b70, good question as I only have several making a racket...

It is not an adjustment problem,have adjusted them hot,cold anywhere from zero lash to 3/4,seems to be a little better at3/4 but still noisy when cold,shuts up once oil gets hot need to put under load.I know they set them up with tight clearances but that should make them pump up faster.Once oil is hot they work great,having a tough time figuring out what is going on.Also on some engines they have been perfect

Dave,

Dont know if you remember the 540 you dynoed for me a few years back that had the noisy Lunati lifters ? We pulled them on the dyno and measured them and they were about .0015" smaller than a set of Comp's you had on hand. We swapped the lifters and the thing quieted down and I think made about 50 more HP. I wonder if the Morels are loose in the lifter bores until they heat up some ? Maybe they expand more than other lifters and the heat helps take up the clearance ? I have a set of Morels and a set of Comps at the shop, might be worth measuring them and checking them cold, then hot and see what happens ? Sounds like an interesting Monday project

Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md

The cold oil may or may not be an issue. But you DO have a problem with the oil. Even running on the hose, unless you are only running it for a few minutes, you should see oil temps beyond 140, and running it in the water you want to see at least 210-220 degrees.

UPDATE:
Took the boat out yesterday and ran it on the water. I managed to get my oil temp up to 180 and block temp at 120. Normal temps for this engine with a crossover and T-stat. A little hard to hear with the valve covers on but there was still noise coming from the left bank. Shut it down and pulled a valve cover and ran at fast idle. Just a little less noise but still had the noise at 7E and 5E. Pulled the lifters out and ordered a new set.

While I had it apart I visually inspected the lifter bores, they look fine. I will see what the ones do. I think the real strange part and perhaps the big tip off was that if you back the setscrew out and loosen the rocker a ¼ to ½ the noise does not change. Quickly tightening it back up a ½ turn makes the noise go away but it reappears after 10 seconds now instead of 20 with hot oil.

BadDog,
whatever happened? I still have the noisey issue....went out for the first time this season yesterday and it was an on and off thing...oil temp didnt matter for me either.
what was your final solution?
b70

My 540 with Dart Block and ((EXPENSIVE)) Crane roller lifters also make noise until they pump up. Installed a pre-lub pump to build pressure builds to 40 psi and then pressure switch shuts off until oil pressure falls to 20 psi then pump starts again. Run pre-luber for about 2 mins, then bump starter to rotate cam then let set for another 1 min with pump still running then crank engine.
Still get a few 'taps' until main oil pump kicks in. Was seriously thinking of replacing all of them when I saw this thread. Now, I believe I will just live with it.

No noise after the initial start-up though, even with captain's call closed.

PS-I always start mine with the captain's call closed and the hatch open so I can verify water flow and listen to initial start-up.

PSS- I run 10W40 Amsoil Synthetic now, switched from 20W-50 (SYN) as oil pressure was excessive (80 psi+ with heavier oil).

Have you tried calling Morel to see what they say?

Yes,
Morel was great to work with. I sent the lifters back and they inspected them. No problem found. While they had them I installed a new set of lifters and the noise went away. Not sure why the noise went away if the originals were no trouble found.