So far I can't find anything to collaborate your story. From the factory, Probe uses hydraulic lifters, 2000 Mazda 626 I-4 & V6 both use Hydraulic lifters. Solid lifters are used on the RWD Mazda Miata.

 

well, it was hard finding it out for my self too. In the begining I thaught that I had lifters bad, and thought of replacming, went on line and found 2 types, hydralic and solids. And when I asked people on www.mazda626.net which one is mine, they said that I have solids and it like started from 1997. and said that probe had solids way before. And I said why, and they answered becouse the engine was to be a little more sportier, the solids give like 250 or something extra RPM after the red line. And the people that actually turbo the car, change they hydralics to solids. And I read same stuff on www.probetalk.com or www.probetalk.net

And After opening the lifter cover and seaing actually the lifters, I got my actual prove.

And becouse I should do them, but dont, the gas millage is crappy, becouse the cylinders do not fill properly, and the knock sensor retards the ignition couse the lifter knoking sounds like ditanation. I will probably put a voltage splitter to the knock sensor to lower the retardation.

 

I checked a few online cylinder head and auto parts places and they all show hydraulic lifters The only place that I found that sells solid lifters for the Probe was a UK website that specializes in performance. So if you want the motor to rev higher than a dental drill then solid lifters are the way to go. For every day, hydraulic are less hassle and the main reason why manufacturers use self adjusting hydraulic lifters especially on FWD models. The threaded adjusters need to checked every 10K the shims need to be checked every 25K and usually will go longer but replacing the shims is a major pain requiring removal of the camshaft (some SAAB’s) or using special tools that compresses the bucket and help with the process.