Truck ran like absolute crap today and i knew something wasent right, i limped it home and tore it apart. 2 heavily bent pushrods and at least 1 blown lifter, i assume 2+ but half of the lifters are stuck and wont come out. I posted awhile back about collant in the oil and the truck wasent ran hardly at all after it, maybe 10 miles. I assume that this may have had something to do with it along with back when my engine builder broke the cam in it took forever to get started and i got real nervous. It sounded fine after it started but couldnt have been good on the cam. IF the intake gaskets look good, are the head gaskets next to be looked over for collant leak? Any other ideas on what would cause this? Oh and at least 4 differnt push rods, including the 2 bent ones, had around .1 inch of lash so i would assume these lifters/lopes are toast too? Included are a couple pics below.

 

Forgot to mention, this is a 390 FE

 

Bummer dude. I feel for ya man. That's really disappointing. Bad valve guide(s) can bind the stem and wedge the valve in place thereby bending the pushrods. You'll need a new cam, set of lifters, and do proper break-in. Plus have the heads and guides checked too.

The builder broke a cam? That takes talent.

Lastly, another possibility is a bad billet (metallurgy) from which the cam was made. Call up the manufacturer and to check if they have had any reports from the lot that the cam was manufactured from. However, that still would not account for the bent pushrods. My money would be the guides and some inattention to detail by the builder.

 

Wow. Did your builder use cam lube when he put it together? If he did I can't see cranking causing much of a problem, but maybe.

Trying to run the scenario through my head and I'm not sure why that would cause bent push rods. Unless there was enough slack for them to fall right out of the lifters but even then I can't understand why it would happen.

Have you had the heads off yet? It would be interesting to see if you have any other damage like a bent valve or damaged piston. Bent push rod are usually from a valve not moving because it is bent, stuck or a piston is in the way.

Even though you can't get the lifters out do the all still move? Maybe one stuck in the up position leaving the valve open. The piston would come up and contact the valve and explain the bent rod.

What were you running for oil, now and for break in? What brand of cam and lifters are they?

 

On top of that the title reads: "Less than 100 miles and my cam is wiped out"

I would say the "engine builder" , cough cough, owes you the cost of a new engine! Whatever you do don't let him touch anything else on your truck....

My 2 cents....

 

^x2 shoot your engine builder he missed a big step somewhere.

 

He followed the correct steps of break in but it was an electrical problem on the stand that he couldnt get spark, but he would let it crank for 3-4 secs each time he tried something new, i was vert worried but he seemed fine with it. It was ran in on Rotella (he recommnded) 5w-20 i think, second oil change was with the same stuff, I had heard some bad things about Rotella but he insured it had enough zinc to do the job. The lifters do all seem to move but as soon as they get up out of the hole about 1/4-3/8 in or so they get stuck and cant seem to get them out. And the cam is a comp XE 262 i believe along with there springs and lifters

 

My builder is getting a big call tomorrow and im gona see what hes going to do about this.

 

i would guess the cam was not broke in right and wrong oil with a new cam the engine needs to started asap and run at 2 to 3000 rpm for 1/2 hr or so also a diesel oil needs to be used [15-40] i cant remember right now what its called but an additive was removed from car engine oils a few years ago i would also check lifter or push rod lenth [might be to long] and timeing chain position either way your builder needs to fix this under warranty if there is one

 

FYI: zinc diphosphate or more commonly referred to as "ZDPP"

 

I've seen a lot of cams get broke in the wrong way before but never seen one get that chewed up that fast. Maybe the springs were binding putting to much pressure on the lifters? Either way sounds like warranty.make sure you let us know what you find because i'm planning on using that same cam eventually. Good luck.

 

Hope your builder stands behind his work, but I doubt it. While running 10 miles with water in the oil didn't help things, thats a lot of wear on the parts for a properly broken in engine.

 

The lifters are "mushroomed on the bottom. Cam quality has really gone down-hill in the past few years. Sometimes no matter how careful you are, or how many times you have done this you'll still have a "bad" cam from time to time.

 

Unless this guy of yours builds several engines a year of your make, I believe it was the fault of the builder too. IMO.

 

Worn out cam, mushroomed lifters, bent pushrods. Sounds like too much valve spring pressure. So maybe wrong springs?