Fresh engine, wiped cam? Tick? (new pics added)

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Is "ok" good enough, or should I be looking into a new cam?

I don't know what that discoloration is? I was there when they were building it, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary (however I wasn't there 24/7). It's not flaking off or anything. The whole thing just seems unusual, don't it? Maybe I should just drive the ting and tick away?!?! :)
 
I wouldnt drive it ticking....thats a warning sign of future engine problems to come lol.
 
Well, I haven't started the car in days either. All the lifters are all the same, so I just took a picture of the one. Yea, I can shake it and rattle it like a spray paint can. I thought maybe they were suppose to have some play in them? I mean... Why would they all be bad, and if they were all bad, wouldn't they all be ticking??

DSC01460.JPG
 
from what I can tell, that lifter looks like its sitting where it should be....and since you said it hasnt been started in a bit I guess they could be blead down a bit and be more squishy.....I still still would not rule it out though.

new thought......have you tried rocking the rocker arms from side to side?

they look factory and depending on how many original miles are on them....alot of times the shafts will wear down aswell as the inside diameter of the rocker arm bushing......what your hearing could be the rocker arm play and the rocker arm could be slapping against the rocker shaft giving oyu your "tick"
 
Well... Come over then! Your only a stones throw away! You have no excuse! :)

I'm thinking maybe the discoloration is from the break in lube on the cam and stuff... maybe?? Just a theory.


Now I am starting to wonder if it's a valve or something??? I could use other input maybe?? Please?

Thanks!
 
the wear pattern is significantly different from lobe to lobe and does not look very good to me. You can also see the wear pattern on the bottom of the lifters. The wear circle varies in diameter and that tells you that the lobes are worn differently from one to the next.
Like I said earlier, the flat tappet cam lobe is not flat, the tappet is. The cam lobe is ground on a slight angle. this accomplishes two things. It causes the cam to thrust fwd against the retainer plate, keeping it stable, and it rotates the lifter as it lifts it. This causes the lifter to rotate as it slides over the lobe. This is the wear pattern you are seeing.
It does not look good to me.
I would probably yank the cam and have a shop equipped for cam grinding do a quick regrind and polish on it, but first have it checked by someone in the know.

I will take a pic of one of my good used cams for ya and post it.


PS Now you know where the term "worn flat" came from. The lobe is literally worn flat and will not rotate the lifter, which will then wear out quickly.
How did they decide what pushrod length? were the heads/block milled? If so, stock length can be too long and will increase the amount of preload on your lifters. This could be the cause of the problem.
 
I am not sure if assembly lube would cause discoloration like that. (ive never seen it anyhow).

could be a number of things though but its always best to comb over the easier things first and save the headache for last if it needs to be done.

but I would keep asking around and see what everyone has to say....I know about engine but do not claim to know it all and i know there are many more people here on fabo that know the ins and outs far more than I so maybe they can chime in with there .02 on it all.

if you were a bit closer I would consider it if there was beer lol!
 
I thing you lifters are fine.....that is you lifter foot to cam lobe.

You really need to run the eng with the valve cover off to determining with ones were noise. I understand why you didn't BUT now you need to replace then all........or put it back together to find where the noise is.

I would get 8 more lifters, for a piece of mind, and then you MUST Check you lifter PRELOAD before you install the manifold!

If the preload was wrong, i could have cause the Hyd affect of the lifter to go bad.........or it just need a different push rod.


I'm taking to far ahead.... re install the push rods/ rocker arms and see how far the push rod go's into the lifter.......take a picture of the lifter in the valley after words
 
Didn't read all the posts, don't know if its been mentioned...

I have had a broken valve spring (even one of the inner dampeners) make some racket and tick especially in the RPM's. Without noticeable effect on performance. I would get a good light and take a close look at all of the springs, inners & outters... Just a thought.

JOE
 
did they break the cam in for you? i have always been told if you dont break a cam in right, you will screw it up.
 
which would go along with what mopar 340 dave has been saying and would also go along with the engine making noise only 250 miles in
 
#7 exhaust and #8 intake lobes look bad to me. The pattern should be exactly like the others and they don't. The look wider and the lobes have a litle blue look to them. Can you take more pics of those two, and closeups of the lifter bases for those two? The lifters have an odd pattern too. They should all have a wear mark, perfecty round, about 1/8" in from the outside edge that is about 3/16" wide. If they have wear marks in the center of the lifter's foot the lobe/lifter have problems.
 
sure hope you put those lifters back in their original bores,you can check lift on each lobe,pull your pushrods and zero a dial on the base circle of each lifter(exhaust and intake will give different lifts )make sure the dial follows the centerline of the lifter,zero,flick,re-zero,check zero rotate for max lift Should only take an hour or so,if your intake is still off.
 
