redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

hah as you guys can tell..i need help..i took off the rod caps one by one and checked them..all is good..i found the source of my metal..the last lobe on my cam is serverly fuc#ed..it is ground down and looks like ***..you can feel it where its ate away at the lobe..the lifter however looks fine..end still rolls no problem...???????????????????? i had a fluctaing in oil pressure is why i tore it down..i couldnt hear any knock but the pronounced oil pressure fluctaitng made me take it apart..the pickup screen has got metal in it as well..im happy the rod bearings are alright..now i want to check the mains.is it possible..like the rod caps to take each one off at a time and then put it back and torque it down? im asking becuase i just want to get the car back together and trade it in..i wanted to fix the problem before it got worse..you could start the car up and it would hold normal oil pressure and go up with rpm..i just never let it get hot after the first time the oil started jumping around. took it straight home and started taking it apart,,maybee i caught it in time..just asking if its possible to take the mains off one at a time without any special tools needed for measurement upon reassembly.ill have pics of the fucked up cam later..

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

here are the pics

lifter..not messed up at all..rolls fine. torque specs triple checked..nothing out of the ordinary...


cam..only back lobe messed up



im not ruling out anything..but is seems to me this cam just flat out went bad and now my motor is full of metal....i dont know what to do..im going to get some opinions here then possibly contact the sponser...

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

Contact the sponsor first.

They'd be the best to help you in an efficient time frame.

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

yes..dont worry im not going to start a flame fest..i dont belive in that until the shop or vendor is contacted first..that is why i dont name any names..i just wanted to get a few opinions before hand to see if it was justified..i mean what could have caused this other than cam failure..i know the preload but wouldnt the lifter itself be fubared? pushrod possible bent or bent valve..all of these are find..only thing i cant figure out is the fluctaitng oil pressure..all i can think of is blockage by metal..i dont know..**** *****
matt

obtw any help on the mains..can i check them without worry one at a time or not..never had the bottom end of one apart when i had to put it back together..last engine i knew the rod bearing was toast so i dissasemled at will..this one "may" be salvagable but i dont know yet.

schultzsj

iTrader: (1)

I had the same thing happen on an almost new (12k miles) LS1 crate long block installed by GM (the cost mostly covered by my aftermarket extended warranty fortunately).

The engine had a "tick" that sounded like a bad idler pulley bearing but it continued even with the belts removed. GM had all kinds of experts try to figure out what it was before they tore into the motor (the crate was now under GM warranty) and no one could. It turned out to be a messed up cam lobe (worse than yours) and the lifter roller was bad too. They ended up totally rebuilding a motor with only 12k miles on it because of the damage the metal did (scored bearings & cylinder walls, Etc.).

This used to happen occassionally in the old days before roller lifters where there was sliding contact between the cam and lifters but I don't know (and neither did GM) what caused it on this roller motor.

Steve

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

glad it worked out for you..i dont know about my situation..there is no warranty and i installed it. i have done roughly 6 cam installs to date and never once had a single problem.. everything ran good..car had plenty of power..it just "happend" the cam bearings are scored from the metal so im sure the mains might be..

Dan_the_C5_Man

Really seems like a break-down of surface hardness.. WTH??

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

yes..that is what im thinking.MAINLY becuase of this...i let me car get pretty hot..not like overheating hot though ..i mean it was about an 1/8 of an inch over the middle mark on the temp guage..(cant remember what that is..i belive its like 230 or so) anyway it was hot but not that dam hot..the temps were in the post 100's that day..i was sitting in teh parking lot of a parts store..well i notice the oil pressure start fluctaing IMMEDIATELY after this..i did not romp it i did not do anything except pull out onto the street and stop at a red light..this is when it started doing it.. i suspect the hotter than normal temps caused it to break down..this is bullshit..its not like it was abuse..these cars run about 30 degreess cooler than that stock.. i have metal all in my pickup screen. i am going to contact the manf of the cam on monday..i hope that being the good sponser they are they will do something about this..
matt

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

so any help? CAN i inspect my mains or not...(without having to do anything besides retorqe them..
matt

redbandit98

iTrader: (13)

so how would someone go about checking this cam? is there a special process that would show if the cam surface was breaking down or what? i mean what do they do look at it under a mic or something? Sorry this is just really really bothering me..i want to knwo what happened and what caused it..