Valvetrain noise after cam swap

[SappySE107]

You ran the stock pushrods and the noise was still there? You had preload?

[geldartb]

they werent loose and sloppy they were actually pretty snug. the ones i measured with the valve closed opened a little but that was with the full lifter so there should have been some preload.

might just need some more run time i only ran it like 5 minutes due to the lack of antifreeze in it.

i imagine it takes more than 5 minutes to fill up lifters on a stock engine.

superdave any idea on how long it took your lifters to fill up with those springs in them

[pocket-rocket]

When I have dug out a car that sat for a long while, I have had to let it warm up, then take it down the road and give it a really good romping on to get the lifters to quiet down.

[geldartb]

once i get some more coolant in there ill git it another go. no romping down the street as it has no plates on it.

[pocket-rocket]

Don't beat the living dog crap out of it, but do get on it enough to get some good oil pressure going, unless it sounds like it's not mechanically right. I don't mean to be a wisenheimer, but it does sound like a 3400 that I heard that got timed wrong on the timing chain. The dot on the main gear is pretty small, and I don't mean to insult you in any way, but are you 100% the timing chain is set right? I have been wondering that for a while, but didn't want to down play your mechanic skills any. I would just rather like to rule that out for my own piece of mind while I try to think of possible solutions since I can't just drive to your house like I can Bens.

[3400-95-Modified]

I think if that was the sound of valve to piston contact due to improper timing he would have bent a valve by now and had no compression in one cylinder, but he did a compression check and they all came back at acceptable pressures.

I told him to check to see if stock pushrods had preload and apparently they have just a little, I wouldn't say its enough to drive or beat on the car but its enough to test it.

[geldartb]

mayeb the stock pushrods arent long enough to fill up the lifters like they would be with the other pushrods.

And with the timing chain and gears i had a printout from alldata with pictures and set the timing that way, and made sure before it went back into the car. i get what your saying pocket-rocket and thats the only thing i havent taken apart yet

i wouldnt beat the shit out the engine cause for the simple fact that all this stuff cost money and i dont exactly have an extra 2grand lying around to buy another engine and cam.

[3400-95-Modified]

the shorter length should allow for a better chance for them to fill up.

Get the coolant in there and start it up and run it for a good 10-15 min, varrying rpm. you may get lucky.

[geldartb]

yeah ill try the coolant maybe with a giant ray of hope it will work. with those springs it might take a little longer than normal to fill them up.
below is a quote from daves statement back on page 6 so hopefully thats the case with mine cause i didnt rev the shit out of it for obvious reasons of avoiding catastropic failure.

stock on the left and LT1/LSx on the right. that's the check valve spring. It holds the ball valve tighter so that the lifter dosen't fully pump up till the upper RPM's, supposedly makes running a large cam easier.

it actually idled good at 900 i had to bring the set screw out on the t-body which prob brought the tps voltage to like .71 it was at .69 before after that it idled without a skip.

exhaust note changed in a good way you couls hear the cam doing its thing.

oh yeah and i also rerouted the heater core coolant line away from the valve cover. might leave it where it is havent decided yet.

[pocket-rocket]

Well I hope it really is lifters not filling up with oil. I would hate to see you get rid of a car that sounds like it would really rock because you couldn't find this problem. I don't have a ton of money floating around either, so I know why you are being very careful, and I don't blame you.

[geldartb]

eh its pissed me off before enough to say push it out the garage in front of a truck but its still here. and where would i get rid of it no one wants a car with no engine.

i might try pulling the timing cover off next to double check that area. hell ive had the top end off like 4 times now. could do a lim gaskt job in my sleep.

the timing cover shouldnt be too bad to take off and check that crap while its in the car, really dont want to pull the engine just for that.

gotta slide some time to do the u-joints on the subaru too, there not to the point where tis vibrating or making noise while driving but there is play on the front one and a slight thud when putting it into park.

well see how the rain situation is tomorrow or maybe this weekend if i feel like it, if not it will have to wait till next friday since i go back to work next week

[3400-95-Modified]

Stick a rag in the gas tank and light it a flame!!!! LOL

On a serious note, if your pulling the timing cover, take the time to lift the motor on an angle and see if you can pull and inspect the cam, granted we looked through the lifter bores and I didn't see anything out of the ordianary...

[geldartb]

im gonna have to lift the motor a little anyway since i have to take the motor mount out, guess its time do dig out the picker.

i looked inside the engine when i was doing the shit yesterday and it looked normal like.

ill have to print out some more of that timing shit from alldata forgot what i did with what i had plus i think it got soaked with oil.

[3400-95-Modified]

You don't need that timing paper... its simple, Dot on crank points DIRECTLY up, dot on cam gear points DIRECTLY down... they line up with some notches that are in the dampener too.

Basically dot to dot alignment.

[geldartb]

yeah i know ill let you know if i end up doing anything.

the timing cover shouldnt be too bad yay more antifreeze all over the place. god i hate antifreze.

im half tempted at this point to go get a few gallons of distilled water for the ease of cleanup and the amount that ends up on the ground, and for the fact that 8dollars for a jug of antifreeze adds up when it ends up on the floor.

looked at prices of antifreeze and the cheap chit isnt even cheap its the same price as the peak stuff i was using.