I am being told that if I use a higher seat pressure (200 pounds) valve spring, required for a cam upgrade, in a 2005 496HO I should replace the stock Mercruiser hydraulic roller lifters with the Crane hydraulic roller lifters or risk premature wear out /failure of the stock lifters.

Crane tech line says that the stock 496HO lifters are in fact their hydraulic roller lifters.

Anyone know for sure if this is true or not.

Crane does make lifters for Merc although it is my understanding that the link bar style is what Merc gets from Crane. A lifter without a link bar would be an OEM type from either Delphi or Eaton.

If you want a good set of lifters get them from CSTRAUB he's got the lifters I use they are one of the best on the market also in my opinion 200 lbs for a hydraulic roller is a bit more than what I run . Good luck Laz Mesa

200 does seem real high Must be a BIG cam

Rage:

Be careful what techs at cam and parts companies tell you about parts and specs. Crane does not make the stock lifters in the GM or Merc 496 period! You definitly don't need to run 200LBS seat pressure on a good 496 hydraulic roller cam grind and yes there are some better lifters out there like Morel that will handle higher spring pressures and use. Our heads use a single conical ovate wire valve spring with 140lbs on the seat. They don't make heat, wear out in 200hrs and they will work for hundreds of hours up to 5800 rpms with stock roller lifters. We have hundreds out there doing this now! Be careful in your engine buildup. The old addage "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" comes into play here. You might want to use an expierenced , knowledgeable successful 496 engine builder and get a reliable high powered 496 upgrade.

Regards,

Ray @ Raylar

So does the 496 run different lifters than the 500's? My understanding has been that Crane is the only company that offers the "non-link bar" hydralic roller lifters that can go above ~.560" lift. Are the cam lifts in 496's below this #?

In the case of the "blue 500's" I would think the Crane's are the lifters that come in the motors from Mercury, unless someone private labels them.

IE, for Gen6 motors, Crane 16535 lifters. I'm sure Mercury loves all the confusion they create....

Morel has 2 lifters for the 496 platform. One will go to .650 and one will go to .695. Both use the OEM lifter guide.