slow91camaro

My car spends most of it's time resting comfortably in my parents garage but on Thanksgiving while I was visiting I took her out to get a little fuel and to abuse her a little.

At the top of a second gear pull something let loose. At first I could just tell that something didn't sound right. As I slowed down the engine cut out and I managed to coast it into a parking lot. Once in the parking lot, I found myself blocking several cars so after some coaxing I got her to fire up very briefly and moved her into a parking spot.

She was very reluctant to start and when she did I had to keep my foot on the throttle and she made a horrible racket. There was a very loud and constant clunking but it does not smoke and the oil pressure is fine.

I got it towed back to my parents and luckily got her all tucked away before dinner.

I have melted slugs before but that time there was smoke and the clunking was not as bad which leads me to believe this might be something in the top end. What do you guys think?

I pulled the driver's side valve cover and everything looked fine.

The motor is a 350 superram with LPE219 with .560" lift, comp cams pushrods, oem lifters

My dad heard me put it in the garage and thought I had a collapsed lifter, does this sound like a good place to start?

Russ-So Cal

Pull the other valve cover. You may have collapsed a lifter or swallowed a valve, but you won't know for sure until you look inside the engine. There are somethings that you can't trouble shoot from a board. You have to look at the engine physically. Also look over both sides to make sure you don't have a broken valve spring.

slow91camaro

Yeah, I need to get to the other side but that is quite a chore with the superram and smog equipment. I had to pull the alternator and ufo on the header to get the easy side off.

I guess I just wanted to hear that I might be on the right track before I get too deep into the motor. Last time I thought I had valve train problem I pulled the valve covers, then the manifold, then the heads and finally found a big mess. That was about 5000 miles ago on a 500 mile old motor.

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to see what I can find under that over valve cover.

langss

Try A compresson check,or a cylinder leakdown test.You dont have to tear the engine apart to do either test.

Russ-So Cal

If he broke a valve spring or swallowed a valve, he could punch a hole in a piston if he tries a compression test. When it makes bad noises, it is much better to pull the valve covers and make sure the valve gear is ok before going further.

langss

He has already started it to move it several times so it still runs. How is that going to do less damage than a Compression Check.???????

Russ-So Cal

It may not cause any more damage, but at this point a compression test is a waste of time. When it is making bad noises, compression doesn't matter. The engine needs to be torn down as far as it takes to find the source of the noise problem, and then do whatever teardown is needed to repair additional problems caused by the original failure.

Dyno Don

iTrader: (7)

Jon:
Russ might be right here, my first Vortec broke a valve spring soon after install. Of course it had the be on the tough side. I was lucky tho it was an exhaust and didn't drop.

Our cars are very hard to do a commpression test on due to the headers being in the way.

So I agree, pull all the top apart and then go from there.

JERRYWHO

Also you can send a oil sample to http://www.blackstone-labs.com/gas_engines.html to see if you have anything bad going on.
Just make sure you pay the extra charge for the Polonium 210 test.

Jerry

slow91camaro

Dang! I was going to save myself the hassle of tearing everything apart by doing the oil sample but the first step is to run the engine for 20 minutes and I don't think I could do that. My foot would get tired of holding the throttle, the engine would probably overheat since it wouldn't be moving, and if it didn't overheat it would rattle itself to pieces.

Would the oil test work if I heated a sample with a lighter for 20 minutes?

I think Don and Russ are right about having to do the work. I know pulling the valve cover does not sound like a lot of work but when you still have all the smog and ac along with headers and the pain in the rear super ram, it can be a chore. I will try to put some time in next weekend and let you guys know what I find.

Lang, the compression test might be a good idea if I don't get anywhere with the springs, but getting to those last two cylinders would be a chore. At that point I will probably just pull the heads.

Thank you all for your input.

Jon

injdinjn

It could always be a 4th gen. Those are fun to work on.
Step #1 remove radio.

JERRYWHO

Pull the covers and I hope you find a easy fix, I was just trying to lighten your day with the Polonium Joke. Thats what killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko last week.

Jerry

Kevin91Z

iTrader: (1)

Its the fuel pump!

Oh wait, wrong thread....

bluethunder28

iTrader: (1)

My '85 made a horrible racket and wouldn't run without holding the throttle down. Had it towed home and guess what??? It was the fuel pump falling apart!!!

Jproz1167

iTrader: (3)

I had a 89 RS 305 do this once. Broke the crankshaft

slow91camaro

Wow! I work really slow!

Russ & Don were right.

About a month ago I finally got back to the car and found a loose valve spring on the #1 intake valve.

The spring looks fine, but the retainer is in pieces. Last Sunday I pulled the super ram and lower manifold, alternator, header bolts, etc. I was hoping to pull the head yesterday but didn't get a chance to get over there.

What happened? I tried doing several searches but could not find anything. Why did the retainer break and what can I do to keep it from happening again.

The springs were set up by Taylor Engines in Whittier so I don't think this was a machining problem.

Thank you for your help.

Jon

Dyno Don

iTrader: (7)

Jon:
If it broke a retainer, that has to be an interference problem. They don't normally break if not. (I hope you used steel ones)

slow91camaro

Hmmm. That does not sound like fun. It has been a while but I thought I put her together right.

I had hoped once I pulled the head that the piston might be okay but it sounds like I will probably need to build a new short block.

I believe the retainers are steel. I'll have to check the remains. Jay at Taylor set up the springs and all I remember is that they are from Isky.

Kevin91Z

iTrader: (1)

Tell Jay that Kevin from Manley says he should have used Manley retainers. just kidding...

As Don said, if a retainer broke its either a bad retainer (dumb luck), or something touched the retainer that shouldnt have (interference issues).