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Installed new cam yesterday and later in the day decided to bag old one and didn't notice when i pulled it out, but 1 of the lobes is severely grooved. Any idea what causes this to happen? Wasn't planning on replacing lifters till a later date, but now I think it would be a bad decision not to pull heads and drop a new set in. I would hate to damage my new cam if something is wrong with that one lifter. Thoughts?
The OEM Lifters are good for OEM.. Once you start increasing the lift, duration, and seat pressures, the old OEM lifters can and will start leaking down, making noise and creating issues.
Ide say that you should get some new performance OEMs or aftermarket lifters and new lifter buckets. I used the Caddy racing lifters and they have proven to be very reliable.
A roller that is no longer rolling. If you started the engine with a new cam and this lifter still in the engine, you have already scored the new lobe.
A roller that is no longer rolling. If you started the engine with a new cam and this lifter still in the engine, you have already scored the new lobe.
No way I’d start it with cam coming out looking like that. I noticed it right after I slid new one in. I assumed lifters were bad immediately upon seeing that cam. New ones on way from BTR.
Hopefully this doesn't happen to you as well, but the same thing happened to my car. I tossed in an MS3 since I had always planned on doing a cam swap anyways, 200 miles later I've got a lovely bottom end knock. My guess is enough metal made it through the engine to take out a crank or rod bearing. But I had two lobes doing that, not just one.
Milehigh jdf that’s terrible. So I take it your can swap is going to turn into a costly engine overhaul. I’m praying that doesn’t happen to myself. First thing my buddy said was “so where’s all that metal at that’s missing from the cam?” I said in all the oil filters that have been changed......I’m hoping. I guess if it happens nothing I can do,but cry and start figuring how long it’s going to take and cost to rebuild.
Yeah I wasn't particularly happy after doing all that work. I haven't pulled mine apart because I don't have the space to have the car blown apart for months on end, so I don't know for sure what actually caused the knock. I was looking at just finding a used shortblock and dropping that in, but I've settled on just building a stroker and doing everything once.
Well update. Went ahead pulled heads tonight and I have similar lifter. #3 intake lifter chewed up still seems to roll just fine though, but rest looked just fine. Lesson learned glad I didn’t just ignore and put it all back together. This is first time I’ve ever attempted a cam swap, but I will never do another or help someone who wants too and not put lifters in during the swap. So guess it’s a good thing I wanted to do a cam swap. I would of had severe problems at a later date if I wouldn’t have fixed it now. As long as the metal shavings don’t F me on lower end after this then....ya probably go stroker as well. Bad lifter cylinder #3 intake Bad lifter cylinder #3 intake
Good lesson. I installed an aftermarket cam several years back with Morel lifters. I decided to do a complete update of cam and heads and when I pulled the cam found microgrooves in the lobes that had transferred to my Morel lifters. I would have had issues if I left that cam in the car (wasn't correctly polished and hardened by the manufacturer of the cam). The Morels can be rebuilt so I sent them back to the factory and they came back like new. Sometimes you just don't, know although I would have thought an oil test on your motor might have shown something bad was going on but then you have to figure out what with a tear down.
While you have it this far apart, consider reassembling it using ARP Head Studs vs the OEM TTY Bolts. Makes the job SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier and you significantly reduce the chance of stripping the bolt hole threads out of the block. They are more money BUT IMHO, the benefits much outweigh the cost!!!
Another note: Make sure that you get ALL of the liquid and debris out of the block bolt holes. If you don't, you can seriously damage the block when you attempt to reinstall the head bolts!!!
While you have it this far apart, consider reassembling it using ARP Head Studs vs the OEM TTY Bolts. Makes the job SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier and you significantly reduce the chance of stripping the bolt hole threads out of the block. They are more money BUT IMHO, the benefits much outweigh the cost!!!
Another note: Make sure that you get ALL of the liquid and debris out of the block bolt holes. If you don't, you can seriously damage the block when you attempt to reinstall the head bolts!!!
I bought my dually with a bad cam. Don't realize it until I got around the belt squeal. No lifters turning sideways, no rollers stopped rolling. Just had a few lobes like the OP and a lot of pitting on the cam.
GM had an issue with the hardening of the cams in the 1996-2000 454 Vortec trucks. I rolled in new main and rod bearings, some had ingested cam material. That was over a year ago, truck still has great oil pressure and no knocks.
Last edited by Supercharged111; Sep 23, 2018 at 06:46 PM.
Grooved Cam Lobe
good advice
