Is there a solid lifter upgrade for the Protegé?
All Protegé engines from 1997 onwards utilize solid valve lifters for increased reliability due to HLA (hydraulic lash adjuster) failures in high mileage engines because of typical owner tendencies to not change the engine oil often enough. Regardless of that, solid lifters benefits us with high RPM stability because the tendency of valve float occurs at a much higher RPM than HLA lifters. Many high performance cams also require stiffer valve springs and solid lifters because HLAs cannot keep the proper lash at higher RPMs. Also because the newer engines came from the factory with solid lifters, sourcing the parts to perform this upgrade is relatively cheap and easy. In order for the proper operation of the engine, you will have to replace the cams with the solid lifter ones because the ramp angles are significantly different as well as the other profile characteristics. This causes unpredictable and unwanted changes in lift and duration as a side effect. It can also cause performance
