Engine "Freshen Up" after cam failure.

[axisg]

This spring the engine developed a "tick". I thought it was exhaust gaskets but ultimately discovered one of the lifters had come loose so I tightened it up and kept an eye on it. I have put 50 kms or so on it and the tick had not returned.
On sunday I took the car out for a drive on the highway for about 15 mins. When I got off the highway I heard the tickling again and tried to limp it home. Within 2 blocks the ticking turned to a clanking so I parked the car and had it towed the last mile home. So last night ( tues ) I pulled the valve covers to discover 9 of the rockers were loose. Fearing the worst I pulled the intake. There is a fine mist of metal residue from where I can only assume the lifters were eating the camshaft. Comp xe268h

I can only assume and hope the damage is not extensive but I guess I should pull the motor and pop off the oil pan to check the main bearings and a couple of the rod caps for damage. I spoke to a very reputable the machine shop located next to work and he gave me a rough ballpark of $1k to inspect it. If the bottom end and cylinders look fine they will flush it out, install new cam/lifters, replace the main bearings, re-assemble and dyno.
I figure thats about $350 in parts and $650 in labour/dyno

Cant decide whether to buy some bearings and a gallon of kerosene then start Cam shopping or pay someone else to do it for me.

Old cars, if it was easy everyone would have one I guess !! Still a bummer though. Starting a reno on the house ( hardwood floors ), working on the old boat ( 87 Bayliner ), and now this.

Any pros to having someone else do the work ? Or anything else I may have missed ?

 

[online170]

Engine assembly is not magical. Anyone can do it. But if you don't have a clean environment to work in, maybe trust it to the pros. It took me about a week what my engine builder did in a day, because I didn't have the tools, space, or cleaning capabilities a machine shop does.

The other bonus of having a shop assemble is the machinist will (rather SHOULD) check everything. A good builder will. So there is peace of mind there. You may not notice a bore is out of spec if you don't measure it.

That being said, I would evaluate what exactly went wrong before throwing parts at it. Cam failures usually occur while breaking in the cam, or a high mileage motor where the wear just got to be too much. If this is a relatively new motor, you need to figure out what went wrong or it will come back.

Is it an oiling issue? Is it a cam core issue? Is it a lifter issue?

I have never wiped a cam yet. But if I ever do, it would certainly be a great excuse to go to a roller!

 

[hurst1979olds]

Are you using factory rockers with lock nuts? Usually they are 1 time use. Alot of people reuse them and can get away with it. But they are probably loosening up on you. That was part of the problem with the camaro when I got it. They were so loose I can practically turn them with my fingers.....May want to look into that before digging into a cam replacement

 

[pontiacgp]

Every time I get lazy and let someone else work on my car they remind me why I don't let any "pros" work on my car. Your oil filter should have picked up any metal particles so your engine should be ok. If it were me I'd change the cam to a roller and then there is no need for a break in and you'll have a bit more power. You're only an hour and a bit away from me so if you need some help let em know.

 

[axisg]

🙂 thx for the quick replies. Guess I should have listed some of the specs on the motor. All assembled by a good friend of mine who has built a small bunch of motors now. I got this motor that he built because he decided an LQ9 Turbo would look great under the hood of his Chevelle 🙂 He's just as puzzled as I am as to why it failed.

The block is an older GMPP 350ci unit, 4 Bolt Main Caps, Made in USA so I am assuming early 70's before they went Hencho En Mexico, also no raised section or even a rough casting in the lifter valley for roller conversion.
Crank is a GMPP Steel Unit
GMPP Alum Pistons & Pink Rods
Combo is supposed to be good for 10:1 compression
Heads are Patriot Cast iron Vortec Style, upgraded with GMPP Beehive Springs
Rockers are Jegs 1.5 with roller tips & locking nuts
ARP Bolts, Screw In Rocker Studs, guide plates used in assembly
Intake is Alum GMPP 4bbl unit with EGR provision
Cam is/was Comp xe268h with a not too radical 480 lift with matching ball end pushrods and lifters
HV Oil Pump
Carb is an Qjet / Edelbrock 1910 unit

The motor was built and installed in my car Nov 2009 IIRC. No problems at break in, first 2 oil changes were with Joe Gibbs Oil with break-in additive. Then to QuakerState with a Puro Filter. Last spring I put in MobilOne Synthetic but I didnt like how it seemed to seep out the valvecovers so I went back to Quakerstate this spring. In total I would say there is between 7000-10000 kms ( 4000-6000 mi ) on the motor. I had one rocker start ticking on me after about 1000 kms on the motor. I re-lashed them all and they were fine until this spring.

The motor always had great oil pressure, no noticable power loss. The only single thing I cant account for is when I re-adjusted the valve lash this spring I cannot account for 1 valve cover bolt. I pulled both the rocker covers off and checked around the spring pockets and around the motor, on the floor but it never turned up. Funny how these little things come back to you.

I really cant say why it failed. Hoping on bad cam design and a list of known failures on Comps part. Maybe a blockage somewhere ?? Any other ideas ?

 

[clean8485]

You've gotten some good advice so far. I would be inclined to try to determine for sure what caused your cam issue, before you start replacing parts.

 

[pontiacgp]

It could be there was not enough zinc in the oil you used to lub the cam.

 

[axisg]

It could be there was not enough zinc in the oil you used to lub the cam.

my thought too but I have not heard any problems with quakerstate dino oil or Mobil One Synthetic.

However I have been texting back and forth with the engine builder. He is leaning towards the possibilty of oil breaking down and the heavy beehive springs ( good for .600 lift ) as a contributing factor. Me not keeping up with the zinc additive was not helping things either. He said that because multiple lobes are wiping out tells him its an oiling issue ( no kidding ). Before I yank the motor he wants to come by and stab the oil pump with a drill to see what's happening with an external guage.
So in the meaintime I called my parts guy. The xe268h cam and lifters are on sale for $ 150.00 and lighter LT4 Springs ( good for .500 lift ) are another $50.00, bearings are $60.00. Gallon of kerosene, couple cans of paint and some gaskets should be good enough for a rattle can re-build. Just need some beer and some motivation. I am getting old because I really do not look forward to spending a weekend yanking the motor in my driveway, sealing it up in my shed then re-installing. I used to live for stuff like this.

 

[clean8485]

I hear you. Now I want a nice warm shop, with all the latest tools and goodies.