Head/cam noise
Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,101
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From: Bloomington, IN
Head/cam noise I just finished my heads cam swap and when I started the car, I hear loud noise from the valvetrain. After 30 mins of cam break in, it is still there. Sounds like rocker arm, but I dont know. What could this be? I am scared to drive it. What do you think?
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2002
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From: san Antonio
Re: Head/cam noise First off there's no break in time w/roller camshafts, so nothing should be wrong with that part of the motor. Did shave the heads any?? If so did you get different length pushrods? That could be a source right there. If your valve train geometry is off? Change anything else besides the heads and cam???
Re: Head/cam noise It could be the wrong pushrod length or it could be normal valve train noise on a high performance cam. Which cam are you running? Some of them with fast ramps and lots of lift are quite loud.
Re: Head/cam noise hey malibu350 you are wrong aout the breaking in cams
even hydraulic camshafts have to be broken in
i agree with Cal its prob just wrong pushrod lenth or reg. valve train noise
even hydraulic camshafts have to be broken in
i agree with Cal its prob just wrong pushrod lenth or reg. valve train noise
Thread Starter
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2002
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From: Bloomington, IN
Re: Head/cam noise Ok, the cam is a comp 224/224 .583/.583 cam. The pushrods are the correct lenght, although those were replaced. The speed shop I bought it from is Speed Inc, a reliable source. He sold me the cam/springs/pushrods. The head were sent out, and the only milling they did was a surface cut to clean it. I highly doubt it is valves hitting the pistons, I think it is the lifters. I did soak them for a few days, but from the time they were put into the car, it was about 3 weeks until the car was started. Any more thouights would be great.
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From: san Antonio
Re: Head/cam noise Are you using stock rockers??? If so maybe pull the valve covers and re check the torque. Here's my thinking, according to Crane Cams you shouldn't "pre-soak" the lifters. As they say it can mess up the initial preload. So if you did pre-soak them maybe after you set the torque on the rockers initially the lifters bled down causing the rocker nuts to no longer be torqued properly. Just my .02. But hey I'm sure stranger things have happened..and this would be easier to try then pulling the heads and replacing the lifters....
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TECH Regular
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Re: Head/cam noise With stock rockers pre-load is what it is. Nothing you can do to adjust except shimming, just check the bolts are not loose and are within the spec. Pre-soaking won't affect the final preload as far as the rockers are seated.
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Teching In
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Re: Head/cam noise That happened to me and it was the lifters. After pulling the new heads and replacing the set, it was fine. Then I read the Comp Camp sheet which said to always use new lifters with their cams....oh well!
TECH Junkie
Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Lakeland, FL
Re: Head/cam noise After I installed my cam I did tighten the rockers to much I think by only a couple of lbs and my drivetrain was loud as hell, I went back and re-installed my rockers to the proper spec and the noise was reduced dramatically, Probably cut the noise by 50%
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Re: Head/cam noise It's odd that couple of lbs or even more would have anything to do with the preload of stock valvetrain. The rocker plate would have to be made of rubber.
Maybe some of the lifters were dirty or stuck and the process got them loose.
Maybe some of the lifters were dirty or stuck and the process got them loose.
Re: Head/cam noise I thought you were supposed to torque the rockers, then turn the motor over a couple of times and re-torque them. BTW, that cam sounds like one with XE-R lobes, so it's probably going to be noisy no matter what you do.