Cam Swap Update!
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Cam Swap Update!
I've been asking questions and receiving valuable information from many of you regarding a cam swap (Comp 268H) for my 390, F250. The heads were taken off and given a valve job and the comp springs installed, I followed every instruction i could find in reassembling everything, making sure to use plenty of assy. lube whenever possible. Today everything was runnable. I primed the oil pump, great pressure, a while later starting trying to crank it. it took several tries twisting the distributor back and forth but it eventually fired up. With the exception of my electric choke not being hooked up and a good sized leak around the #1 header, everything seemed good to go. i never even heard a lifter ticking or anything. I was NOT able to do the 20 min at 2K, i dont know how 1 person could with having to run back and forth checking this and looking/listening for problems. it seems to run very smooth with no ticks and fantastic oil pressure/temps. My issue now is finding a zinc additive locally or good solid, high zinc oil, really want to make this cam last as long as possible. thanks for all the info
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From: horton, ks
just as a reference, if youre the only one there breaking the cam in. start the the vehicle and let it hit 2-2500 rpm , dont let it die, feather it if need be. grab a screwdriver and wedge the thottle pedal to the desired rpm and then go out and turn up the idle screw to the desired rpm. thats what i did and never had a problem. all i ran was 15w40 rotella t oil with my cam. never had a problem with break in.
Post Fiend
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From: Big Sky Country
Rotella's a diesel oil, not an S rated oil (spark ignition) it's a C rated oil (compression ignition) though its zinc levels have also taken a nose dive over the last few years thanks to the EPA, the current CJ-4 Rotella still has higher zddp levels than SM rated oils, i believe Rotella is currently rated at 1,200 ppm, down from around 1,500 ppm of the old CI-4 Rotella.
More Turbo
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From: Western Washington
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shell rotella SAE-30, with hy-per lube "zinc" additive, which was the ONLY bottle of anything similar i could find in town, i had never heard of it. after the break in oil, i put in shell rotella 15w/40 and a bottle of STP oil additive simply because it said it had ZDDP in it. It was very thick stuff and I'm not thrilled as my cold oil pressure is around 85psi! I dont know what to do, all the zinc talk confuses and worries me.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Big Sky Country
I wouldn't sweat it too much, as long as you're running a quality diesel rated oil like Rotella or Delo or a racing oil like Brad Penn or Joe Gibbs you'll be fine as far as zinc content is concerned, this topic was beat to death about six months ago on the 73-79 forum if you care to read it...https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...nc-levels.html
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From: Southern California
On a short term aspect, there is nothing to worry about as I am sure you used the cam grease/lube provided by the mfg. Now for the future, if you contact Iskenderian, Comp, etc. they will sell you for about $10 a can of ZDDP. I personally would wait to add it in until you get 1000 miles on the engine- so that everything should be broken in by that point.
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2009
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From: Napa
There are numerous oils that still have high levels of ZDDP, in particular off-road oils like Valvoline VR-1 and Brad Penn, and several Mobil1's, including the 15-50 Extended Performance. There's a chart on the Mobil1 site that lists the info for all their oils. A lot of speed shops carry Brad Penn, and Valvoline and Mobil1 are at Kragen, Wally World, etc.
Don't mean to rain on your parade, but the breakin period is very critical on a performance cam, you should have "found a way" to keep the revs up- you can always wait until a friend is around, not worth getting in a hurry over. Hope there's no damage, but you'd be very lucky if there isn't. It's actually pretty easy if you have known good ignition & carb, get the timing close, have your screwdriver & fire extinguisher ready, and use a remote starting switch to start it- don't try to start it from inside and run back & forth. One hand on the throttle, and the second goes from the switch to the dizzy when it fires- do NOT let the engine slow down or crank it for a long time. This is not something you can blow off and everything will somehow be peachy- if you can't do it by yourself, wait until you have help
Don't mean to rain on your parade, but the breakin period is very critical on a performance cam, you should have "found a way" to keep the revs up- you can always wait until a friend is around, not worth getting in a hurry over. Hope there's no damage, but you'd be very lucky if there isn't. It's actually pretty easy if you have known good ignition & carb, get the timing close, have your screwdriver & fire extinguisher ready, and use a remote starting switch to start it- don't try to start it from inside and run back & forth. One hand on the throttle, and the second goes from the switch to the dizzy when it fires- do NOT let the engine slow down or crank it for a long time. This is not something you can blow off and everything will somehow be peachy- if you can't do it by yourself, wait until you have help
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you certainly did rain on my parade. now i'm very worried, is there a way to check for damage? i cut the oil filter open and there are no metal particles in there, i checked with a magnet and my eyeballs. how could i check before something really screws up? damn this sucks!
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