Did you roll each pushrod on a piece of glass to check for straitness?

I can't stress the point of the pushrod length being critical enough. This may be the cause. That would put the cause in your builders lap. If you can pull the cam (you will have to remove the radiator and grill), you can do a poor mans cam chack with dial calipers. All lobes should be slightly (.003" or so) taller at the aft edge of the lobe when compared to the forward edge of the same lobe. This is incorrect...Small Block Mopar's have alternating lobes...8 machined fwd...8 machined aft....oil pump drive gear provides cam fwd thrust.

Since you have the intake off, rotate the engine over by hand so that you are on the base circle of the cam and then install the rocker arm shaft with just those two rockers. Keep the rest of the rockers and parts in order and set aside. as you tighten the rocker shaft down (use the two hold downs, 1 on either side of the cylinder you're checking), pay attention to the lifters. Watch the lifters as you tighten the bolts down. They should only be preloaded about .025". That is 1/4th of 1/10th of an inch. It's not much.

If it is more than around .040", it is probably too much.
You can fix the preload issue cheaply with rocker shaft shims, but that won't fix your cam and lifters.
 
Oh boy... Lot's of info!

First.. You the block was decked to make sure it was flat, and also the heads we're milled for flatness, and cc's. Not so much intentionally for higher compression, just to be true.

They took my cam card, and looked at the lift, and from there they figure that the stock push rods would be fine. Like I say, I have some new Comp push rods I can replace them with. That shouldn't be a problum, would it?

I don't have a torque wrench right now so I can't really tighten the rocker arm at this point. I'll have to get back to you guys on that. I wish I could do that now.

However I will get pics up soon with the #8 and #7 cam lobe. I don't know nearly as much as you guys, and I even thought the wear was weird.

Mopar340Dave- it seems you are suggesting that I pull the cam... should I just do it and get it done with, or should I try some other steps first? I just want to make sure I do this right... I'm kind of freaked! Thanks!
 
No, I would not pull it just yet, but i would do the check I suggested on your pushrod length. You don't need a torque wrench, you can just snug them down. The key here is to tighten both bolts (on either side of your two rockers) evenly until the pushrods are seated in the lifter and the rocker arm.
I'm not saying to tighten them all the way down initially.
If you tighten them down to the point that the pushrod just snugs up, you can then measure how much room is left between the shaft and the shaft pedestal.
This amount will be your lifter preload when you tighten the shaft all the way down.

If that gap between the shaft and the pedestal is more than about .040", the pushrods are too long. On the upside, the shims required to shim the shafts up are about $10.

PS I do believe the cam is damaged along with the lifters, now we need to find out why. Do you have dial calipers?
 
mopar340dave- I hope i understand what you are saying. I will go out there in a bit.

Here is the picture that I think was ask for #8 and #7...

lobe1.jpg


lobe2.jpg
 
Is the "base circle of the cam" the low point?

Yea, it does look like rust. I saw that too. I have no idea why that would be either?
 
yes

sorry, but those lobes don't look good

what does your engine builder say?

I would mos def check pushrod length. your cam specs have next to no effect on the pushrod length. the exception being reduced base circle cams.


is your builder a chevy guy? while chevys have plenty of other problems, the pushrod length is not critical on mild engines because if they are close, you can adjust it with the rockers. Ours either need to be shimmed up (if they are too long) or use longer push rods if they are too short. Yours are not too short.
 
well, from the looks of things... If I get a new cam is it bad enough that I'd have to go through and rebuild it again?
 
the lobes of the cam look like they are covered in rust.....just like the valley of the engine was.....did you happen to have your block numbers jotted down prior to the build to compare to you block? I wonder if maybe they screwed your block up during the machine process and then swapped it with a junk yard block or something maybe?....for only 250 miles there shouldnt be any rust on those lobes like that......that could have been the kick start to your bad cam wear problem right there.....odd
 
that little surface flash rust does not look too good but I don't think its a problem. It just looks like they didnt spray it down with oil while the parts were layin around the shop.

Determine if your pushrods r the right length and then we can work from there. Replacing the cam won't help if you don't fix the cause.
 
I dont think you will have to rebuild the hole engine....just fill it up with oil and maybe an engine cleanser such as sea foam and then drain it out....then install a new cam kit all matching specs and then run a new oil change on it.....do your cam break in and change the oil again and you should be good to go

it was either the rust on the lobes that kick started the problem or .....my guess would be.....since the block was decked and the heads were milled and you kept the stock length push rods....they were too long and created to much pressure on the lifters and was causing uneven wear
 
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