Greg Fell

iTrader: (9)

Well, a couple of months ago I was beating on my car some, and noticed a strange noise. Pushrods all fine, lifters all torqued, decided it was a lifter. When I took off the valve covers, I noticed that the seats for the valve springs (they were shims underneath) were ground to hell, and there was even some metal laying around. Anyway, sent heads back to ARE (they did top end package) to have them cleaned up, and despite my instincts decided to go with the comp-r lifters. Ended up using 7.350 length pushrods. Fired up the motor, and noise gone! Wahoo.....

Now, 2-3 weeks later, the noise is back.

Has anyone ever had a comp r fail? Or is it possible some of the metal from the shims got in an oil passage and is blocking or otherwise obstructing flow, and a lifter then fails?

I'm very puzzled as to why I'd have another lifter fail. I want to find out what went wrong so I can address it, not just keep putting lifters in!

SAM98WS6

what rockers? You must use adjustable ones.. Comps set at .008-.010 preload according to their tech.

Greg Fell

iTrader: (9)

I have stock rockers, and was assured by ARE that these would play nice with the comp r'is if I had the right length pushrod.

SAM98WS6

According to Comp..they will not...I called them and asked. talked to their tech guy. sorry to hear that bud. Thats why I went with comp 1.75 adjustable. Ive broken so many stock rocker arms...wouldnt use them on a lawn mower...they werent going near my new motor...

Taphee6

iTrader: (2)

Same here. I spent three weeks trying to get the push rod lenght and shims right. Finally said the hell with it and got the pro mags. No more noise...

crainholio

iTrader: (2)

I had a Comp-R lifter fail on me, but not catastrophically. The steel retainer plate that holds the plunger in the lifter body broke in two, both pieces were found stuck to my oil drain plug magnet while doing an oil change.

Greg Fell

iTrader: (9)

Would too much preload cause this?

crainholio, did you hear some noise, ie is that what tipped you off that something was wrong?

crainholio

iTrader: (2)

Root cause was unknown. What tipped me off? The two pieces of the broken retainer plate stuck to my oil drain magnet. I was just doing an oil change before Lime Rock, found them, and it turned into a lifter swap.

Greg Fell

iTrader: (9)

Well, for better or worse, I'm going to switch to the regular comp lifters. I'm just nervous about the comp r's.

I would like to say that ARE has been VERY helpful and supportive throughout this. Brian Leblanc has made this a personal mission and bent over backwards to help me out. I tip my hat to him and his crew, 1st rate customer service. I plan on having them do a 422 for me in the future.