Need an oiling solution
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 997
Likes: 0
From: Columbus, IN USA
Need an oiling solution
My cam failed with 1800 miles, 1 intake lobe only. I had the shop rebuild the motor and have the new cam in and they could not find any direct reason why it failed. I suspision oiling but need to work on a solution to this since I do not want to pull the motor again.
What is the best choice for and oil pump?
Is there a way to increase oiling to the cam?
Has anyone had a similar problem, hopefully with a solution?
Any help is appreciated
Brian
What is the best choice for and oil pump?
Is there a way to increase oiling to the cam?
Has anyone had a similar problem, hopefully with a solution?
Any help is appreciated
Brian
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,825
Likes: 56
From: Shawano WI
Re: Need an oiling solution (BLT-71)
On an average I final assemble 1 motor a day with about a 1/4 of them being non-roller cam set-up. I take every precaution known and I still loose about 1 cam a year on start-up.
Here is a list of precautions I take:
Coat the cam with a liberal amount cam lube that came with the cam.
Assemble everything possible on the engine before installing the lifters.
Coat the bottom of the lifters with the remaining cam lube. At this point you should not have any cam lube remaining.
Install the push rods and rockers, rotating the motor as little as possible.
When installing the motor in the car do not rotate it unless absolutely necessary.
Prime the motor with a priming tool that seals off the oil ports for the cam. (They look like the base of a distributor, not just a thin rod). Prime the motor for a couple of minutes after you get oil pressure. Rotate the motor 180° and prime it again.
Do NOT keep spinning the motor over to set the timing.
Set the timing, fill the carb with fuel, and double check that everything is hooked up correctly. You do not want to have to shut the motor off once it is started.
I cannot stress enough at this point that the motor must start immediately. This is the point the cam will fail if you have to keep cranking the starter to get it to run.
Once the motor starts keep the idle between 2500 and 3500 RPM for about a 1/2 hour. Don't stop the motor at this point unless absolutely necessary. Keep varying the RPM every couple of minutes.
If your engine builder did everything correctly on assembly and you did everything correctly on installation this is still something that can happen.
The valve spring on a performance cam are much stronger than stock which puts a greater amount of stress on the lifter surface during start up. The only other choice would be to put in a weaker set of valve springs for start up, break in the cam and the reinstall the heavier springs.
If you do anything to increase the oiling to the lifters you will cause a problem of having too much oil on the top end at higher RPM. I don't really think you problem was caused by the oiling system.
When you lose a cam on start up it may show up right away or it may take a couple of 1000 mile to show up depending on the severity of direct lobe to lifter contact.
Sorry to hear you had a problem and hope this helps.
Here is a list of precautions I take:
Coat the cam with a liberal amount cam lube that came with the cam.
Assemble everything possible on the engine before installing the lifters.
Coat the bottom of the lifters with the remaining cam lube. At this point you should not have any cam lube remaining.
Install the push rods and rockers, rotating the motor as little as possible.
When installing the motor in the car do not rotate it unless absolutely necessary.
Prime the motor with a priming tool that seals off the oil ports for the cam. (They look like the base of a distributor, not just a thin rod). Prime the motor for a couple of minutes after you get oil pressure. Rotate the motor 180° and prime it again.
Do NOT keep spinning the motor over to set the timing.
Set the timing, fill the carb with fuel, and double check that everything is hooked up correctly. You do not want to have to shut the motor off once it is started.
I cannot stress enough at this point that the motor must start immediately. This is the point the cam will fail if you have to keep cranking the starter to get it to run.
Once the motor starts keep the idle between 2500 and 3500 RPM for about a 1/2 hour. Don't stop the motor at this point unless absolutely necessary. Keep varying the RPM every couple of minutes.
If your engine builder did everything correctly on assembly and you did everything correctly on installation this is still something that can happen.
The valve spring on a performance cam are much stronger than stock which puts a greater amount of stress on the lifter surface during start up. The only other choice would be to put in a weaker set of valve springs for start up, break in the cam and the reinstall the heavier springs.
If you do anything to increase the oiling to the lifters you will cause a problem of having too much oil on the top end at higher RPM. I don't really think you problem was caused by the oiling system.
When you lose a cam on start up it may show up right away or it may take a couple of 1000 mile to show up depending on the severity of direct lobe to lifter contact.
Sorry to hear you had a problem and hope this helps.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,418
Likes: 1
Re: Need an oiling solution (BLT-71)
71,
Are you using a supplement additive for breakin of the cam?If not I would really recommend doing so. What engine oil are you using? See below part of a previous post by me concerning oils of today
(The EPA is jacking with our oils to reduce the amount of Zinc"ZDDP" and Sulphated Ash in a effort to reduce ground water contamination and air. The new SL GF3 oils have less quanities of each of these and the oil companies met this GF3 requirement before the Mandated date of September,2002. Now the powers that be are already pushing for a GF4 rated oil so the future of Zinc in oils is bleak but it can still be found in some unusual bottles and brands in enough quanity to protect the performance cams most of us use.In fact many of these unusual oil would be the best bet for a vette that say only gets driven once a month for superior anti corrosion additives that are in these certain oils.There is also a very, very good additive available to put a bit extra ZDDP in a GF3 oil if one thinks he might need a bit extra cam protection)
Thats not all there is to it but some info for you.
You will need an additive for sure while breaking that cam in,,then will need something a bit better than average in a oil for it's entire life to guarantee protection of the cam and lifters all assuming the correct valve springs are being used which brings up another question,what is the seat and open pressure of the springs?
Are you using a supplement additive for breakin of the cam?If not I would really recommend doing so. What engine oil are you using? See below part of a previous post by me concerning oils of today
(The EPA is jacking with our oils to reduce the amount of Zinc"ZDDP" and Sulphated Ash in a effort to reduce ground water contamination and air. The new SL GF3 oils have less quanities of each of these and the oil companies met this GF3 requirement before the Mandated date of September,2002. Now the powers that be are already pushing for a GF4 rated oil so the future of Zinc in oils is bleak but it can still be found in some unusual bottles and brands in enough quanity to protect the performance cams most of us use.In fact many of these unusual oil would be the best bet for a vette that say only gets driven once a month for superior anti corrosion additives that are in these certain oils.There is also a very, very good additive available to put a bit extra ZDDP in a GF3 oil if one thinks he might need a bit extra cam protection)
Thats not all there is to it but some info for you.
You will need an additive for sure while breaking that cam in,,then will need something a bit better than average in a oil for it's entire life to guarantee protection of the cam and lifters all assuming the correct valve springs are being used which brings up another question,what is the seat and open pressure of the springs?
