I finally got the time to change the cam that went flat in my new engine.

A lobe was wiped off in 20 minutes during break in.

1)I had the lash set properly-triple checked it
2)I had 60+ pounds oil psi
3)I used an oil filter mount with no by-pass
4)I used a screen on top of oil filter
5)tried to do break in with 40W
6)I did pre lube the engine
7)I used the cam lube during assembly
8)My valve springs are rated 425# @ .600
9)My cam was a Comp 280H, 230@.050 .480 lift
10)Used stock type Sealed Power hyd lifters
11)#2 Ex. went flat, all others seem OK

The last time I tried to adjust the lifters I did it with the engine running, I noticed that it took over two minutes to get oil to the lifters, and that was with the gauge reading 60+ psi. Then when the oil got there it was foamy, and the lifter was very loud. There was never any water in the oil, but I did end up with 3 quarts or so of gas in the oil on the first start up because of a brain f a rt and I set the floats wrong on the carb.

It didn't get a proper break in due to the fact that I thought I was having overheating problems and after about 5 minutes of run time the gauge was pegged at well over 260* so I would shut it down and check stuff. This happened like 4 times and accounts for the first 20 minutes of run time. Very improper break in. The over heating problem ended up being the wrong sensor installed.

After discussing all this with a fellow gearhead, he seems to think that my springs are too much for the cam and they may not have allowed the lifter to rotate while running. I am not so sure of this, but I want other opinions.

I am suspecting that a lack of oil at every start did the lobe in, but since it was only one lifter/lobe, I am also suspecting the cam and/or lifter being defective.

I got a new 282S solid cam from Comp and a set of direct lube lifters that have the .021 hole burned into the flat of the lifter for cam lobe lubrication. I will also be ordering a new stock oil filter mount with the by-pass, chucking the screen, and running a 10W or 5W-30 for break-in.

Is it possible that something got assembled wrong at the machine shop that is limiting my oil volume to the lifters? The reason I ask this is because I had good psi at the back of the block, but nothing at the lifters. I want to prime the motor with 10W with the lifters out to see how well the oil flows out into the first lifter bores in back to see if there might be an obstruction. Let me know what you think. I want to resolve the issue before I attempt to break it the new cam.

 

What springs are you using?

What installed height did you set them up at?

What ratio rockers do you have?

Have the valve guides been cut down so that the retainers don't smash into them? Did you check that?

 

I do not recall what brand they are since I bought then 2 years ago, and since have bought a house, moved and lost some info. But I do know they are a 1.447 dia. dual valve spring, good for .600 lift, 425# open, 135# closed.

1.8 inch installed hight is what they called for.

1.6 (gave me lift of .512), and the heads have guide plates.

I used +.100 longer valves (dumb shouldn't have done it), The guides are all new iron guides and there is no interference.

 

I just primed the motor with the bad lifter out to see if the oil flows good to that lifter bore. The most I could get was like maybe 600rpm out of my cordless drill which would be like 300 engine rpm. But for going that slow, it did trickle out of the bore but it wasn't a lot. But this is with straight 40W, cold, with the garage at 65*F overnight.

I also noticed that a lot of oil came out from around the distributor base in the lifter valley. Is this normal? It would seem to me that this may be one reason why there was low volume to that lifter. The other 15 lifters puddled up a little oil on their plungers but that was it. They didn't keep flowing. Is this also normal because of the check in the plunger?

The 40W has to go and so does the stinkin non-by-pass filter mount.

 

600 RPM on the oil pump shaft = 1200 crank RPM since the dist turns at cam speed which is ½ of crank speed.

The oil passage to the right bank lifters goes RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE of the dist housing. The dist housing completes the passage. If there's no dist (or a substitute) in the motor, there will never be any oil pressure. Also, without the housing, no oil whatsoever gets fed to the right lifters, as the passage is disconnected.

The springs themselves sound like they should be OK. When you installed them and measured their installed height, what height were they actually installed at (as opposed to quoting the height their specs are given at)?

 

Yup, you're right. I feel like an idiot, I did the math the wrong way! lol!!

As for all the springs, they were installed at the shop that did the work. I gave him the specs and he shimmed them. I just checked them with a digital caliper, they are all set at 1.825 +/- .003 or so.

 

Oh yea, I forgot to say that the priming tool I use is made from the old dist. that came out of the LG-4. I took it to work and chucked the gear up in the lathe and cut the teeth off it. So it should prime the engine as a regular dist. would, but a lot of oil still puddles up around the top of the hole in the lifter valley that the dist. goes down into to hook up to the pump while I prime it.

 

Here is a pic of where the oil is puddling up.

Thanx to "FAQman" for the pic. I robbed it from a post of his for illustration.

 

How about clearance of the oil pickup and the oil pan? You could install everything and take the valve covers off the engine and start it up to see whats really going on inside the motor.

 

The pick up is fine, it was just taking too long (IMO) to get oil up there.

I read another post and have come to the conclusion that my drill isn't going to have enough guts to get the oil up to the rockers.

I'm pretty sure I have found the problem.

The Comp 9000 distributor I have has a narrow area for the oil to travel around its base and up to the lifters, and the block's oil supply hole to that area around the distributor, is lower causing the distributor to partially block the oil supply hole. Then on top of that, I made the situation worse by using a distributor bushing which raised the distributor even more, and worsening the problem.


I will have to take the distributor to work and enlarge the area for the oil to flow through. I might even cut 2 grooves in it so that I can install some "O" rings.