Lifter problem
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 270
Likes: 6
Lifter problem
hey guys i have seen some pretty smart people here who really know their stuff so hopefully one of you can help me out on this
my friends camaro (ls3) has a
Texas Speed Stage 4 LS3 235/239 .627"/.624" 3-Bolt Camshaft
since he bought it roughly 500 miles ago
since then a lifter snapped and he had to replace all lifters and the cam aswell with the same exact cam because it had gotten scratched up
pushrods are 7.400 .80
he then bought new lifters from texas speed and explained his problem to them and asked if maybe the pushrods the car has is putting too much or too little preload on them and they said the pushrods size was correct, however it happened again not even 100 miles after putting everything back togther
oil pressure always was good
oil temperature was fine as well
everything seemed fine until the lifter failed on a different cylinder he reused the same push rods but never tagged the one from the previous cylinder
if anyone can chime in it would be greatly appreciated
my friends camaro (ls3) has a
Texas Speed Stage 4 LS3 235/239 .627"/.624" 3-Bolt Camshaft
since he bought it roughly 500 miles ago
since then a lifter snapped and he had to replace all lifters and the cam aswell with the same exact cam because it had gotten scratched up
pushrods are 7.400 .80
he then bought new lifters from texas speed and explained his problem to them and asked if maybe the pushrods the car has is putting too much or too little preload on them and they said the pushrods size was correct, however it happened again not even 100 miles after putting everything back togther
oil pressure always was good
oil temperature was fine as well
everything seemed fine until the lifter failed on a different cylinder he reused the same push rods but never tagged the one from the previous cylinder
if anyone can chime in it would be greatly appreciated
Last edited by nenji01; May 19, 2016 at 07:48 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,655
Likes: 635
From: Dallas TX
Were valve springs inspected? Texas Speed had a bad batch of valve springs at some point(although they wont publicly admit it, there are 2 people locally who got new springs from them due to this bad batch).
And those lifters in the pictures, how long were they out of the motor for before that picture was taken, because those are DRY AS A BONE. Lifters hold a lot of oil. Mine still had oil in them 2 weeks after they came out of the motor.
And push rod length is factory length. If no head milling was done, the length is fine. The factory lifters have a lot of travel in them, like .100 or something like that so they will soak up A LOT of push rod length variance.
Were the lifters re-installed with all the holes facing the same way?
Lifter bores could be trash in the block.
Were the buckets replaced?
How do the bearings in the cam journals look?
And those lifters in the pictures, how long were they out of the motor for before that picture was taken, because those are DRY AS A BONE. Lifters hold a lot of oil. Mine still had oil in them 2 weeks after they came out of the motor.
And push rod length is factory length. If no head milling was done, the length is fine. The factory lifters have a lot of travel in them, like .100 or something like that so they will soak up A LOT of push rod length variance.
Were the lifters re-installed with all the holes facing the same way?
Lifter bores could be trash in the block.
Were the buckets replaced?
How do the bearings in the cam journals look?
Last edited by rjacobs; May 19, 2016 at 08:34 PM.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 270
Likes: 6
the previous cam was pretty scratched up and kind of scorn in one of the bearings almost as if the lifter was bone dry grinding on it which is the one that snapped on the picture (does lifters have been out for around 20-30 days)
he reused the buckets and cleaned the lifter bores as best as he could with the engine still in the car
my first thought was lack of lubrication aswell but it doesnt explain why only one lifter breaks the current state of the car now the engine has one lifter stuck in the bore doesnt want to come out
maybe the lifter holes wasnt facing the right direction ? he will check it tomorrow he is pretty frustrated lol thanks for that i hadnt think of it
he reused the buckets and cleaned the lifter bores as best as he could with the engine still in the car
my first thought was lack of lubrication aswell but it doesnt explain why only one lifter breaks the current state of the car now the engine has one lifter stuck in the bore doesnt want to come out
maybe the lifter holes wasnt facing the right direction ? he will check it tomorrow he is pretty frustrated lol thanks for that i hadnt think of it
Safety Car
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 3,807
Likes: 508
From: Oshawa, Ontario
the previous cam was pretty scratched up and kind of scorn in one of the bearings almost as if the lifter was bone dry grinding on it which is the one that snapped on the picture (does lifters have been out for around 20-30 days)
he reused the buckets and cleaned the lifter bores as best as he could with the engine still in the car
my first thought was lack of lubrication aswell but it doesnt explain why only one lifter breaks the current state of the car now the engine has one lifter stuck in the bore doesnt want to come out
maybe the lifter holes wasnt facing the right direction ? he will check it tomorrow he is pretty frustrated lol thanks for that i hadnt think of it
he reused the buckets and cleaned the lifter bores as best as he could with the engine still in the car
my first thought was lack of lubrication aswell but it doesnt explain why only one lifter breaks the current state of the car now the engine has one lifter stuck in the bore doesnt want to come out
maybe the lifter holes wasnt facing the right direction ? he will check it tomorrow he is pretty frustrated lol thanks for that i hadnt think of it
Pro
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 644
Likes: 53
From: Metro Detroit
All that crap has now gone through the oil pump twice. Motor needs to come out and have everything cleaned and inspected. Oil pump will be trashed. Cut open the oil filter, and you'll find shavings. The stuck lifter needs to be pulled out the bottom. Don't force it out the top.
Lifters usually only do that if they are bouncing against the cam lobe. There is another issue going on that has yet to be discovered.
Lifters usually only do that if they are bouncing against the cam lobe. There is another issue going on that has yet to be discovered.
Team Owner
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 24,035
Likes: 2,342
From: Gilbert AZ
**** just happens some time.
That being said, bouncing a lifter can cause that, or excessive spring pressure, which I doubt in that case.
Same thing happened to me when I had a shop that didn't know crap spec me a "custom cam" and they picked the most aggressive lobes comp makes.
That being said, bouncing a lifter can cause that, or excessive spring pressure, which I doubt in that case.
Same thing happened to me when I had a shop that didn't know crap spec me a "custom cam" and they picked the most aggressive lobes comp makes.
Pro
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 644
Likes: 53
From: Metro Detroit
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Drifting
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,717
Likes: 28
From: O'Fallon IL
Sounds like valve springs issue or extremely aggressive ramp lobes like Unreal stated. Otherwise, I would look at oil starvation or improper valvetrain geometry although the chances may be small.
I agree the engine needs to come out. I wouldnt trust it at this point.
I agree the engine needs to come out. I wouldnt trust it at this point.
Team Owner
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 24,035
Likes: 2,342
From: Gilbert AZ
My motor went on to live a long happy life, and is still running in another z06 (that dropped a valve and took out his motor). I made sure to push the lifter down and out through the bottom, because pulling it up and out like you did can trash the lifter bore/block. So make sure to inspect and get the bore checked out.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 270
Likes: 6
The lifter tray seemed to have damaged he didn't noticed amd the lifter seemed to have moved so maybe that was the culprit (similar to unreal's experience) along with the aggressive cam he flushed the engine and cleaned all the mess and its now in the process of going big cam n/a to lsa blower on the ls3 with the lsa cam hopefully there's no more broken lifters
Last edited by nenji01; Jul 2, 2016 at 10:08 PM.