damnit...my motor started ticking again. there seems to be a power loss & has a different exhaust tone. sounds alot like a loose rocker. I hope its not a cam lobe going down.....but it sure feels like it. Havent had good luck with my valve train. the first cam I put in didnt break in right, lasted about 3 months. started ticking. ticking got louder thru about 2 weeks, then started misfireing. replaced that cam with current one, new lifters, new roller tip rockers. went nice. broke in good. had a loose rocker, tightened it, was happy. that was 8 months ago, everythings been happy & quite till now.

If it only ticking when under acceleration thatn it could be and exhaust manifold leak im just adding my 2 cents because i don't see a question.

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War does not determine who is right, it only determines who is left.

since you've heard it before, you should know how a ticking rocker sounds. You could be luck and it is just loose. Sure worth a look anyway. Good luck!

Phil

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87 FIERO GT 2.8 5spd
0-60 in 6.8 seconds!

well, got the valve covers off - and sure enough - loose rockers. VERY loose. 3 of them. reminds of ALOT of the cam w/dead lobes. the oil is dark, but no chunks. when I lost the lobes there was chunks. well, looks like I gotta pull the intake & look at the cam anyways.

well onto a question - if the cam is dead....
whats a good strong light to light drag cam?
I really liked the CompCams 260 that I'm using right now, and my first one was the ARI stage II.

Personally, I'd be curious as to why I'm eating cams.
Hope that's not the case, though.
Did you use new nuts on the rocker studs? I've heard they can get loose, if they're removed and installed a couple of times.

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Raydar

88 3.4 coupe. 17s, cut springs 'n all.

yes, I am curious as to why I'm eating cams...beleive me...well, I know why the first one went - the motor didnt start right away, so it wrecked before break-in. this one broke in nice. I still havent confirmed its a bad cam yet, it just seems alot like last time - except for - how fast it happened & the oil. whent he lobes went down, there was a about 2 weeks of SLOWLY getting louder ticking. this time, it came out of nowhere. also, last time there was cam flakes in my oil, this time no. so I'm thinking its actually collapsed lifters this time, but preparing for the worst (cam). once it stops raining out here, gonna remove the intake manifold and have a look at the lifters & the movement while turning the crank. should get .440" of movement if all lobes are intact. either way, gonna try them fast-bleed lifters this time around. hope my cams good. liked this cam alot.

well, did some digging around for causes of cam failure. The only real reason is bad break-in. One thing I was doing wrong is haveing the valve covers ON thru the break-in process. apparently, one of the things you have to check is that the pushrods are rotating. Since I've had the valve covers on, theres no way I can verify that. So, this time its going together without the valve covers. Then the break-in, then (after wiping up all the oil that'll be everywhere...) put the valve covers on. I guess this will help on lashing the valves also.

i had a ARI phase II cam and it lost a lobe after 3k miles, and it WAS broke in properly!

i think they are just shitty cams.

the 260-h cam your using now is a good cam, its not really a drag cam, its a all purpose cam really its got a light lopy idle and its good from 1500-4500 RPM range. if you want higher RPM pull get a 272-h otherwise look for a cam thats good in the 800-2500 RPM range for stop light to stoplight you will want alot of low end grunt!

matthew

matthew

quote Originally posted by m0sh_man: i had a ARI phase II cam and it lost a lobe after 3k miles, and it WAS broke in properly! i think they are just shitty cams. the 260-h cam your using now is a good cam, its not really a drag cam, its a all purpose cam really its got a light lopy idle and its good from 1500-4500 RPM range. if you want higher RPM pull get a 272-h otherwise look for a cam thats good in the 800-2500 RPM range for stop light to stoplight you will want alot of low end grunt! matthew matthew

how did you keep from making a mess all over the place while breaking in the cam? thats what I'm trying to figure out right now. I'd think there will be oil flying everywhere without the valve covers on.

quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: how did you keep from making a mess all over the place while breaking in the cam? thats what I'm trying to figure out right now. I'd think there will be oil flying everywhere without the valve covers on.

Get an old distributor, grind off the cam gear, put it in the hole, attach drill and spin it for 10-15 minutes. This is with the lower intake on and the valve covers off. The oil flows up through the pushrods, and you may get a little spillage, but nothing big.
BTW what does everyone us on the cam lobes for assembly lube? I like the Permatex red assembly lube. Just curious.....Paul

p.s. This is how I prelube the engine prior to start. Put on valve covers, wiring, manifolds, etc. then start it up.

[This message has been edited by Paul Prince (edited 04-24-2003).]

so, took the intake off this morning. sure enough, lobes gone. bottom of the lifter bowled. $hit. out comes the motor. shoulda just dropped the cradle from the get go. so, apparantly I dont know how to break-in a cam. this is what I did - put the red cam goo all over the lobes, put in the cam, put the rest of the red goo on the bottom of the lifters, re-assemble etc., start, run @ steady 2000-2500 rpms for 20 mins. well, I've done a little reading up cam break-in, and this is what I'm gonna add to what I did - I'm NOT putting the valve covers on for break in. I'm gonna have someone else running the throttle & watching RPM, doing a much faster 2000-2500 rpm more goosin it to 2500 - let off - catch @ 2000 & goose again, instead of holding a steady 2000-2500 & smoothly accell & decel. and I'm gonna be watching my pushrods to make sure they rotate. by the wear on my pushrods, it looks like they weren't rotating. my only real problem with this is how messy its gonna be running the motor with no valve cover. I'm really concerned about oil splashing out & running onto exhaust.
so - my questions are:
what else could be wrecking my cams? it was different lobes than last time.
how to keep the oil in the motor during break-in?
anything else I should know about breaking in a cam?
I really dont want to do this again.

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1985 Fiero SE
Plain Red V6 Coupe

My cams came with a black grease to use on them. It is a lot thicker than the red oil. I also prelubed the engine, before starting it, by running the oil pump thru the distributor hole. I could actually hear the oil dripping back inside the engine when I did it. Don't worry, you'll get it right someday.