FE3 HLA question

**d0zxmustang** · 11-4-12, 20:41

I did a search and if im not mistaken, the FE3 HLA is the same as the KL series? Or would i just be better off just purchasing one for a kia fe3?

After a day of troubleshooting and nearly having a heart attack when i discovered zero compression on cylinder 4, it seems i have a bad intake hla. it seems something internally has come apart thats causing the assembly to bind in the head not allowing an intake valve to fully come to its closed position.

Thanks!

**matt89glturbo** · 11-4-12, 21:24

Buy for he kia fe3...they are not the same as the kl, except the intake side of a ze...which I imagine would be just as hard to source...cheapest I remember them being was at an online kia parts store...~12-13 each iirc

**d0zxmustang** · 11-4-12, 21:45

thanks for the fast response. I thought i must have misread what i saw, maybe it was saying they were similar in design.

**lundgren420** · 11-4-12, 23:46

Saturn had an identical litter the bpt323 documented. Look for the thread.

**matt89glturbo** · 11-5-12, 14:44

they're very similar, just the kl's are smaller in diameter, sometimes that info is hard to follow on this site, only reason I know is I have a pair of ze heads, and a pair of fe3 heads and just happened to notice they were the same, iirc the kl and all other mazdas that used this style are the same, except the intake side of the ze, and the fe3 both run a bigger one, not sure why either was determined to use the bigger buckets, though...in comparison the fe3 cams are larger than the kl, so that kinda makes sense...

**d0zxmustang** · 11-9-12, 11:48

Houston, i have a problem...

Kia HLA isnt working. Beside the obvious difference in length, there is about a .035" (longer) difference between the top of the HLA where the cam rides and the part that contacts the valve. The oiling groove is different, and location of the oil orifice is .050" farther down the HLA than the original fe3.

I installed it and put the cam back in, rotated the cam around so that both valves were suppose to be fully closed and there is significant leakage at the valve.

The package the HLA came had Kia original parts all over it and a kia sticker, along with an Auto 7 sticker. the kia number on the package matched the number on the kiapartsnow.com website and exploded view.

so has anyone else used Kia lifters before? Anyone experienced this problem or has my usual bull[shizzle] luck struck again and i received the one mis-packaged HLA?

**matt89glturbo** · 11-9-12, 13:55

My fe3 was running with 5 of them for a while...

**jesiotrot** · 11-9-12, 18:29

I would be sticking to the Mazda lifters. Is there a problem with yours? Or you just want to replace them with new ones? A good clean out and refill with oil can be just as good as new ones.

**d0zxmustang** · 11-9-12, 23:44

Something seems to have broken inside just one of the HLA's You can pull the tip that contacts the valve nearly out. When installed it causes the HLA to bind in the bore and prevents the valve from closing smoothly in the correct amount of time.

Does anyone have any original Mazda ones that they would part with?

Matt, would you happen to have some? Hell I'd buy one of your extra heads at this point, I know it's going to be hard to find someone to part with just one

**matt89glturbo** · 11-10-12, 12:24

I only have 1 mazda head, the spare is a kia one...ill have to pull the hla's I guess and check, I never noticed them being different, but I replaced 5 of them as they wouldn't pressure up, and ran it for a while without issue

**d0zxmustang** · 11-11-12, 22:29

My usual bull[shizzle] luck has struck again!

The lifter was indeed a mis-packaged unit. Nabbed a HLA from a Kia at the junkers today and problem is solved.

I made an error when i measured what I received and it was actually nearly .070" difference between the top and valve tip, and about .01" difference in diameter.

Thanks again guys...