Comp Cams 918 spring broke......
TECH Veteran
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,055
Likes: 1
From: Hartsdale, NY
Blue strips, green stripes, double strippes, no stripes.
If you have to keep track of all this, why even bother? I suppose you could surmise from this that the quality control on 918 springs is less than steller.
Obvioulsly, if a spring breaks, it can take the whole engine out, so ask yourself this: is the risk of installing a spring that seems to have a higher than normal rate of breakage worth it?
If you have to keep track of all this, why even bother? I suppose you could surmise from this that the quality control on 918 springs is less than steller.
Obvioulsly, if a spring breaks, it can take the whole engine out, so ask yourself this: is the risk of installing a spring that seems to have a higher than normal rate of breakage worth it?
Materials purity and the spring fabrication including heat treatment, surface treatment, etc. will all affect service life. Since these springs seems to be failing very quickly, it seems to me that something in the fabrication process changed for one or several batches. Comp must have some idea of what changed.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,055
Likes: 1
From: Hartsdale, NY
I thought in early 2002 someone did some tests and determinined that the 918 springs were not heat treated or not heat treated correctly.
Instead of recalling the bad batch, Comp did nada except color code a stripe on their new batches so people knew old from new..... big help!
My ported heads came with 918s. Before I installed them in my car, I replaced them with doubles and pitched the new springs in the trash.
Instead of recalling the bad batch, Comp did nada except color code a stripe on their new batches so people knew old from new..... big help!
My ported heads came with 918s. Before I installed them in my car, I replaced them with doubles and pitched the new springs in the trash.
Originally Posted by DeepBlueZ
my cam is a 224/224 with only .567" of lift ON AN XE LOBE.....
I'd like to see them explain that....
also I checked around the basement and found my stock springs in the Comp box so, I'VE FOUND MY BATCH NUMBER!!!!
Make this one official spring failure from batch # 49253.
I'd like to see them explain that....
also I checked around the basement and found my stock springs in the Comp box so, I'VE FOUND MY BATCH NUMBER!!!!
Make this one official spring failure from batch # 49253.
.567 at the cam is .907 at the valve... Me thinks that's why they break.. They are rated at valve lift right?? Not cam lift.
Originally Posted by bayer-z28
Correct me if I'm wrong, but beehives are rated to .600" lift.. "only .567.."
.567 at the cam is .907 at the valve... Me thinks that's why they break.. They are rated at valve lift right?? Not cam lift.
.567 at the cam is .907 at the valve... Me thinks that's why they break.. They are rated at valve lift right?? Not cam lift.
Originally Posted by ZL1LT1
My batch number for my 918's are 49826 
There has
been several reported failures under that batch number
Looks like ill be pulling my valve covers to see if there is any
broken ...
There hasbeen several reported failures under that batch number
Looks like ill be pulling my valve covers to see if there is any
broken ...
Originally Posted by Justin00SS
You would........know..........like really know.
Ive only driven the car with the new 918's and new cam a handful of times .
Ive got too much money invested in my motor to just let it slide by . So she is staying in the garage till my new patriot golds arrive
I just dontwanna take any chances cuz Comp cant get their **** straight
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Originally Posted by The Rock
In respect to the post of 918's being a good spring that doesn't break. I beg to differ.
Pictures of the carnage:
This is a sparkplug
Note the connecting rod and the valve stem. Also block and head are cracked. Only thing salvageable was one head the rest was history.
This was from a broken 918 spring with my car only going 70 mph, this past weekend. The cam I had/have is a C cam or Torquer 2 whatever you wanna call it with approx 5-8k on the cam since install. I have now upgraded to PRC Springs and rods oh and lets not forget a new engine.
And please this post is not to be a bashing but it should hopefully clear the air as to some peoples interpretation on a safe/quality spring. Oh and the good people at Comp said they would send me a new set free once they determine that the spring was faulty. These will be in the for sale section when I get them.
Pictures of the carnage:
This is a sparkplug
Note the connecting rod and the valve stem. Also block and head are cracked. Only thing salvageable was one head the rest was history.
This was from a broken 918 spring with my car only going 70 mph, this past weekend. The cam I had/have is a C cam or Torquer 2 whatever you wanna call it with approx 5-8k on the cam since install. I have now upgraded to PRC Springs and rods oh and lets not forget a new engine.
And please this post is not to be a bashing but it should hopefully clear the air as to some peoples interpretation on a safe/quality spring. Oh and the good people at Comp said they would send me a new set free once they determine that the spring was faulty. These will be in the for sale section when I get them.
