Pulled my second time around rebuild, again, cam and lifters wiped out?

[KYJ10]

Looks very similar to last time. Many lifters mushroomed and a few with holes worn through them. Bent push rods and metal everywhere. It's funny, cause one lifter and lobe will be totally worn out, and the one right next to it appears perfectly fine. So the machine shop must have measured something wrong. I know it's not oil related cause half of the lifters and lobes look fine. And theres no clump all together where I could say, well they didn't get oil here. Just kinda here and there. I got a 6 month warrenty from the shop, and it didn't make it 6 hours, so I'd better be taken care of. Dennis

[talntar]

my father is on the third build with the same roblems.keeps bending rods.if you get it right let me know what it was.i think they milled the heads to much

[KYJ10]

I wish bent push rods where all the problems, but it totally wipes out the cam, lifters, crank, pistons, timing cover. You name it and it's ruined. So much metal particles circulating, that it just eats everything up. I had the shop replace everything this time. Didn't use one old part. New pushrods,springs,rockers,cam,lifters,timing cover, everything, and it did the exact same thing as last months rebuild. I think I have a cursed block or heads. Oh well, thats what warrenties are for. Dennis

[ May 22, 2003, 01:46 PM: Message edited by: KYJ10 ]

[billyrb]

Dennis, I would seriously look at the rear oil passages. That, and the oil pressure. Sounds to me like a no-lube issue......what about your oil pump? Did you pack it full of Vaseline before you started it? With it full of Vaseline, it'll create suction and build oil pressure for the first start. If you do it dry, it (as I am told) will never build pressure, and your engine will run dry, especially at the rear.......

[FSJ Thing]

Heck yeah! Have em rebuild it until they finally just swap in a 500 caddy for you so you'll stop coming back! A buddy of mine got a 455 for a 350 this way in his Buick!

[Zacko]

I worked for a shop where we had the motto "We'll get it right if it takes all the money you've got!"

KYJ10's story reminds me of a joke where a guy is on his death bed and he is rattling off all of the times he was busted up, sick or maimed and his wife was there for all of them. The punch line was that she was just bad luck.

Wow my 100th post and it was so deep...

[MIDLERTH]

That doesnt sound like the warranty he is hoping for, i dont think.

[timmirvin]

Originally posted by billyrb:
Dennis, I would seriously look at the rear oil passages. That, and the oil pressure. Sounds to me like a no-lube issue......what about your oil pump? Did you pack it full of Vaseline before you started it? With it full of Vaseline, it'll create suction and build oil pressure for the first start. If you do it dry, it (as I am told) will never build pressure, and your engine will run dry, especially at the rear.......Vasaline worx, but also we can take a screwdriver with handle cut off, in drill, put in distributor hole, and run oil pump with drill.......worx great.

[Crazy_Jeepman]

It is Oil related you can BET ON IT!!! :(

[kidatforty]

Timmirvin's got it right. Pump that baby up before you touch the key. That may not be what lunched your motor but should be std procedure on engines where you can do that. It's also nice to see the oil get where it should. It sounds like the builder's have some detective work to do. Bummer for you though.

[Serious Johnson]

Guys, it's certainly important to insure initial startup lube, but the sort of carnage that KYJ10 describes sounds like a much deeper problem. Perhaps poor block cleaning resulted in clogged oil passeges in the lifter valley? I've never built an AMC, so I don't know if there's an issue such as indexing cam bearing holes or some such. I'd think that inadequate pressure would present as valvetrain failure progressing evenly from the rear.

:-

[AMX factor]

Just out of curiosity, what kind of rockers are you using? I agree with everybody else that you def have an oiling prob but there might be other problems compounded with the oiling.

[KYJ10]

The shop put this motor together. It was primed b4 I picked it up. I started it and watched the oil pressure. I always had 50+ cold and 20+ warm. And like i said, this was a total rebuild. New oil pump, cover, cam block was tanked twice, I just can't see it being oil related. If it were, I would think that every lobe and lifter would be affected. Theres no pattern here. Example, #1 exhaust lifter and lobe fine. #1 intake, lifter mushroomed and hole through bottom, lobed wiped out. Just seems to speratic to be an oil issue. Maybe Im wrong. But Im begining to think that rebuilding an old fossil is stupid. After market parts and such. Hell, I put a new dizzy, dizzy gear, cam gear and timing cover, and it appears that the cam gear is worn out after just 20 miles. Actually, they put them in, I just paid for them. This would be the 5th time I have had the cam gear wear out in less than 6 months. 3 times b4 the rebuild, and both times with the rebuild and new parts. Im begining to think that a 25 year old AMC should just be put down and make way for a SBC. Getting pretty frustrated. Going on vaction till the 5th, but will have the engine at the shop on the 6th. I will have more info then. Thanks, Dennis

[KYJ10]

Another thing, the lifter-cam lobe area is lubed by plash from the crank, so why would it mushroom and wear a hole throught the lifter. The crank spins and gets oil there. it's not like i started this thing up and let it idle for an hour. I jumped it right up in the RPM's, and went back and forth between 1500-3000 for at least 20 minutes. Then, I changed oil and I drove the country roads around here for about 20 miles. Never over 55 and never idled. Went through the gear and rpm's, never romped on it, and never saw any low or weird oil pressures. Stayed in the green temp wise. Just developed alittle tick, and by the time I got home, it was fried. UGGG!

[ May 22, 2003, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: KYJ10 ]