I just added Comp cams pro magnum rollar rockers with my new cam as well as new springs and lifters and i've got quite a bit louder valvetrain noise now. It's clearly audible when driving around, particularily low rpms cruising.

it's a steady noise, like all the cylinders are making noise
it's a rustling sound.

I lashed my lifters while running the motor after the cam was broke in. i turned them all 1/2 turn past the point when the rocker stopped ticking.

none of my rockers are clearly ticking, it just seems like they are all making a lot of noise. is this normal?

I tryed tightening them all an extra 1/4 turn for 3/4 total and it got a lot quieter but im scared that might be too tight?

 

anyone?

 

What new cam did you install? The newer designed cams make more noise. It's probably nothing to worry about.

 

its basically all i hear as i drive around in the car. my exhaust is quite loud and I have a diff hum, however the valvetrain noise is audible over all that. yet the engine runs smooth, idles great but those rockers chatter somethin fierce :/

 

3/4 turn is not too much. I regularly do a full turn.

Might want to go back and lash them all over again. It's possibly you didn't have all the valves on the heel of their cam lobe when you adjusted them the first time and a few of them are too loose. I like to set mine on a RUNNING engine. Just get an old valve cover and cut the top off it. That'll keep most of the oil from dribbling onto the exhaust while you set the lash.

Once you have this "holy valve cover" setup adjusting them is dirt simple. Back 'em off till they click, tighten till they stop, then give them an extra 1/2 or 3/4 turn- whatever floats your boat.

 

well i readjusted them all and they still make quite a bit of noise once the engine is warmed up.
while cold the valvetrain was dead quiet.

I drained the oil and found a little bit of metal in the oil using a magnet. the oil is about 100km old so it should be very fresh and I would think it should have NO metal at all!

I pulled the filter and tore it open and found some more metal using a magnet along the filter paper. a decent amount this time. my filter is about 1500km old or so.
theres definatly metal floating around, but not a very large amount that would suggest a wiped out camshaft IMO. wouldn't there be tons of metal shavings???

all my rockers seem to move the same amount so I can't see it being only one lifter thats acting up. it sounds like all 16 are ticking.
Someone suggested that perhaps my fuel pump rod is the culprit.
and come to think of it. i reused that from the old cam.
is that supposed to be replaced with new along with the lifters?

Im thinking of trying a bit heavier oil 10-40? mobil one and see if that shuts them up a bit.
i had 5-30 in before.

if not i guess I'll have to pull the manifold and take a look at a few lifters..

any words of wisdom for me?

thanks guys!

 

I notice you're descibing your motor as a "Vortec" 350, and you have a cam that is already on the borderline of disaster with Vortec heads....

What rockers are these (part #)?

 

yikes. looking closer at the oil i drained out of the filter revealed a silvery mud of metal. I guess i'll pull the intake real quick and take a look at a few lifters before i try starting it again.

 

I have the comp springs on my heads that comp cams recommended for this camshaft... 812-16

the rockers are 1318-16

 

1318 is a 1.6 rocker.

The XE262 has .469" lift on the exhaust with 1.5 rockers, and .490" with 1.6s.

That exceeds the usual clearance between the bottom of the retainer and the top of the valve guide in those heads.

That means that your retainers have quite possibly been smashing into the top of the guides, probably bending the push rods, and likely eating cam lobes.

I'd sure take a REAL GOOD look at all of that, before starting that motor again.

812 is a lifter (stock Chevy). What valve springs did you use?

 

correction, im using the 26918 springs which can accomodate as much as .665 lift but with the vortec retainer to seat clearance im told my lift is limited to slightly over .550 lift.

Im running the xe274 cam in now atm with my 1.6's should put me slightly over .520 lift

there appears no obvious damage to my guides or seals with the springs still on the valves. i'll take out a few pushrods and see if any are bent and see how my lifters look.

