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Old Feb 10, 2008 | 11:01 PM
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Cam Ate Itself:(

Driving home tonight went from having a slight tapping to omg wth lack of power and 5 pounds less oil pressure I know it's not my oil choice. So I'd like to switch to a roller to prevent this from happening again...any thoughts?
 
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Old Feb 10, 2008 | 11:23 PM
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There are lots of possible causes for cam failure. A roller lifter reduces the chance of problems dramatically, especially with todays oil...the drawback is the up front cost, normally around a grand for the cam and lifters. I am looking at rollers for several of my current projects, just not sure if I can afford it.
 
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Old Feb 11, 2008 | 07:57 AM
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A roller cam is ALOT of money to throw at something for this.
I still have solid lifters in all my hot rods(except 352 in my '67-it's still all stock). I run 20w50 Valvoline Racing oil in them with no problems. You have to make sure the oil has the additive to support NON roller cams. I still run plain Valvoline in the 352, as it's got 150K miles on it, and the spring pressure probably isn't high enough to wear anything out LOL!

Was your motor rebuilt? To what degree? stock?
 
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Old Feb 11, 2008 | 12:27 PM
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Well all might not be lost....It might be one of my collector gaskets blew up and me being me I'm assuming the worst. I'll know more soon hopefully and of course keep everyone posted. And yes I'm aware a roller is about a grand And as for oil I broke in the cam with shell 15-40 and Eos then first 500 shell 15 40 and eos...after that shell 15-40 and on this last change shell 5-40 syn..about 1800 miles now.
 
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Old Feb 11, 2008 | 01:21 PM
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And as for oil I broke in the cam with shell 15-40 and Eos then first 500 shell 15 40 and eos...after that shell 15-40 and on this last change shell 5-40 syn..about 1800 miles now
Wow, if it ate a cam I sure doubt it was the oil.

I've been hearing more and more reports of junk Chinese lifters causing problems.
What brand/specs is the cam?
Whose lifters? Not that it makes much difference what name's on the box - a lot of 'em are repackaged Beijing specials.

Seems odd that a blown collector gasket would cause oil pressure to drop.
 
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Old Feb 11, 2008 | 07:53 PM
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Yeah doubt it's my oil choice as well. As for the cam...I honestly don't know..dumb I know..but as far as I do know it's just a stock spec one...still running stock springs...lefters were branded johnsons...as for oil pressure...cruising I was only a couple pounds lower than norm..but this was after a hot run soo....idle I was 5 lower but once again hot run and it was idling lower than norm according to my tach..but smooth...about to tear into it..wish me luck.
 
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Old Feb 11, 2008 | 10:47 PM
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Mystery solved!!! The lifter on number 5 exhaust went out...in a very odd way...at least I've never seen one go like this. Here's the deal...you look at it and everything is nice and tight against valve...but if you push down on it..on the rod side it compresses nice and smoothly down..I'd say a good .25 inches...so far everything else seems fine so I guess I'll be pulling intake this weekend....any brand advice on lifters???
 
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Old Feb 11, 2008 | 11:02 PM
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I had a brand new lifter on my Dad's 289 in his Galaxie do the same thing. It was making some clatter on the right bank and found a loose push rod. The lifter was collapsed about 1/4 inch also.
 
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Old Feb 11, 2008 | 11:25 PM
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Ah but my push rod isn't loose lol...untill you push down on it.
 
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Old Feb 12, 2008 | 09:07 AM
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If you are running hydraulic lifters, then they WILL collapse about 1/4" if you push on them. Depending on how well they hold themselves(oil), some will be tighter then others, but they should all be able to be pushed down to some extent.

This of course is after you get the piston up to TDC(on compression stroke) and both valves are fully closed. If you are trying them and the valve is open, then yes you aren't getting the right reaction.
 
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Old Feb 12, 2008 | 10:22 AM
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any brand advice on lifters?
How about Ford? Hopefully they aren't getting 'em from China.

Something still doesn't sound right. Like Freightrain said, if the lifter is on the base circle of the cam, with no oil pressure (engine not running), it is not uncommon to have some play in there.
 
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Old Feb 12, 2008 | 12:20 PM
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Yes but a quater inch of free play I think not...all the others are nice and tight...and not sure about Ford I'll have to look into that
 
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Old Feb 12, 2008 | 06:04 PM
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When a hydraulic lifter is adjusted, it's only compressed by .06(or so), so it still has some compression left. I can't give you any real numbers as I don't own anything with hydraulics in it.

Like I mentioned, did you check each one at TDC(comp. stroke)?
 
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Old Feb 18, 2008 | 02:37 PM
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Hey, whatever happened with this? Inquiring minds want to know.

BTW - SurvivalMotorsports is offering American made lifters http://survivalmotorsports.com/FordBBcams.html
 
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Old Feb 18, 2008 | 06:33 PM
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May want to check to see if there is some trash in the lifter check valve. It doesn't take much to make the bleed down if the check does not hold.
 
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