I'm replacing the cam/lifters in my '90 305 TPI(A little more than a year ago it just began running really rough then eventually got to a point where it wouldn't even crank up--I had two engine savvy friends to take a look at it and get their opinions, and they figured it was problems with the cam/lifters. It's been sitting since because of some personal things going on along with me just not having the time to work on it.--sorry for the long explanation).

I'll have them helping me(somewhat) with the work(I haven't done anything this extensive on an engine before, but I'm eager to learn and give it a try since I like working on my own things myself.). I'll most likely be starting the work next week sometime, and was just wondering if anyone has any advice/warnings/ways to avoid mistakes etc as doing this much work to a car is new and intimidating to me. I know what I have to do and will have a bit of help, although it's always nice to hear whatever advice I can.

Thanks in advance; this is my second third gen Camaro(I had an '84 Z28 but had to get rid of it), and I hope I can get it running soon because I miss driving it.

 

305ci are notorious for eating up camshafts, so you are probably making a good choice there.

I would also put a new distributor in and obviously a new timing chain. A set of new pushrods probably wouldn't hurt also!

 

Oh no no no that's not something I wanted to hear : / I'm guessing the camshaft problem isn't *too* much of a problem(this is the first time I'm hearing about it)?

But anyways, thanks for the reply and advice.

 

Umm... they are?

 

Use the proper oil to break in the new cam and lifters. Run the engine at about 2000 rpms for 20 minutes. There are good articles about this in both CarCraft and Hot Rod magazines.

 

Sigh, why don't we all read his post carefully before posting eh?

'90 TPI engine. Roller cam.
You don't break it in at 2000RPMs for 20 minutes, you fire it up and drive the dogs ***** off it. Or not, your call.

And like Apeiron said, since when are 305's prone to wiping cams?
I have a funny feeling that isn't your problem, and you're about to waste a bunch of time and money - but I figured i'd step up and tell you that before you went ahead and blew the cash on parts, and wasted a perfectly good weekend.

 

[QUOTE=RITTER;3405168]305ci are notorious for eating up camshafts, so you are probably making a good choice there.

QUOTE] That's hilarious! I needed a good laugh today. Hmmm, my 89 L03 motor has 237K on the original roller cam, and I've never even removed a valve cover to adjust the valves since the day GM put the motor together. I guess I better start worrying about that notorious cam-eating problem huh? On a more serious note, yeah, the old flat tappet cammed motors would eventually develop flat cam lobes and/or concave lifter bottoms, which definitely can cause big power loss. Sounds like your buddies are probably thinking in flat tappet-cammed motor terms. At a rough guess, I'd suggest checking for ignition problems, vacuum leaks, or maybe a really worn out/sloppy timing chain. In other words, start with the more basic, external engine components before tearing into the motor to change a camshaft that's probably just fine. Worn or broken valve springs could be another possible cause of your problems. A compression test might help point you in the right direction too. While you're at it, check the ohm resistance of your injectors, and see how long the fuel rail holds pressure after priming to see if they're leaking down.

 

After going through some extensive diagnostic steps both of my friends concluded a collapsed lifter(Before it stopped running I took it to several places--Including the GM dealership; and have had friends look at it and worked on what might be the basic problems all without getting anywhere.). They're usually right about this kind of stuff since both of them have been working on/diagnosing engines for over 12 years, and I have complete faith in them since we've been friends for a long time to boot.

Just asking about any advice and just any general "what to be careful of" warnings when I start doing this.

Thanks for all the replies so far, and thanks again in advance.

 

Boy I really hate to be the one to say this, since it's your friends and you really seem to have faith in them but.... Lifters don't collapse. That's just an old wives tale that got passed around to explain an unknown valve train problem - usually it was a wiped out cam. Roller cams almost completely annihilated the problem of wiped cams - so I really (REALLY!) don't think your problem is in your camshaft, or the lifters.

I'm not totally clear on the problem here, it'll crank over but won't fire? It will not run at all? Ran fine, you parked it for 2 yrs, now it'll crank but won't fire? What diagnostics were done?

Pull the valve covers, that's an incredibly easy way to check the top end of the engines condition. If you crank the engine and nothing moves up there - your timing chain snapped. etc etc.

I'm curious to find out what the problem is, be sure to post up what it was when you get it fixed.
Are you going to fix it yourself, or your friends or...?

 

Sorry in that previous post I mean to say I *think* they said it was a collapsed lifter(it's been a year since any conversation with them about my car has taken place). I'll ask 'em about it when I can and have them look at it again. Either way, both of them are sure it's the cam/lifters. Before they looked at it that last time, the transmission was looked at, all of the electronics were looked at, basic tune up diagnostics were run by a number of places.

It's hard explaining the problem(I made a few threads about it long ago). Basically the car just lacked accelerating power. It ran fine(damn fine). The only problem with it was that ******* it out at all it wouldn't have any "get up and go" whatsoever(it was even hard getting up to speed on the highway because it just took forever). Then one night(about a year and a half to two years ago), I stopped by my brothers house, then when I left it started up roughly(whole car shaking, struggling to keep running), managed to get home(it's a 2 minute drive) and it cut out as I was pulling into the driveway. The next morning I had my friends look at it, tried starting it etc and they looked at it and both said it was definitely a cam/lifter problem.

I remember about a month or so after that, my older brother(he's somewhat into cars too) wanted to take a look at it and when we tried starting it it'd crank but after a real nasty puff or two it wouldn't start. It was before and during this happened that some family stuff was going on and since I didn't have the time(or patience) to deal with both that and do anything about the car, it's just been sitting.

I don't know whether or not that caused the lack of power, but since they have a strong assurance that the problem(at least the problem that made me park it) is the cam/lifters, that seems like the place to go to me.

Again thanks for the help and insight; I really appreciate it.

 

Thanks for the concerns and inquiries Sonix; after some long thinking, I looked back and found this thread that I started a long time ago; and realized that I didn't get a chance to test ECM with all the crazy stuff that was happening at the time.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...ried-just.html

Do you think that would've caused it to die like it did; if so, what would make my friends think it had something to do with the cam/lifters?

Thanks again; any more information I can think of/find I'll be sure to post.

 

If that was my car, your friends would be right, good chance of being valve train / timing chain related.
It does sound like that.

However, the roller cams don't have the same problems, so i'd be less inclined to think that's the problem.

I didn't read that entire thread there, but electronic gremlins are the bain of my existence, so I avoid any electronic gizmos if I can.

Did you pull the codes lately?

 

Check the casting #s, It is possible that it is an older block with the newer heads and everything.

 

I agree I ****ing hate dealing with a car's computer stuff.

I haven't touched the car since I parked it; but the codes I got from the car(I have them written down) were 43(ECM and/or ESC) and 32(EGR)--the thing about the EGR valve was that it was a new one(I replaced it after initially getting the code), and all of the hoses and the valve itself checked out ok. Somebody also mentioned at one point the knock sensor might've set off the code; while my brother said it could've been an O2 sensor.

Think I should just hook the battery up to it and try to crank it and post what it does/doesn't do?