Camshaft wear opinions
- Thread starter LRDONE
- Start date
Sadly, yes that looks like the CAM is end of life. How many miles are on it?
Usually, CAMs fail from lack of Lubrication, or lack of Zinc in modern engine oil. Possible bad main bearing causing low oil pressures.
I only see oil on a couple of cam lobs, whereas the worn ones look very dry!
New CAM and lifters "might" fix it, but it might also chew up the new CAM in 1000 miles if there is an oil issue.
Usually, CAMs fail from lack of Lubrication, or lack of Zinc in modern engine oil. Possible bad main bearing causing low oil pressures.
I only see oil on a couple of cam lobs, whereas the worn ones look very dry!
New CAM and lifters "might" fix it, but it might also chew up the new CAM in 1000 miles if there is an oil issue.
82,000 if it's the original motor. I think the some shitty oil has been run through the motor. I'd be curious about the oil pressures as well. Where is the best place to test from? The oil pressure switch? I have a new cam and lifters on the way. The motor had a tap that sounded very much like deeper valvetrain.
From the pics the engine looks fairly clean, no sludge or excessive varnish. I’m guessing they used a modern oil that doesn’t have enough zddp.
I’d suggest that you either disassemble and clean and inspect the rocker arms really well ( or replace those too). If those have wear or embedded metal particles you’ll likely have to do the repair again. I’d also do a break in oil change after you swap the cam.
I’d suggest that you either disassemble and clean and inspect the rocker arms really well ( or replace those too). If those have wear or embedded metal particles you’ll likely have to do the repair again. I’d also do a break in oil change after you swap the cam.
I just used the instructions that came with the cam from D&D. I don’t remember specifically but I had to hold rpm’s for a period of time so the cam would harden. I’ll see if I still have that paper around but it’s probably long gone. It may be easier to call D&D and see if they could email the break in procedure
I actually reached out to them already via email and haven't heard back yet. If I don't hear from them today I'll give them a call. Thanks for the information. This is my first flat tappet motor so I'm learning a lot. I'll definitely use a break in oil. I bought my cam and lifters from lucky 8 and I'm really concerned about the quality.
I think there might be an issue with the orientation of the rocker arm shafts. I'm trying to sort that out right now before the new cam and lifter go in.
When installing the cam and lifters use a good grade of cam break in lube (it's a special type for cams). Some folks just use grease of some type for the cam and this is a big mistake. The engine should be run at about 2000 rpm for twenty minutes to insure proper break in. Use an oil such as Shell Rotella (commonly used in diesels) and also add ZDDP additive to be safe. Be sure to check the rockers for wear as well as check the push rods for straightness (do this by rolling them across a flat surface, such as a piece of window glass) and listen for a clicking sound showing that a bend is present, if so get a new push rod. Also, look into the oiling system, on external mounted pumps I use Melling Buick 215 High Volume oil pump kits, this has longer gears and a spacer plate as well as different pressure springs, as stock pumps have scarey low idle pressure and volume. As was mentioned, new oils don't have the zinc (ZDDP) needed for flat tappet cams.
Thanks for the advice. Yeah this is my first flat tappet push rod motor so i'm learning a lot. I did a lot of research in the last couple days. What I had found was how important the cone or dome on the lifter is in relation to the taper on the lobe to spin the lifter. I also learned that a break in oil is a must on breaking in the cam. I also learned that if you add zddp to an oil with high detergents like diesel oil, the detergents fight the zddp and wash it away. So that being said, I think I'm gonna use a break in oil to treat the cam and then flush it and replace with an oil with high zinc engineered into the oil. I think a lot of what the problem to begin with is using the wrong oil. It's always had good oil pressure. The light would go out before the motor started every time. I would like to prime the system and physically watch oil come out of the lifters and rocker shafts before It all goes back together. I also did a little reading about using petroleum jelly in the oil pump to help it prime? Not sure I'll use that but maybe a good assembly lube? We will see.
I put a break in write-up another user shared with me that might be helpful in the tech section.
discoweb.org
Cam shaft break in
I pulled up an old thread of mine and I thought this info deserved to be in the tech section. Good info from PhD_Polymath (thanks for sharing!) 1.) New cams require new lifters (at least). New pushrods would also be nice, but I haven't seen huge problems with reusing pushrods, as long as they...
discoweb.org
