Re: just want to clear things up
The lifter expands when it lofts over the nose of the cam lobe, creates negative oil pressure and air is taken into the lifter above the plunger which reduces the pre load to zero. The valve is then held off the seat by the amount of the pre load when the lifter returns to the base circle of the cam lobe.
Actually lifter "pump up" is referring to the lifter being pumped up with air, not oil. If all the lifters pump up at once and overcome the plunger spring in the lifters, , the engine will shut off completely just as if someone turned off the ignition key. If only a few lifters pump up, the engine will stumble but will not completely lose power. Then when you let off the gas, the engine speed is reduced, the air bleeds out, the lifter pre load is restored by the internal plunger spring, the valve seats and the engine regains compression and resumes power. All this must be thought of in slow motion.
"High ball" hydraulic lifters were introduced by GM in 1965 on the high performance engines when solid flat tappets lost favor because of the engine oiling problems they create. The high ball hydraulic lifters have a check ball that is held up against the piddle valve by an additional spring which reduces the ability of the lifter to pump up with air at high RPM. Those lifters alone are worth an additional 500 RPM compared to standard lifters. Most lifters today are those type and were called "anti-pump up" lifters when they were first introduced. Those type lifters are still in use in all high performance engines but since 1987, they are roller tappets . Lifter pump up is why solid or limited travel hydraulic lifters are important to use for optimum high RPM performance. Those type lifters cannot pump up with air and hold the valves open because they have no where to pump up to.