ASA cam swap trouble
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From: Clearwater, FL
ASA cam swap trouble So I just finished doing my cam swap (so I thought). I put the asa cam in it (not the grand am cup cam the one that is 226/236 Duration @ 0.050), LS6 springs, rollmaster double roller t chain, LS6 ported oil pump, 7.425 pushrods and powerbond underdrive pulley. Well I fired it up and it ran for 2 seconds and shut off. I tried restarting it and it basically felt like it was not pumping up compression. So my first thought was bent valve. After I pulled the valve cover I noticed one valve was still down a little witht he rockers loose so I was right. The problem is I cannot think of why this happened. I have been reading all about the ASA in cam only cars for a while and that is one of the reasons I went with it. I know I lined the T chain up right because I double checked the **** out of it. I turned the motor over by hand and it was tough to turn but it feltmore like it was just building compression with the plugs out. I was able to spin it over multiple times and it was not getting stuck just harder to turn. At this point I cannot think of why this would have happened unless the cam was misspackaged. Is there anything you think I missed? I know doing a valve clearnace check would be ideal but with as small as the ASA is I don't think it is necessary.
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I have stock 98 heads that have never been off the car. I know there are other people running this cam on stock heads and no fly cutting with out any issues. That is why I am at a loss here.
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I also think it should clear fine. I agree with the above post about the possibility of it being put in wrong or ground wrong, but I will also say that I think your springs may not be enough for that cam. It probably didn't want to idle, so did you rev it up to keep it running? If so you it could be because of valve float.
ill guess its an auto? it wont want to idle just rev it up a bit. my hotcam doesnt like to idle even at 800rpms, so i cant imagine how the asa cam will act on a stock idle
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I wish I could say I reved it but it fired up and went rumb rumb then died. It really was only like 2 seconds. I turned the key to fire it up again and it sounded different. It would not fire. I pulled all of the rockers and I can see two valves that are sitting lower then the others. I know that when I tightened the rockers down there was one spring that compressed damn near wear it could not compress anymore. I questioned that but when I turned it over by hand it was tough but not impossible. The best part is I bought this cam back in june from SDPC and have not had time to do it untill now. Thanks for all the help.
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When you say put in wrong how could that be done. I am assuming you mean with the dots lined up with the timing gears. I did what the instructions state and lined it up dot to dot. I am going to pull the front cover tomm and triple check but I know I did it right. I wish I could pull the cover and see I had it wrong so then I would at least know what went wrong. If there is any other ways I could have gone wrong with the cam install let me know.
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I know on the rollmaster chains they have a retard and advance timing ajustments, do you think you might have not put the key in the 0* mark? I mean do you think you might have advanced the cam timing and that is why it messed up your PTV?
This would explain you lining up the dot to dot but the crank sprocket would be the one not right
This would explain you lining up the dot to dot but the crank sprocket would be the one not right
The Rollmaster only becomes confusing to some people when they try to advance or retard the timing. If they use straight up timing it's straight forward and the DOT to DOT method is used as normal. There is a DOT for straight up timing on the Rollmaster double row sprocket. Your crank should NOT be hard to turn with the plugs out. If it is something is wrong. You said it is hard, but not impossible to turn over. That's too hard and requires some looking into. You should always keep the old crank bolt in the crank snout and make a habit of turning the crank over from time to time during this process. That way if a problem does arise you will find it early on rather than doing extra steps only to find out later you have to take something apart you might have picked up on if you had just spun the crank. If valves are staying open with the rockers removed you already know what that means, right? Ouch, that hurts! You must have used the wrong keyway on the Rollmaster sprocket. If this cam is low lift there isn't much else you could have do wrong.
If you tighten the rocker and the valve started to compress.. and now you find that the valve is sitting lower and somewhat compressed.. I would say that you might have a bent valve now and it feels tough to turn because the valve are coming into contact with the pistons now.. try taking the plugs out and taking the rocker off, make sure all of the valves are fully closed, then try turning over the motor..If it spins freely (that would be good). If one or some of the valve / spring will not fully close/seat... then you might have a bent valve.
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I know I have had to bend a valve. Since I knew something was wrong I have not tried to turn it over again. I know that the rollmaster has all of the different key ways on it so I spent some time studying it before the install so I had it right. I am going to take the front cover off today a relook at it but i know I had it right because when started installing it the first time it was advanced 2 degrees so I slid it iff and put it at 0.
the chances of him cracknig a piston when the car didnt even really run is very low, but sicne its off make sure theres no sharp raised edges and any obvious signs for cracking anyhow
If you really do have valves staying open with the rockers off as you described it you do realize the the stems on those valves are bent and the heads MUST come off, right? I don't believe Uri Geller is available to straighten bent valves this week. Besides I think the only thing he is known for straightening is forks and spoons, not valves.
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I had a neighbor ask to borow a vice a while back and when I asked what for he said he was straightening some valves out. I about lost it. But I do know I need to pull the heads and I am thinking of going with some patriots since that was an idea I had for later down the road. I just want to figure out why this happened before I throw more money at it. I did not pull the front cover off yet to check the timing again but I am very confdent it was set correctly. Can anyone tell me some simple tricks to check if the cam I have is actually what I ordered. With the ASA they do not send you a cam card so it is kinda like a mystery cam. There is only a four digit number scribed into the back of the cam so it does not even tell you there.
