Hydraulic tappet

A solid valve lifter is just that, in effect a metal spacer to transmit force and motion from the camshaft to the valvetrain).

As the camshaft lobe enters the lift phase of its travel, it compresses the lifter piston, and a check valve shuts the oil inlet.

Frequently, the valvetrain will rattle loudly on startup due to oil draining from the lifters when the vehicle is parked.

A rattle that does not go away can indicate a blocked oil feed, or that one or more of the lifters has collapsed due to wear and is no longer opening its valve fully.

[citation needed] A number of subcompact car manufacturers prefer solid valve lifters due to lower design and production cost rather than hydraulic tappets.

This has negative impact, especially on the engine camshaft and valves due to excessive wear if the clearance setting is not working correctly.

Hydraulic lifters can also create "valve bounce" or "flutter" at high RPM, which is undesirable for performance uses.

Used hydraulic lifters should be drained of oil before installation, to prevent them from holding open the valves on startup and potentially causing damage to the valve-train/pistons.