Valvetrain noise after cam swap

[geldartb]

yep i soaked them in oil and primed the engine to fill the lifters up before the key ever got turned. so they were full when i put it back together.

i really cant sit there forever and wait for the lifters to fill up with the engine running it is somewhat of a quiet neighborhood and well yeah the car isnt quiet.

im gonna get those lifters off ebay tonight and get the money order out tomorrow.

the lifters we originally took out were the low mile 7k ones, and with the ones i rebuilt i put them back together the same exact way they came apart.

[Superdave]

when you put the lifters back together, did you pre-soak them in oil for a while?

[bszopi]

Maybe it has something to do with you rebuilding the lifters. Have you installed just plain-jane lifters? I know you were looking at picking up those ebay ones, but just wasn't sure if you had tried "stock" lifters previously.

[geldartb]

it baffles me too with the lifters.

i sat down one day and took apart each and every one of the stock lifters that came with the engine and they all looked normal nothing worn or broken, and the ones that went back in got totally cleaned and new springs swaped in so that again baffles me.

ive put new oil twice in the whole span of things in this engine so most of the shit shouldnt be in there anymore and whatever is leftover should be picked up by the magnetic drain plug courtesy of a 98+ j body and the oil filter to clean the oil.

maybe if i have time ill pick up some coffee filters and quadruple filter the oil thats in the pan now which is clean fresh oil but just to get anything that may have made its way to the oil pan.

but yeah the lifters are the last thing i have to check again, ive already took off the timing cover and retimed it just to make sure.

but if the lifters dont solve the problem the stock cam is going back in and im just gonna run the shit out of it and then pursue another avenue of faster vehicles.

if this isnt resolved soon there may be alot of parts for sale most of which were never used.

no hard feelings tractorman i can be kind of an ass myself sometimes. there are times that if i said what was really on my mind id be either shot, stabbed or get my ass kicked.

[tractorman]

My apologies to everyone for being an ass. I'll try to avoid it in the future... but it's just my nature.

Sappy- my suggestion that the pushrods might not be the correct length wasn't meant to be a comment on your workmanship. See, I've been a heavy equipment mechanic for 13 years, and I've been burned more times than I care to remember by parts that *should* be right. I've learned that when unexpected problems arise, one can't assume that 'new' parts are necessarily 'good' parts.

In my experience, the more obscure (or custom) the part, the more likely you'll run into problems. From 1500 miles away, incorrect pushrod length was my best guess. Looks like I was wrong.

3100-95-modified: I wasn't aware that you had actually laid hands on the engine and checked the lifter preload yourself- must've overlooked that in the 16 pages. I've read enough of your posts that if you say the preload is ok, then I believe that it's ok. So much for my initial hypothesis.

I can understand why ya'll would be looking at lifters at this point- by process of elimination if nothing else. I don't quite understand why they'd fail NOW, when they were apparently working before... but stranger things have happened.

The only other idea I have that I'd like to throw around is this: I've seen, on several occasions, where irregularly worn cam lobes make a noise that sounds a lot like a lifter. I can't suggest any way to confirm this... and it doesn't lead to any satisfactory solution... but I wonder if there's something strange about the lobe profile of this 'custom' re-grind. I've noted that others here have similar aftermarket cams that don't make this noise- but is anybody here running the same part number cam?

[geldartb]

thanks for the posts i hope to figure this soon.
the cam is def not sliding in mine.

the lifters are my last thing to try then im out of ideas and mental stability with this car.

between the magnetic drain plug and the filter the shit thats in the block should be caught its got new oil in it right now.

if the lifters dont solve it im this close to pulling the engine and putting the stock cam back in and run the shit out of the car and then aim for buying the diesel truck i want a couple years from now.

[gectek]

yah, well just trying to give another angle. i had alot of valvetrain noise too, im not sure if it was from the cam sliding or what, i wouldnt think so tho, but im hoping mine goes away, if i find something out i will let you know

[geldartb]

even warm this thing kicks out like 40-50 psi of oil pressure and it was the same with the 90k 3400 that came out of the same car.

whell Jon was there for this too but with a cordless impact that spins at something like 2000-2300 the oil pressure was pretty good and flowed through the holes it was suppose to good.

the lifters that are in there now are the old lifters from my old motor that i took apart and cleaned and put the LT1 springs in. i cleaned them out pretty good.

the only thing all this crap cost me was a timing cover gasket, a tube of rtv and a shitload of time.

theres seriously nothing Ben could sell me to solve this except a set of lifters which ill be buying from the ebay posting friday. or some magical shit to figure this out got any crystal balls

oh yeah it has warmed up to like maybe 150-170ish but not much more than that since at the time i didnt have much antifreeze in it. i have a 180-tstat in it.

[gectek]

yah that is warm and of course the pressure will increase with RPM, but volume and pressure are not related like that, when one goes up the other doesnt always go up, and if one is good that doesnt mean the other is. pressure is just the capacity after a volume has been filled, usually induced by restriction, like the spring and shim for the oiling system, the bearings and tolerances.

[bszopi]

I think its minimum 15psi. On my (burned up) 3400, I don't think it ever dropped below 40psi. Normal cruising it was around 50psi, and idle was around 40-45psi. There were times it was above 60psi.

[SappySE107]

Hot vs cold I bet. I doubt he runs it long enough to get hot. Wasn't this a low mileage motor to begin with?

[gectek]

at idle, which is what 600-700 they are supposed to be 15
1. Inspect the oil level.
2. Raise and support the vehicle.
3. Remove the oil filter.
4. Assemble the plunger valve in the large hole of the J25087-C base.Insert the hose in the small hole of the J 25087-C base. Connect the gage to the end of the hose.
5. Insert the flat side of the rubber plug in the bypass valve without depressing the bypass valve.
6. Install the J 25087-C on the filter mounting pad.
7. Start the engine.
8. Inspect the overall oil pressure, the oil pressure switch, and for noisy lifters. Ensure that the engine is at operating temperature before inspecting the oil pressure. The oil pressure should be approximately 414 kPa (60 psi) at 1,850 RPM using 5W-30 engine oil.
9. If adequate oil pressure is indicated, test the oil pressure switch.
10. If a low reading is indicated, press the valve on the tester base in order to isolate the oil pump and/or its components from the lubricating system. An adequate reading at this time indicates a good pump and the previous low pressure was due to worn bearings, etc. A low reading while pressing the valve indicates a faulty pump.

Oil Pressure - Warm 15 psi @ 1100 RPM

i dont think it should change much until anything over 1100...but maybe its a bad spec...just going off what the book says

[3400-95-Modified]

if 15 is reg spec then my cars are f-ed up... I get like 60 on the pink one and 40 on the red one.

[gectek]

yes, but not only pressure is involved in fluid movement, also volume, you can have 50psi at the fuel press tap, but no volume and the car will act like poo...just a thought though, is there a reason he is getting so high at idle? i thought 15 was reg spec...

[3400-95-Modified]

he's getting like 40+psi at idle, so I cant see that as the main issue... I've seen lower on other cars.