Hyd cam and lifter questions / help needed

[airwoofer]

So while my stroker is out of the fish and getting ready for the next ride (race Demon) I decide to pull the intake and see how the cam looks - was good as far as I can tell but I am not sure what to look for anyways. The wear pattern was all the way across the lobe tip if that matters. Also wanted to see if the lifters are still adjusted the same - ie no waer. problem is the lifters are not pumped up after the engine sat for a week or two so I cannot really tell cause some are collapsed.

I have been seriously flogging the motor 6500+ in burnouts and generally enjoying it immensely.

How do I tell if the cam/lifters are worn if I cannot check the preload I put on when I installed the motor and set it (1/2 turn in fromn when the lifter "engaged")? Do I need to pull the dist and try to use a drill to pump them back up?

Per Comp website:

Install the pushrods and rocker arms. Be sure the pushrods are seated correctly in the lifter and rocker arm. Turn the engine over in the direction of rotation until the EXHAUST pushrod just begins to move upward, opening the valve. Now adjust the INTAKE rocker of that cylinder. Carefully tighten the nut on the intake rocker while spinning the pushrod with your fingertips. You will feel a slight resistance in the pushrod when you have taken up all of the clearance. This is “zero lash.” Turn the adjusting nut to the specified pre-load – typically 1/4-3/4 of a turn, but this will vary based on the lifter number.

I have a couple lifters that do not have the "springiness" required to do this as the plungers seem to be "collapsed". I used the oil pressure to fill them up before. Have I trashed the lifters?


Are hyds any good up at that RPM anyways or do I need to get a solid lifter cam? I am not trusting those hyd lifters now. Little 508 lift Comp 292H. May go ahead and do that anyways as the head porting is nothing special and maybe send off the heads to get worked and a cam/spring to match.

 

[airwoofer]

Well I think I understand what went on now after taking off the heads and examining the lifters. This engine had been built and dyno'd then sat for 3 yrs. I bought it that way and as the rockers had not been loosened to reliev pressure on the valve train springs I had removed the heads and had the valve spring pressure checked. They were OK per the shop. This is my first hipo engine with hyd lifters so when I put the thing back together and the lifters were not "tight" I didn't really understand that the springs in the lifters had been overcome by the valve springs. I pumped up the lifters via the oil pump and a drill then proceeded to adjust the valves. Engine ran good but was kinda hard to start and get to idle. I had taken to cranking it before putting fire to the ign. I had thinned out the oil from 20W-50 to 10W-30 which helped the thing idle when cold.

Just a case of collapsed lifters. Moral of the story is remove the rockers when storing an engine. Gonna drop in a new set of lifters, re-break in them with the existing cam. Good news is I think I should pick up some power as it appears the lifter check valves were also loose.