 

well i took a look at the lifters they all looked fine except #6 Ex which is all chipped up along the outside edge of the tappit!

what the heck would cause that?? the center of that lifter is concave with the normal swirl pattern, but the rest of the lifters looked new and slightly convex with the begginings of wear on them.

is this typical of improperly broke-in cam or are we talking faulty lifter?

 

Chipped along outside edge = wasted

You need a new cam and lifters.

Cams and lifters don't just up and die for no reason. Something kills them. That's enough cam that extremely careful attention has to be paid while building the heads; just a few thousandths of extra shim, for example, can be the difference between life and death.

Examine every detail about that specific valve's parts, in as minute detail as possible. Pay particular attention to the spring coils where they might touch when fully compressed; the top of the guide and the bottom of the retainer; any sign of stress on the pudh rod, etc. Use a magnifying glass or loupe and look at every surface of every part.

 

went through it all and can find no evidence of valvetrain bind so i talked to a few engine builders and fello racers and most figured it was faulty equipment. talked to the guys i got the lifters from and they will return the lifters and probably the cam as well.

if i put a new cam and lifters in, will my engine be ok seeing as it's had quite a bit of metal go through everything?

 

Jer- don't feel too bad. I just had a brand new Comp Cams XE282S (solid flat tappet cam) and new Comp lifters chew itself to pieces within 1 hour of firing it up. Your situation sounds very similar to mine. In 20+ years of weekend wrenching I have NEVER had a cam die at startup- and I've done more than just one or two. I KNOW how to properly install a cam and break it in. I racked my brain for days, checked every possible measurement in the valvetrain. I couldn't find anything that I might have done wrong. The valvetrain was perfect. The installation and break-in procedure was perfect. I finally sent the cam and lifters to an internet buddy to have them tested for proper surface hardness. Lifters were pretty close to spec but the cam was off the bottom of the chart it was so soft. It was doomed out of the box.

Like you, I don't like answers like "it happens sometimes." I consider such answers to be the result of somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about. Which is why I went to all the trouble of having it tested, even though Comp Cams had already agreed to replace it at no charge.

The final answer: "It happens sometimes." And it seems to happen to Comp Cams products more often than any other cam manufacturer.

The bright side is that the replacement cam in my situation went in without incident and the car has since had many miles put under the tires. It also recently ran a 12.4 @ 109 at the local strip which was almost 8 tenths quicker than it's previous best with NO other changes beside the cam and lifters (happy ending).

However, please PLEASE have you heads checked for adequate lifter-to-guide seal clearance. Out of the box stock Vortecs WILL have contact between the retainer and the stock guide seal at only .470 valve lift. This can not only wipe a new cam (valvetrain pressures spike dramatically when you bind up parts) but it can also wear out everything else in the valvetrain very quickly if not addressed. Having the stock guides machined down an extra .100" is a simple, $100 engine shop operation.

ALSO, please check your valve spring installed height. If the spring is spec'ed for an installed height of say, 1.70" (typical for a small block Chevy head valve spring) then you WILL have coil bind problems and excessive spring pressure if you find out the're actually only at a 1.60" installed height. Again, this is something the engine shop can check for you and correct, if necessary, for nominal cost.

Valvetrain issues are one of those things that can cause BIG problems if attention isn't paid to the details. They're basically simple issues, but there are several cricial things that must be checked and accounted for to avoid problems. And the consequences of "assuming" things are right is, obviously, catastrophic.

 

When you get your new cam and lifters use so GM
E.O.S. (Engine oil suplement) in your oil. The oil companies have recently removed a important anti scuff additive from automotive oil. Just the additive that prevents premature wear on parts that have metal to metal contact. Like flat tappet cams and lifters.
GM E.O.S. has the anti scuff Zinc additive in it.

Highly recommended for breaking in fresh motors, especially with any flat tappet cam.

You can read about it from an Expert here

Of course it won't help if the cam itself is soft.

Ya have to go to a GM dealer to get it.