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While the engine is out for my trans issue, i decided to replace my hydraulic lifters. After removing the #3 intake rocker, I found that the lifter tip was not on the lifter. It had fallen down between the cam lobe and the cylinder head and was able to get it with a magnet. I cannot find however the end of the lifter with the holes that should retain the tip (see pic).
Furthermore, I looked at the cam lobe and it appears to be worn on right side (see pic).
1. Is it possible that the retaining cup (if that is what i is called) could have come off before I removed the rocker and then dropped down to cause the cam wear?
2. If that is not a possibility, how else can I find the missing cup?
3. Does the wear on the cam necessitate cam replacement? The rocked pad does not show any abnormal wear.
Is it smooth or pitted? Is that the natural contact area for the rocker foot? Seems like the foot should make contact in the center of the cam lobe (but I'm only guessing here).
Yes, the pad contacts the center and that is smooth as well as the pad. The side looks almost like a plating is coming off. And it is on the base circle, not lobe.
Vince,
I know you dont want to hear this, but that cam lobe appears to be galled, but in a very weird kinda way, as the galling is not the full circumference of the cam lobe; but rather the galling is intermittent around the lobe edges. Possibly you found this at an earlier stage of galling?
Steve Weiner has posted photos on abnormal cam/rocker wear. Id send him a pm and a link to your post for his opinion.
p.s. Can you post a pic of the business side of the rocker? (where it rides on the cam lobe)
"And it is on the base circle, not lobe."
Did you mean, and is on the cam lobe, not the rocker pad?
Like others have said, I'd see if you can locate the rest of the lifter parts if possible.
As fas as I can tell from the pictures, your camshaft wear is typical of what I see these days due to marginal QC with the rocker arm vendor. Its very common to see this kind of wear due to rocker arm pads that are not parallel with the camshaft centerline.
Brand new rockers are just as bad.
Thankfully, we are able to correct this by regrinding the pads parallel and help reduce excess camshaft wear (providing one is using the right oil). This is something we normally do when the top end is apart for rebuild, however the rocker arms can be reconditioned anytime.
So you saw Steve's response, which is consistent with what he posted previously in the link I provided.
The areas marked below could also be the cam lobes as initially supplied from the factory, if the QC acceptance standards are as crappy as Steve suggests. These would be low spot areas of parent material that were not touched by the grinding wheel when the cams were initially ground, as supplied the factory. I say this because the areas are located in the shiny polished portion of the lobe, where your rocker pad seems to be riding. (the non-parallelism of the rocker pad to the cam lobe)
If there are marks on your rocker pad in the corresponding area of contact, they I'd say galling has occurred.
Again, Steve has seen far more of this, up close and personal.
IF that top cap fell off the lifter, it's either dropped down into a crevice in the cam carrier, or managed to get into the oil return tube, or got washed down the oil return tube which means it made it to the crankcase. I would fish around with a magnet as much as possible, and put a magnet on the sump oil drain plug. It may have gotten mashed up if it got beaten on say by the crankshafts, but hard to tell.
Vince,...."normal" though it may be, its not right and I would have your rocker arms reconditioned. This will help prevent camshaft pitting, assuming its not too late.
Originally Posted by Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems
Vince,...."normal" though it may be, its not right and I would have your rocker arms reconditioned. This will help prevent camshaft pitting, assuming its not too late.
Would I also need to polish the cam? The pad face looks fine.
12-24-2015, 05:57 PM
So How Lucky Am I?
