Dracul

well my week just keeps getting worse, and now when i just got a call that the reason my one lifter is tapping is because the lobe is wiped out on the cam and there is no more adjustment....

now i've been waiting to drive my car since i bought the damn thing in january and i keep finding that the PO lied to me more n more so i really want to drive it for a while before winter comes.. SO that said, how bad would it be for me to drive the car as is and wait till winter to yank the engine out? i'd really like to get some driving time in, not to mention the fact that i a new cam n everything really isn't in the budget sincei just had to buy a new hood friday and gotta pay for my paint job this weekend..

so any thoughts? what the worse case, i blow the engine? or not even that bad? keeping in mind it will probably be drivin fairly hard.

Apeiron

When you wipe out a cam lobe, all the metal that used to be in the cam and lifter go into the oil, and whatever isn't caught by the filter continues to circulate through the engine causing untold amounts of damage. That engine is already dead. The longer you drive it, the worse it gets.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

I drove mine for only a few days after I lost 4 lobes... It sucks driving on 7 cylinders (or in my case...5 ), so you might as well take the motor down.

Dracul

so does the engine need rebuilt? cause if so i might just drive on it and not care if it blows while i rebuild another one i can get off of my buddy..

Apeiron

Yes, it needs to be rebuilt.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

you will (hopefully) be able to re-use most of your current motor if you rebuild it sooner, rather than having to buy all new stuff if you wait until it's completely wasted.

Vader

Lots of people drive with bad lobes. Usually, the ones with bad frontal lobes are fairly obvious. You can frequently find the ones with failing anterior lobes on expressways in larger cities. People with Hondas usually have trouble with the entire cortex.

Dracul

ok, one last question..

when you guys say i have to rebuild the engine cause i lost a lobe, are you talking total rebuild as in take down to bare block, then take block to a machine shop n all that good stuff? or are you just talkin like a small rebuild, like take apart, clean replace bearings, rings, etc?

cause if i don't have to take the block to a machine shop i'll just yank the motor n use my block, but if i would probably have to have it machined anyways i'd use a different motor so i can enjoy the car for a little while.

Apeiron

It depends on what you find when you take it apart. If there's damage or wear to the crank or block, it has to go to the machine shop.

Quick_Trans_Am

iTrader: (2)

You may as well bite the bullet and get it to the machine shop. Like everyone else here has said, you're engine's a ticking time bomb. If you try driving it with only 7 cylinders functioning properly, you're going to have balance issues with the engine, and uneven load on the crankshaft. Not to mention that it probably won't be able to get out of its own way.

I just had a similar experience, lost my bearings and thought "it's going to be an easy job, pull the crank and rods, and change the bearings.". Not only were all my bearings shot and my crank scored, but the crank itself had a miniscule crack in it that I couldn't see. If I hadn't taken it to the shop, I would have reassembled it and wondered why it blew up after I put it back together. Not saying this will happen to you, but it's worth the money to have a shop inspect everything
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Vader, your blistering wit goes unappreciated....

Dizturbed One

^i appreciated it very much actually, haha

iono man.... if you have it in your budget to do a clean rebuild without it being much of a pain to you, I would probably just rebuild another motor and drive that thing till it blows, hoping it makes it till your other motor is finished.

if it will put you back considerably to build another motor completely, i'd rebuild the one you have and have the crank turned, new main, cam, and rod bearings, a quick drill hone just to crosshatch it back up and seat the rings nicely, clean it out real good, oil it up, and install with new piston rings. a build like that can be done really cheap along with a new cam.

i would have a machine shop give it a look over if you don't have an experienced eye though. i asked around for prices on a quick visual check and a once over with a dial caliper, etc. One guy had me bring it in, he spent about 15 minutes on it measuring and looking around, said it looked like a solid block, informed me the mains were recently align-honed and i needed .010 over bearings, and didn't charge me a nickel.

Dracul

hmm... if i would have to take it to a machine shop anyways i think i'm gonna just drive it as is then, i can get another 350 off of my buddy cheap and it'd be a whole lot better for me if i could just yank 1 engine out and drop another in, instead of having the car sitting there without an engine while it gets rebuilt..

thanks for the help...

Vader

Change oil AND filters frequently. Use diesel-rated oil if you can find it (Mobil Delvac, etc.). Cross your fingers, and get started on the rebuild of that "spare" soon.

Dracul

i was talkin to some guys at work n they said that they think its probably just a collapsed lifter... so right now i'm really hopin the guy with my car diagnosed it wrong..

cause i was thinkin bout it n i changed oil twice, once recently and didn't find any shavings of any kind in the oil..

so, do you guys think it could just be a collapsed lifter... this all came about, because in #8 i think it is, sounded like the lifter was tapping, so i asked him to adjust them all and he told me there was no more adjustment so the lost the lobe..

cause i'll be jumpin for joy if its as simple as new lifters

Apeiron

The only way to know is to take it apart and look for yourself.