6point7s14

iTrader: (3)

this is the 5th lifter to fail on me in the last year..... this is past getting old..... the first motor i had a 225/225 561/561 on 112 and ran it hard for 6 months no problems... installed ms4 within 2000 miles failed lifter....so had a new fresh motor built had correct length pushrods installed again and the double springs pr gold checked for correct seat pressure and install height.... again within 1500 miles failed lifter... by the way were all ls7 lifters.....
so then had a new 408 iron block built.... everything new but went with a set of the 832 comp lifters and a 250/255 629/629 113 ls6 worked heads etc... and all correct specs on springs pushrods etc.... 2000 miles and guess what failed lifter... well freshened up the 408 again swapped it into my 95 240sx and been giving it HECK for the last 3 months.... racing every chance i get... runs like a champ in the mid 130s on motor and recently put a 150 shot on it..... raced about 6 passes on the kit.... runs STRONG.....
well during a burnout the other night to heat tires up something came loose... i thought i shredded the serpentine belt because it choked the motor down and made like a screetching sound ... jumped out and looked at belt..it was good.... so i started motor up no noise .... parked it and few days later started it up and letting it idle it started making the noise off and on again and then went to a straight tapping sound again so i shut it off and here i am again.... any advice?

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like you need to go the solid lifter route.

racer7088

Are those LSK lobes?

405HP_Z06

iTrader: (11)

What installed height are you using on the valve springs? How much lifter preload were you running each time?

6point7s14

iTrader: (3)

i,m not 100 percent sure... all i can remember without receipts is that its a comp cam.... its been a while since i bought it

6point7s14

iTrader: (3)

honestly i got the recommended install height from TSP and gave it to the machinist and got the preload specs from comp.... think it was .080 but my memory might be off.... i'm trying to find where i wrote it all down....

01Z28Camaro

I may be in the same boat? I also have the ms4 cam, However I think it still has stock lifters. The car runs great, But today I was getting on the highway and it started ticking pretty load, so I pulled over and cut it off. Waited about 5 mins, got out popped the hood, start it up. Sounded like a lifter collapsed and trying to pump back up. Well about 20 seconds later it was silent again, and trouble free all the way home.

Is this Ms4 cam notorious for eating lifters? What all is required to swap to ls7 lifters?

Johnnystock

iTrader: (6)

You should go back to LS1 lifters.

Heard many cases of problem with caddys lifters and LS7 on this board...just ls1tech rumors thought, not any professional xp to back it up.. but enough for me to buy ls1 lifters next time to refresh my valvetrain.

The Alchemist

iTrader: (19)

The LS7 lifter is the only factory lifter anymore. If you go in and order a replacment ls1 lifter, you will get the ls7 lifter.

Johnnystock

iTrader: (6)

thanks for the info

LSGunZ28

iTrader: (8)

damn man what the hell is this??

So would a solid lifter work on the cam that Im running with a hyrdraulic lifter??

if so, I would assume pushrod length being correct is more critical than with a hydraulic lifter.. and probably the only disadvantages of a solid lifter is, its probably noisier and maybe harder on certain valvetrain components??

XtraCajunSS

iTrader: (2)

We've not seen any problems with GM LS1 or LS7 lifters. I've also not had problems with the Comp OE, Comp R, or Crane lifters. What I can tell you is there are normally just a few reasons for lifter trouble.

1. Cracked or worn lifter trays. This seems to be the #1 cause lately. I have seen a good number of cars come through the shop with this problem in the past 2 years. Even on stock un modified engines with low miles. The last was an '01 Z06. Bone stock. The #1 exhaust lifter turned sideways, destroyed the cam, broke into three pieces, jammed the oil pump pressure relief valve open, and finally got wedged between the crank counterweight and the piston skirt thereby cracking the #3 piston almost completely in half.

2. Improper lifter preload. Not much to say here other than I have had best luck running .035-.050" on stock type lifters, .002-.003" on Comp R's, and .010-.030" on Morels. I'm sure there are others out there who would disagree but this is my experience.

3. Improperly selected or worn valvesprings. I recently had a customer come in with one of our 224 cams with a set of TEA 5.3 heads we installed about 6 years ago. The valvesprings were completely shot and the lifters and lobes of the cam were nearly destroyed. Funny thing is the car still ran great, it just sounded like someone had dumped a box of rocks in the intake...

4. Bad cam design. Some lobes are better than others where longevity is concerned. I think Erik may have been alluding to that fact when he asked if the cam had LSK lobes but I know you mentioned your first cam only had .581" lift. I've not had any issues with LSK's but in this case definitely not LSK's... so it had to be something else.

I hate to say this but other than worn springs or lifter trays, all of the others revolve around proper component selection and setup. This is just not a problem I've ever encountered in 20 years of working on hydraulic roller engines. If you choose a lifter, set its preload at the recommended value with properly selected valvesprings for your application, you should NOT have a problem. I know most people do 1, 2 or even a few cam swaps in their lifetime. We have done literally hundreds without lifter issues. This doesn't even include the thousands of cam packages we've sold over the years.

Maybe I've just been lucky, but in my experience, if I have any luck its bad luck.

If you would like to, give me a call at the shop. I am here now and could walk you through some steps to determine the root cause of your problem.

Thanks,
Shane

XtraCajunSS

iTrader: (2)

Your cam may be compatable but talk about opening up a whole new can of worms... not to mention the additional expense of shaft mount rockers, clearancing the heads, new extremely expensive solid lifters, new extremely expensive springs with high quality titainium retainers and the associated machine work on the heads to make sure everything fits. Solid roller conversions normally run into a minimum of $3500-$5000 to do properly. Just my $.02...

Shane