Car has ARE Stage II heads, Comp Cam 232/236 .595/.601 @ 112 and double springs that ARE put on when they did the top end package so I'm not sure which ones they are.


About 3 months ago, I was out having fun, and a strange noise starts. Determined to be a fault lifter after examining valve train, etc. Changed to comp -r lifters. About 1.5 weeks after that, another failed lifter! So I then change to regular comp lifters. I have driven for about 2-3 weeks. I went to race today, did burnout and in middle of burnout, a lifter collapses!

I was not able to ever determine what cylinder had the faulty lifters from before. This time, it is # 1.

One more note that may or may not be relevant...When I pulled valve covers to diagnose the 1st time, the valve seats were completely trashed and shredded. There were metal slivers and debris laying on the head. ARE gladly cleaned up the heads, and corrected the seats.

What is going on here? This has to be an oil pressure issue doesn't it?

My 2 theories.

The motor has a blocked oil passage somehow, possibly from the metal debris? But doesn't the oil that feeds the lifters come from the filter? Is there any way metal could have gotten into a passage?

or

The car is an 01. I was assured by the owner I bought it from that it did not have any oil consumption issues. This has not been the case, and I did have a low oil light come on 2 times, which I promptly fixed.

Not sure where to go. I have zero confidence in just replacing the lifter(s) again. There must be something causing this. I am wondering if I'll need to pull the motor.

 

I'm just curious about your rocker arm ratios and pushrod length.
It would seem your valves seats are being pounded and I doubt that lack of oil is the cause. How much are the heads milled?

 

Spring spec's ! Coil bind

 

Your one unknown appears to be the springs used. I think you need to review your entire valve train geometry setup, spring compression and spacing to figure out what is wrong. You surely have symptoms of bigger problems than just a lifter. I would figure this out before looking to oil issues and it won't cost anything up front. I think Comp Cams has a good file on their web site that discusses valve train geometry.

 

Benn there done that when I was a kid with a V8 Pinto. I also pulled some rocker studs.