have not been deep enough in the ls based mills to say for sure? You might soak the lifter & bore, in carb cleaner & just work it (gently by hand). If its a varnish issue, it should come out the top. best of fun, Longhorn

[gofastwclass]

The lifter can come out the bottom of an Gen III (LSx) block once the cam is removed. However that presents a secondary problem... now the lifter is in your oil pan.