changing cam in car

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just to let you guys know, blueprint is sending me the cam and lifters and they gave me no hassle. The motor was ticking from the start under load while driving, but it was a slight ticking which i thought was an exhaust leak. I drove it that way locally for a while and it was'nt until i took it on it's first extended run for over a hundred miles on the highway that the ticking got louder and i turned around and took it home that way. I pulled the intake and valve covers and found only the #1 cylinder exhaust lifter to be damaged. all the other lifters have no wear noticable and the cam looks good except for a minor flat spot on that lobe. I broke the engine in as per instructions and used the rotella t motor oil which has zinc. i cut open the filter and found no metal traces whatsoever and i went through the oil that was drained with a fine tooth comb and found nothing. It seems to me that the only problem was the lifter was probably defective from the start and i failed to notice it was not an exhaust leak. I don't wan't to pull the motor out and will attempt to change the cam in the car.
 

I pulled the intake and valve covers and found only the #1 cylinder exhaust lifter to be damaged. all the other lifters have no wear noticable and the cam looks good except for a minor flat spot on that lobe.


there has to be metal somewhere if there is flat spots. seriously man. i would pull that baby apart and clean the hell out of everything.
 
A little off subject but my engine builder says those oil filter magnets really work well for capturing metal debris. if you cut the oil filter open you will see a chunk of debris captured on the outside walls. Anyone have any thoughts on these? I figured it couldnt hurt to run one.
 
Good to hear Blueprint is covering the parts. I hope there are no fragments that will cause issues. Looks like Comp Cams have issues to adress quickly.

Good luck with it.
 
Looks like Comp Cams have issues to adress quickly.


its not just comp. heard the same things happen with allot of flat tappet cams. MP, scott brown... etc..etc. the oils are different today then they used to be.
 
I use a big round magnet (looks like a flat washer) on the end of the oil filter when I break in engines on the stand. I say this a bunch... generally speaking, there is no such thing as the cam's fault. It's always the builder, or the car owner. Whoever built it, and whoever fired it the first time. No esxceptions. Comp runs an aggressive lobe on the XE series. If things are not perfect, they can fail. The bigger the cam, the more likely the issue. I dont care how many engines anyone has built. If the lifters dont spin, and the engien doesnt get rotated much when installing or assembling, it fires immediately, and is broken in right, you will not have a failure. If the lifter bores are too lose (the lifter will rotate, but can **** in the bore solightly) the cam can fail even thousands of miles later. And any time the lifter base or cam lobe wear off, that metal is all thru the engine, and at best, it will have drasticly shorter life span, at worst, loss of ring seals and bearing/crank damage. That was why I asked how long. The particles are so small, they may pass right thru cheaper oil fitlers, and they are like 10 micron diamonds in there as far as the aluminum pistons and bearing shells go.
 
there has to be metal somewhere if there is flat spots. seriously man. i would pull that baby apart and clean the hell out of everything.
I agree too! Inside of an engine has to be spotless. That's why they sell those little brushes for the oil passages. "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." I cleaned a new motor that wiped a cam. It had to be done. Soapy water, compressed air, brushes, etc. Nowthat's a fun weekend!
 
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