So.... heres some background information.

i own a 1989 ford ranger with a 1974 302 v8

one day i began loosing power and a few days later it wouldn't run at all.
i had a ticking problem periodically. so when it stopped running. i wanted to figure out what was the causing the sudden loss of power. i was told to check the timing chain in case the chain had loosened and slipped a tooth. i did check it and it was very loose. so i changed it and followed the steps in my chilton to time the crank to the cam. after i did that it still acted the same way and wouldn't run. i was then told to check the lash adjustment. when i popped off the valve covers several rockers were very loose. so i figured it was way out of adjustment and needed to be redone. i followed the steps to the chilton to adjust em and they still became very loose after adjusting the lash.

after going over and over with the adjusting i gave up and decide to pull out the lifters some of them were very easy to push down the plunger and others a lot harder.

so what i want to know is, can lifters go bad?? can the hydraulics be worn out?? what is causing this terrible lash adjustment?

 

This is what I would try.
Submerge a lifter in a container of motor oil and push the plunger down several times to see if the lifter fills and get harder to depress. If it does, there may be an oil starvation problem. If it makes no difference , the lifter may be excessively worn or plugged and replacement would be recommended.
Might be a good idea to confirm decent oil pressure when cranking.

 

when i took the lifters out i had a tub of oil that i let them sit in overnight before re installing them. and like you said i tried to push em down and they seemed to be just as easy to push down as before. i thought that couldn't be right and they must have been ruined.

 

If you had them under the oil and tried to fill them, by depressing them a few times, and they never offered any resistance, you might want to get a couple of new ones and see what they do.