Bent pushrod during break in
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Bent pushrod during break in
I had a lifter tick that was driving me nuts, and sure enough, the cam was toast. I figured it was a good time to upgrade, so I picked up a mild cam and lifter set from summit. Changed out the cam, replaced the springs, and chucked the rotators, got it primed, pumped and ready to rock. about five minutes into the break in, I spun it up to about 3000, and she started ticking loudly. shut it down instantly, and pulled the valve cover on the driver's side, and found a bent pushrod on number 8 exhaust valve. This thing was seriously bent. any insight to what's going on would be appreciated. I hope my new cam isn't fragged because if this, not looking forward to taking it back down again.
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Did you check every valve train part for binding ? Coil bind, retainer to guide, piston to valve, rocker hitting anywhere, rocker to fulcrum binding, valve to guide clearance, etc ? Did you check for push rod length ? How much lifter preload ? Did the machinest set all the valve tips to the same heights when the valve and seat grinding was done ? Any aftermarket cam will more than likely be ground on a different base circle than a stock cam so if you haven't already done so go back and check all valve tip heights. Then push rod length and don't forget to add the preload figure to the measurement you come up with. Are you using a good cam & lifter assembly paste like Isky Rev Lube ? Did you add a bottle of cam & lifter breakin oil to your engine oil ? Are you using a good oil for flat tappet cams like Valvoline VR1 ?
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It was retainer to guide clearance. Not sure how I missed it, but I did. Replaced all the retainers again, just to be sure, and rechecked everything. Ran the break in, and everything seems to be going smoothly now. Not the first cam I've changed, but the first one I've encountered problems with during break in.
Lead Driver
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If you are close on retainer to guide clearance but the stock soft black rubber stem seals won't fit, get squashed, sometimes you can get away with using the old hard plastic stem seals from older sb chevy heads. Lot thinner than the soft black rubber stem seals.
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That's good to know. I was kinda wondering if it might have been caused by the seals. Haven't seen any issues with the new retainers, but I'll keep a close eye on things in the meantime. I appreciate the pointers. Like I said, it's not my first rodeo, but I'm far from perfect, so I'm open to constructive criticism. Most of my experience is with newer Windsors, and Modulars, so it's been a while since I had to break in a flat tappet cam.
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Got it all sorted out, and it's running good, no issues thus far. Got some fin tuning to do with the ignition, and the carb, but other than that, she seems ready to go. Oil pressure hot is staying around 35 while driving, and about 10-15 idling pressure. I could do better, but this was just a quick cam swap to get the truck back into service. Kinda need it to work, lol. Thanks, Mark, for the input, it's always appreciated.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Dec 2012
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From: Toledo, Ohio
. The oil pressure gauge may not be accurate anymore, but if it is, switching from 10W-30 to 10W-40 or 20W-50 oil or some mixture of those may bring oil pressures up to better levels...
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Would it be worthwhile to go to a high volume pump. I've heard pros and cons about installing one in a mostly stock application. I know these engines are famous for low oil pressure, but they seem to like it that way. it has a mechanical guage on it, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. Figured factory guage wasn't good enough to trust during a break in.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Dec 2012
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From: Toledo, Ohio
. High volume pumps tend to fill the valve covers full of oil and empty the oil pan while sucking up more power to turn... I'd just go thicker oil until doing a rebuild and can put in fresh standard pump and bearings...
. If going to a high RPMs build (6,000+), go high pressure pump instead of high volume...
. When building my 351W, I just cut down the height of my rubber valve stem seals for retainer clearance... seems to have worked fine...
. If going to a high RPMs build (6,000+), go high pressure pump instead of high volume...
. When building my 351W, I just cut down the height of my rubber valve stem seals for retainer clearance... seems to have worked fine...
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