ZZ4 Cam Question
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 179
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From: Shawnee, KS
Car: 86 Iroc Z28
Engine: 350 5.7L (rebuilding now)
Transmission: 700R4 shift kit
Axle/Gears: 3.73, 9-Bolt, stock posi
ZZ4 Cam Question
Well my dizzy gear got ate up again. I am using a large cap hei dizzy. I have put on 2 of those hardened melonzied dizzy gears as I"m using a ZZ4 cam. It has eaten 2 of them now.
I'm at a loss here as to what could be the reason for this. I am using a cam retainer plate, and my motor is fully roller. I am using the chevy roller lifters and the zz4 cam and comp cams roller rockers 1.5 ratio as well as the spider from chevy. The car runs just fine and has no identifiable problems until it dies while driving and when I pull the dizzy, find the gear ate up.
There is plenty of oil on the dizzy gear and my oil pressure is good. The oil pump does not feel tight at all. I put the priming tool in there and spun it by hand and it does just fine. It is a high-volume melling oil pump.
Do I need to use a cam button in addition to the cam retainer plate to limit the travel of the camshaft? It was my understanding that I needed to use one or the other.
The first gear lasted about 11/2 months maybe 2. This one only lasted 3 weeks.
I checked for side to side play on the dizzy and it appears to be very nominal.
Any advice or suggestions or does anyone know what could/would cause this?
Thanks,
Pat
I'm at a loss here as to what could be the reason for this. I am using a cam retainer plate, and my motor is fully roller. I am using the chevy roller lifters and the zz4 cam and comp cams roller rockers 1.5 ratio as well as the spider from chevy. The car runs just fine and has no identifiable problems until it dies while driving and when I pull the dizzy, find the gear ate up.
There is plenty of oil on the dizzy gear and my oil pressure is good. The oil pump does not feel tight at all. I put the priming tool in there and spun it by hand and it does just fine. It is a high-volume melling oil pump.
Do I need to use a cam button in addition to the cam retainer plate to limit the travel of the camshaft? It was my understanding that I needed to use one or the other.
The first gear lasted about 11/2 months maybe 2. This one only lasted 3 weeks.
I checked for side to side play on the dizzy and it appears to be very nominal.
Any advice or suggestions or does anyone know what could/would cause this?
Thanks,
Pat
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 43,187
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From: Littleton, CO USA
Car: 82 Berlinetta/57 Bel Air
Engine: L92/LQ4 (both w/4" stroke)
Transmission: 4L80E/4L80E
Axle/Gears: 12B-3.73/9"-3.89
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
From: Shawnee, KS
Car: 86 Iroc Z28
Engine: 350 5.7L (rebuilding now)
Transmission: 700R4 shift kit
Axle/Gears: 3.73, 9-Bolt, stock posi
Re: ZZ4 Cam Question
I am using 10w-30 Mobil One fully synthetic oil. Before I went with the roller setup, the oil pump that was in it then was also a melling high-volume. I just put a new one in since I was rebuilding it. I reused the same dizzy and put on the melonized dizzy gear since it was required for the ZZ4 cam.
The wear is centered evenly from top to bottom of the gear, the edges are sharp and finally one side is ate out so that the dizzy isn't spinning now until I replace the gear, change the oil and filter, etc.
Any other thoughts?
Thanks,
Pat
The wear is centered evenly from top to bottom of the gear, the edges are sharp and finally one side is ate out so that the dizzy isn't spinning now until I replace the gear, change the oil and filter, etc.
Any other thoughts?
Thanks,
Pat
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
From: Shawnee, KS
Car: 86 Iroc Z28
Engine: 350 5.7L (rebuilding now)
Transmission: 700R4 shift kit
Axle/Gears: 3.73, 9-Bolt, stock posi
Re: ZZ4 Cam Question
ttt -- anyone have any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks,
Pat
Thanks,
Pat
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Car: 91 RS
Engine: 350 vortec
Transmission: T-5
Axle/Gears: not the best not the worst
Re: ZZ4 Cam Question
okay maybe this is way off but have you tried a different dissy? or a different cam at this point? because it seems obvious that the gears arent meshing correctly and it seems you have replace gears a couple of times now
could the end of the dist shaft be bent? could the dist be on a angle?
what about the drive gear on the cam? is it still in good condition after 2 dist gears? was it okay to begin with?
i would say take out the cam and check the gear with a new melonized gear before just thowing it in there
this might be one of those situations where you just have to swap things out to find the cause
could the end of the dist shaft be bent? could the dist be on a angle?
what about the drive gear on the cam? is it still in good condition after 2 dist gears? was it okay to begin with?
i would say take out the cam and check the gear with a new melonized gear before just thowing it in there
this might be one of those situations where you just have to swap things out to find the cause
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
From: Shawnee, KS
Car: 86 Iroc Z28
Engine: 350 5.7L (rebuilding now)
Transmission: 700R4 shift kit
Axle/Gears: 3.73, 9-Bolt, stock posi
Re: ZZ4 Cam Question
Please see the following post for what appears to have been my solution:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...chewed-up.html
Thanks,
Pat Rogers
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...chewed-up.html
Thanks,
Pat Rogers
Member

Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 286
Likes: 6
From: USA
Car: 90 IROC
Engine: 5.7L TPI
Transmission: 700R4
Axle/Gears: 9-bolt BW
Re: ZZ4 Cam Question
if I read this correctly, you also replaced the old melling hi-vol pump with a new one? could there be a problem with the pump? pump shaft? pump shaft alignment? pump shaft sticking up too high (too long)? pump casting interfering with oil pump drive sleeve? sleeve broken?
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Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
From: Shawnee, KS
Car: 86 Iroc Z28
Engine: 350 5.7L (rebuilding now)
Transmission: 700R4 shift kit
Axle/Gears: 3.73, 9-Bolt, stock posi
Re: ZZ4 Cam Question
I don't believe so. I measured the length of the shaft and all was the same. It originally had a high-volume Melling oil pump on it to begin with, but put a new one on during the rebuild.
I honestly believe it was the dizzy gear from Chevy, as after the first two got ate up, I put the original one on (the old one before the rebuild) and it didn't get eaten up. I then ordered the Accel gear, and put it on and it has no wear marks whatsoever. Alls well.
Thanks,
Pat
I honestly believe it was the dizzy gear from Chevy, as after the first two got ate up, I put the original one on (the old one before the rebuild) and it didn't get eaten up. I then ordered the Accel gear, and put it on and it has no wear marks whatsoever. Alls well.
Thanks,
Pat
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