daftdrifting

Ok here is the story. I bought a 04 gto with t56 for a good priced from a wrecked gto. I pulled heads, had them all checked out and pressure tested. I had the comp 925 springs and springs seats installed. I then installed a tr230 reverse split cam I got from TR. I put everything back together with new gm head gaskets, arp head bolts, new crank bolt, seals, intake mani gaskets.. you get the point. I installed the comp hardened pushrods supplied also. 7.4 I believe. The car started right up untuned. I got it tuned at Synergy in Fremont, ca. My friend refereed me there telling me good things. I dont blame his tuning. My car runs great. Issue I'm having is it only makes 291 hp and 294 trq. That's less then stock.

They said to check compression. I check it and it ranged from 180 to 195 on all 8 cyl. My only guess now is a bad cam ? My old 98 fbody engine stock had more pull then this motor does. I thought about the fact that I didn't degree the cam but a couple degree's would not account for nearly 100 hp loss. I was expecting numbers near 400. I have no codes, no knock, spark plugs look titilicious.

Could it in fact be a bad cam ? please anyone with feedback please help the car just is not making me happy what so ever. Put it this was rolling in 1st if i puch the gas WOT it wont even break the tires loose. My old 98 motor would do it on a roll 1st 2nd and 3rd.

daftdrifting

The tuner thinks something is definitely wrong with my engine. I have no idea what to do now because the motor seems to runs fine other then lacking in the power it is suppose to have. The timing is working .. it sounds mean at idle. just lacking a significant amount of hp and trq

daftdrifting

I been thinking. I didn't soak my lifters in oil before I reinstalled them. My friend thinks I may have collapsed them.. possibly causing them to have less lift ? lack of power ?

livefast1

iTrader: (1)

you do mean 7.4 pushrods right?

daftdrifting

lol yeah I just modded that before you posted

Ice78Transam

iTrader: (1)

There are conflicting ideals with soaking the lifters, many engine builders believe leaving them alone is better. They are fine. The engine would not run well at all if that was the case.

Any numbers with the stock PCM flash?

Whats the A/F? Dyno chart?

livefast1

iTrader: (1)

lol i was about to say there's your problem right there. but then again you wouldn't have 185 compression numbers across the board. regardless of the compression test i would at least do a leakdown just to make sure. and if you pull a valvecover it shouldn't take long to see if your lifters are collapsed

BaddBird

iTrader: (6)

Pull it back down and degree the cam.

daftdrifting

No I didn't even bother grabbing the dyno sheet or asking for a print out I was to upset. He was tuning it and then said hey something has to be wrong.. he did like a run and it only made peak 275 ft lbs trq on a dynapak. Then he added some more timing and final results 291 294 . He has tuned 1000 plus hp twin turbo ls series motors and a hand full of n/a so I would hope he knows whats going on with tuning. He said as far as codes or knock or anything .. it all looked fine. no issues.

daftdrifting

degree the cam ? I don't even have a degree wheel. Maybe I will have to invest into one. I really hate doing all that but crap! How much could the cam be off ? how much power could I loose from the cam being off ? ! tooth on the chain .. would that even make car run or would I have had piston to valve clearances issues if that was the case ?

mwatson185

You may or may not have ptv problems with a cam that is a degree off. What is your lifter preload, you may be holding your valves open.

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

worst case scenario i would say is drive the car and pray for a check engine light, the obdII system is pretty good at pinpointing the problem. it may be a dumb idea but it can work. this problem could be many things

02*C5

iTrader: (1)

Dumb question but what lifters are you using. Usually if you install lifters like the Comp "R" you will see a drop in HP if you do not use adjustable rockers. Reason being your preload and lash will not be set correctly and you'll have valves open ever so slightly when they should be close and so on robbing your engine of power steadily getting worse.

daftdrifting

ok, just got back to the computer. I have stock gto lifters.. I know I know I should have just dropped a set of ls7 lifters or what not. the motor was low mileage so.. yeah. I got a cam kit from Thunder Racing. "Many people use this kit" They said. I didn't actually physically check my lifter preload. I using the 7.4 pushrods supplied to me.

Let me just clarify. I have driven on this cam/spring/pushrod setup for 1200 miles now. Car drives fine on freeway, cruises, I even hit some mountain roads. The car just feel like stock 98 motor I had. The check engine light hasn't come on yet after he tuned it..

Johnnystock

iTrader: (6)

Do you still have your old cam? maybe you should check if its the right one in....

JRracing

iTrader: (35)

LOL. That would suck *****!

I had that cam 4 years ago and it made 390rwhp with the supporting bolt ons. I had stock heads never been off, so stock lifters also and a 7.400" PR's and stock rockers.

Something is over looked. This cam set up has been done 1000 times with great results.

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

lmao put the old one back on wow

PREDATOR-Z

What exhaust do you have? seing that your trq is higher than Hp (on a reverse split), I would assume it is choked. Also what dif gears are you running?

daftdrifting

I have 1 3/4 long tubes to 3inch collectors. They merge in a ypipe to a single 3 inch exhaust with single 3 inch muffler. I know what you mean about putting old cam in .. trust me lol!!! I thought that but the idle alone you know it has a 111 lobe separation for sure.

I know this cam setup has been used in plenty of cars. Something is wrong

mwatson185

Pull off the timing cover and verify you are dot to dot. If not it is an easy fix. If you are dot to dot you should probably buy or borrow a degreeing kit. Sometimes machining tollerances can stack up and you can end up having advance or retard ground into the cam causing incorrect valve event timing. Check out the lifter preload and make sure it isn't too high, you could be hanging the valves open if it is. Sometimes that won't show up on a leak down test because the lifters have a chance to bleed down and seal up the valves.

What fuel pressure are you running? What are your plugs gapped to? I'm not sure if you have already said, but what is your intake and exhaust setup?