You will need to mike the cam for wear. But if the lifter looked bad and had enuf wear to knock the keeper out your cam is probably shot. Bite the bullet, pull the engine out, pull the cam and check the wear but I am pretty sure from the other things you have described it is gone. You will need to check out the other parts of the engine also. If you don't want to pull the engine now you can remove the radiator and pull the cam out the front. You need to mike that cam! If it has worn more than 0.005" when compared to the other cam lobes and the specs on the cam card it has worn too much. There is a thin layer of hardened metal on the surface of the cam that is the wear surface. If it is gone the cam is gone also... Check with your cam manufacturer for their wear limit but the books list 0.005".

Some of the other cam lobes may be gone also.

There are other things on a cam that must be right in order to make it operate. There is a small amount of taper that is ground into the cam to make the lifter rotate. If that taper is gone the cam is shot also and another lifter placed on the cam will wear rapidly also. There is tremendous pressure on the surface of the cam and lifter. If it all is not right things go south fast.

The "metalic shimmer" that the oil had was proabably anti-freeze.

 

well I pulled the cam today and the lobe in question looked like it was for a roller set up. the cam bearings looked fine except i probably did some slight wear removing the cam.

 

Watch it when you pull your cam out, even the smallest scar on it can reduce its life. If you can see the scar, its pretty bad

 

cant see it but you can feel it,

 

Take the cam to the machine shop to have the lobes measured. Take the cam specs card also. If the cam is worn 0.005" it is worn out. If it is worn less than 0.002" I would put it back in, 0.003" is iffy, and 0.005 is worn out. Even at 0.002" it is 1/3 worn out.

Have the machine shop look at any scratches.

 

ok I got a new blueracer 270-2h cam and today to my suprise when i looked at the card and it says NOT FOR USE WITH EXHAUST VALVE ROTATORS, does this mean that I need to change the spring retainers? if so why?

 

Ok i hate to have to post this question but my other post was getting a bit long and confusing.

ok I have decided to replace my cam shaft but when it cam in the mail today i paniced.

its a 270-2h cam with 270-280 duration and .484-510 advertised lift. the shock came to me when i read the bottom of the little card that comes with the cam said NOT FOR USE WITH exhaust VALVE ROTATORS does this mean that I need to change the retainers? i have the single groove type valves and the retainers that rotate I think.

I called crane cams and the guy just tried to sell me a set of new springs and had no idea what he was talking about.


so can I run this cam with stock retainers and new keepers and a set of new and slightly stiffer than stock springs or do I need to change the retainers?

 

Check what you have with your machine shop.

Since you have a new cam I can assume the old one was worn. What did it measure?

 

I answered in your other topic.

 

it was a cam with the same lift and duration just a different brand, but it didnt come with any documentation so It may have required different retainers and stuff too I dont know, that may be while it failed.

 

: On engines with cylinder heads equipped with exhaust valve rotators, valve springs and retainers must be changed to allow for proper valve travel.

is there any type of measurements I can do to see if crane is right or if they are just trying make some more money? is there a way for me to tell if the spring will bind anything up or not?

 

today I took off one of the valves and swapped it with the non rotator intake retainer and I did notice that the coils seemed to be further apart indicating that i did gain some height. Could someone please tell me how I can be sure I have proper travel and that these springs will be enough for this cam? If I could save some money by not having to buy yet another set of springs I'd be happy. I have enough money to purchase new retainers for the exhaust but thats about it.

Life sucks when you've got no job.

 

1. Get or borrow a valve spring compressing tool.

2. Measure the valve spring installed height (from the spring seat) with the valve closed and the retainer and locks in place.

3. Measure the valve spring coil bind height, with the valve spring compressed until all the coils touch.

5. Subtract the difference. Subtract another 0.05" for safety.

That's how much valve lift your valve springs will support.

 

elgin springs

76-84 lbs. closed 1.82'

215-237lbs. open 1.39'

this is the specs the company gave me. are these sufficient?

 

No. Those numbers tell you what the spring pressure is at a specified open and closed height. They do not tell you what you need to know.

What you need to know is the difference between valve closed height and coil bind height, with the valve springs installed on your engine.

Sounds like you don't have a lot of money to spend replacing broken parts in your engine. I'd suggest you measure the valve spring heights like I described previously, and find out for yourself whether those springs will work. (That's what I would do, even if I had the manufacturer's specs for spring heights.)

Or you could just put it all together and "hope" they work, and be prepared to replace all the pushrods and replace the valve springs anyway when you find out the hard way.

Your choice.