dodged a bullet, "crate engine" with wrong pushrods
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Perth, Western Austraila
dodged a bullet, "crate engine" with wrong pushrods
Just got to this in time, was adjusting rockers as good measure after doing a few passes at the strip and look what i found
Seems to be non hardened pushrods with hard guide plates, spoke to the company I bought engine off they are going to send the correct hardened pushrods at cost , engine is 3 years old with 15k mi. Would of been some carnage at high rpm on the strip.
Seems to be non hardened pushrods with hard guide plates, spoke to the company I bought engine off they are going to send the correct hardened pushrods at cost , engine is 3 years old with 15k mi. Would of been some carnage at high rpm on the strip.
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From: Scottsdale Arizona
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 66
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From: Perth, Western Austraila
I see a little grey debri acutally feels like a soft paste around the guide place and looking down a little around the lifter cup, i'll just clean up best i can change oil, filter and add a magnet to the pan.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2009
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From: Thunder Bay
You're not alone. I have a set of pushrods that look EXACTLY like that. They came from a motor I build many years ago. I put regular pushrods in with hardened guide plates, and like you, I stumbled across the problem before they failed. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully you prevented someone from making the same mistake we did.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Crossville TN
Oil filter likely picked up most of that metal debris. Anything too small for the oil filter to catch wouldn't do much damage...but it would cause some premature wear on bearings (very slowly). Nothing to "fret" about. Nice catch!!
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Le Mans Master
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From: Butler Pa
Except not all of the oil gets filtered, especially during warmup. A fair amount of the oil bypasses the filter.
Team Owner
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From: Crossville TN
Why would it not get filtered if the bypass doesn't open? Maybe it would on a cheap filter, but it shouldn't on a good one. Either way, the particle size from that kind of rubbing wear would be very small, and any damage done would be minor or just an 'early wear' condition. Not much he can do about it now, and certainly no reason to tear the engine down.
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From: Butler Pa
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The pushrod should not hit the head casting either. When you install the guide plates you lightly snug the studs, do all your valve adjusting , and with your plugs out give the starter a long run to cycle everything over.
Since the studs are just lightly tight on the guide plates tap them on the side with a small hammer and drift punch to get the pairs of push rods centered in the guides slots. If you have rubbing you are a candidate for removing a small amount of guide plate material, offset lifters, and or offset rockers
I've had push rods that look brand new with out a trace of scuff marks from a year of running 7500 rpm with a big solid cam.
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Perth, Western Austraila
thanks for the response, so gkull your saying a perfectly aligned pushrod (unhardened in my case should) shouldn't even wear at all? on close inspection i pulled a few others out, and their is a slight ridge on most of them. The tech from place I bough the engine said to run a file on the push rod if it scores or you can feel the scratches (which they do) they are wrong for guide plates. He only had hardened in stock but reconmended chrome-moly
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 3,235
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From: Thunder Bay
Phil, and everyone else reading this. correctly aligned guide plates should never rub the push rods. I used to think that guide plates were a non used gimmick. Which they are until you have harmonic valve spring distortion or floating valves.
The pushrod should not hit the head casting either. When you install the guide plates you lightly snug the studs, do all your valve adjusting , and with your plugs out give the starter a long run to cycle everything over.
Since the studs are just lightly tight on the guide plates tap them on the side with a small hammer and drift punch to get the pairs of push rods centered in the guides slots. If you have rubbing you are a candidate for removing a small amount of guide plate material, offset lifters, and or offset rockers
I've had push rods that look brand new with out a trace of scuff marks from a year of running 7500 rpm with a big solid cam.
The pushrod should not hit the head casting either. When you install the guide plates you lightly snug the studs, do all your valve adjusting , and with your plugs out give the starter a long run to cycle everything over.
Since the studs are just lightly tight on the guide plates tap them on the side with a small hammer and drift punch to get the pairs of push rods centered in the guides slots. If you have rubbing you are a candidate for removing a small amount of guide plate material, offset lifters, and or offset rockers
I've had push rods that look brand new with out a trace of scuff marks from a year of running 7500 rpm with a big solid cam.