Originally Posted by GuitsBoy
Youre doing your math the wrong way. Cams are measured in valve lift, not lobe lift. For instance, a .5xx cam might actually mic out to .3xx at the lobe.
oops..
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,514
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From: Long Island, NY
Originally Posted by bayer-z28
THanx for clearing that up. I allways thought a cam was rated at lobe lift... for some reason..
oops..
oops..
lol, honest mistake.....at .907 valve lift, i'd have bigger problems than a broken spring....
.....like 16 massively bent valves....
This also happened when comp first introduced the 918....hence the advent of the "blue stripe". 
Nevertheless I had a good batch in the past and put about 40,000 miles on one set with a 218/224 .561/.567 comp cam. On my Z06 I went with PRC duals....no problems whatsoever and I wouldnt use anything else. I once broke a Isky single on the Z after around 20,000 miles....
Nevertheless I had a good batch in the past and put about 40,000 miles on one set with a 218/224 .561/.567 comp cam. On my Z06 I went with PRC duals....no problems whatsoever and I wouldnt use anything else. I once broke a Isky single on the Z after around 20,000 miles....
Originally Posted by DeepBlueZ
lol, honest mistake.....at .907 valve lift, i'd have bigger problems than a broken spring....
.....like 16 massively bent valves....
.....like 16 massively bent valves....
... "Massively bent valves.." ..Yeah.. I didn't think there was that much clearance anyway... Thank gawd I didn't get flamed for that... I went to school for this ****, I should know better... But those were back in my 'hazey daze' 7 or 8 years ago.. so The smoke screen prolly blocked some stuff...
Originally Posted by bayer-z28
Thank gawd I didn't get flamed for that... I went to school for this ****, I should know better...
^ i wanted to work at a dealership after HS. I took a 1 year course in auto tech at a vocational school.. . That didn't work out so well, now I have school payments and an obsessive hobby..
Originally Posted by The Rock
This was from a broken 918 spring with my car only going 70 mph, this past weekend. The cam I had/have is a C cam or Torquer 2 whatever you wanna call it with approx 5-8k on the cam since install. I have now upgraded to PRC Springs and rods oh and lets not forget a new engine.
Man, that really sucks.. I'm currently running that same cam/spring combo (about 1k miles on cam/springs) maybe its time for me to order some ported heads with different springs. 
12 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
From: MI
Which post is the one that has the batch numbers in it? I scanned this whole thing and didn't see it but I probably missed the link. I have a brand new set of 918's in front of me but they were purchased a while ago so I'm not sure how big of a risk I'm taking if I use them. They are batch 045338.
So i talked to red in Comp Cams warranty claims today about the situation with the 918's . He sent me a new set of 918's and told me word for word...
"I ASSURE you that you will not have any issues with these new springs . These springs that we have on our shelves are different than the ones you have" . So my question is should i just throw on the new 918's and trust theyre good this time around ? Red said theyll have the affected batch numbers within the next couple of weeks and what happened to make them that way . I also have not got a chance to pull my valve covers yet to check my springs . BUT their batch number is 49826 which is one that other people have been having failures with . Any advice is helpful . Thanks
"I ASSURE you that you will not have any issues with these new springs . These springs that we have on our shelves are different than the ones you have" . So my question is should i just throw on the new 918's and trust theyre good this time around ? Red said theyll have the affected batch numbers within the next couple of weeks and what happened to make them that way . I also have not got a chance to pull my valve covers yet to check my springs . BUT their batch number is 49826 which is one that other people have been having failures with . Any advice is helpful . Thanks
Sound like Comp is going to step up and let us know what happened and which lots are affected. I am so glad to see this, it re-affirms the hope that they are trying to get their arms around this and resolve it so we all know what to look for.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 4,055
Likes: 1
From: Hartsdale, NY
OK, so they did this in 2002 also. Unfortuntely, they did not recall any springs and only replaced sets that were broken. I beleive no one received any monetary compensation for blown and destroyed heads and short blocks, etc. but those things are never easy to determine from a Board.
...big deal! If that is a warranty, I can do without it.
Since the factory is willing to replace broken springs with springs from a batch that is known to have multiple failures, that offers me NO comfort at all.
I threw a new set of these that came with my ported ls6 heads in the garbage. If these were on my engine, I would ripp them off ASAP!
...big deal! If that is a warranty, I can do without it.
Since the factory is willing to replace broken springs with springs from a batch that is known to have multiple failures, that offers me NO comfort at all.
I threw a new set of these that came with my ported ls6 heads in the garbage. If these were on my engine, I would ripp them off ASAP!