well i'm stunned! recently got my car up and running again all freshened up with a brand new set of brodix race rites. it ran great for the first 50 miles, then sat started making some noise,pulled the covers off checked all the valve lash and #2 exaust had .080 lash. i knew what that meant so i immediatly checked lift and sure enuff pulled everything apart and #2 exaust lifter has a big(3/8 dia) hole in it. the cam lobe is wiped out . all the other lifters lobes look good. mike(wolfplace) had brodix set up the springs for me at 135 closed 350 open and they were tagged at that, i just noticed my receipt on the heads says comp cc 928 160# mabye they installed the wrong pressure springs. the cam had 2000 miles on it and i put all the lifters in the exact same bores , you guys have any idea why 1 lobe would get wiped out? i guess the first thing i'll do is check the pressures, + installed height . any ideas would really help . thanks ray

did you spin up the oil pump, and verify that you were getting oil coming out of all the pushrods before starting it?

i primed the engine but must admit i did'nt take the covers off and look .

next time verify that you are getting oil to every pushrod.

Did you put moly on the lobes, and pour GM EOS over the valvetrain?

yes i did moly lube the cam lobes i did'nt use eos.the cam and lifters were running in the car for the past 5 yrs, i removed them when i freshened the engine, marked everything and installed all in their respective bores. i even broke it in like a new cam(idled 2200 for 20 mins)

Originally posted by Motor Martyr:
next time verify that you are getting oil to every pushrod.

Did you put moly on the lobes, and pour GM EOS over the valvetrain? The ONLY way to get oil to every pushrod is to rotate the engine by hand, a quarter turn at a time, while priming..

It takes awhile...

Total overkill also.
Prime until several get oil, rotate 180, and prime again. The few that do not have oil will within a few seconds of running.

That is why lube is used on all the components. To keep things OK until oil reaches it.

On a a used cam with matched lifters in good shape, break-in is not necessary.


Mike,
I suspect you either had a lifter going or some type of clearance issue. Coil bind, retainer to guide, etc. Also a poor quality lifter that no longer had a crown.

Always check lifters for a crown even if new.. Take two, set them face to face and see if they wobble slightly.

Ray,
Just read your post. That really sucks :(
My first question is did you check a spring before installing the heads?
Also, did you check the lifters to be sure they still had a crown left?
I know it is a little late & doesn't help much but I would always check at least one intake & exhaust to be sure there are no surprises.
We check them all as a matter of course when inspecting the heads upon receipt & so far they have always been right but that doesn't mean I would recommend not checking.

You never want to assume anything when installing new parts. It is just something that should always be done with any new assembly.
Most of Brodix's heads come with a big tag that tells you to check to be sure the spring is correct for your application before installing as a double check.
Did yours have this along with the spec card?

Again, really sorry to hear this happened.
Be sure to email me with what your find.

Is it standard procedure to apply moly lube to the lobes and lifters if they have already been broken in before? In the past, I just installed the cam and put the lifters back in the original bores, poured oil all over them and put the intake on.

My condolences sir!

And welcome to the club of those who've had failures! I'm a 2 time member!!! graemlins/angry.gif

In my case to much spring pressure was the culprit! graemlins/clonk.gif

mike , the brodix heads did have a tag saying they were installed at 140lbs and to check bef install , i should have checked at least 2 but did'nt. i also did'nt check the lifter crowns . i guess because all was running fine before the removal i did'nt feel it was necessary. do you think a moroso on the head spring checker will be good enough or should i remove a spring and bring it in to be checked and while i'm at it check installed height? i really don't want to remove the heads. ray

Ray,
I'm sorry I was thinking you were Mike Stanley... his name is similar..

You can pull a couple of springs without removing the head. Use air to pump up the cylinder.

The on head tester should get you an idea though.

I always use moly lube on any cam install. New or used. Because it still takes a few seconds to get the oil warm, thin, and splashing everywhere.

Originally posted by mr68:
mike , the brodix heads did have a tag saying they were installed at 140lbs and to check bef install , i should have checked at least 2 but did'nt. i also did'nt check the lifter crowns . i guess because all was running fine before the removal i did'nt feel it was necessary. do you think a moroso on the head spring checker will be good enough or should i remove a spring and bring it in to be checked and while i'm at it check installed height? i really don't want to remove the heads. ray =
Ray,
You can use the on head checker to see if they are all the same but I don't really concern myself with closed pressure within reason, I run quite a bit of closed pressure in flat tappet circle track stuff with zero problems on standard core cams with Isky's EDM lifters but don't normally run over 350-360 open.

It is open pressure that needs to be checked so it is best to remove a couple of springs especially the one on the lobe that went flat & check at open height (installed height less .600)

To flatten a well broken in lobe that has no lifter crown problems in the same location in the same block in just a few minutes would normally take a lot of spring pressure.

As Jake said just pull a couple of springs on the engine, no need to pull the heads. Do you have a leak down tester? If so use it to pressurize the cylinder or just make a fitting & fill the cylinder with air.
You can also bring the piston to slightly less than TDC & "pack" the cylinder with some wire or small rope & then turn the engine towards TDC until the packing is holding the valves closed & remove the springs.
I prefer using air but this will work.

thanks for the tip guys i'll get to checking the springs this week. ray

had 2 springs checked today. including the one from the lobe that failed. 150 lbs closed at 1.9 and 350/370 open. had them checked by 2 different people on 2 different testers one said 350 open the other said 370 open both said 250 closed.the cam card says 135 closed 355 open . brodix said they set them 140 closed 360 open. my guess is i'm a bit high. what to do now?

had 2 springs checked today. including the one from the lobe that failed. 150 lbs closed at 1.9 and 350/370 open. had them checked by 2 different people on 2 different testers one said 350 open the other said 370 open both said 250 closed.the cam card says 135 closed 355 open . brodix said they set them 140 closed 360 open. my guess is i'm a bit high. what to do now?

Originally posted by mr68:
said 370 open both said 250 closed You mean 150 closed, right? Anyway, do you think the extra 15# close pressure is enough to wipe out a lobe? I never thought the tolerance was that tight. There is no way you got something in one of those lifter bores or mixed a couple of parts up??
On another topic,....since I have your old 215 heads (which I just bolted on tonight after doing a V-P clearance check :D ). What was your spring pressures set up to on those?

Originally posted by mr68:
had 2 springs checked today. including the one from the lobe that failed. 150 lbs closed at 1.9 and 350/370 open. had them checked by 2 different people on 2 different testers one said 350 open the other said 370 open both said 250 closed.the cam card says 135 closed 355 open . brodix said they set them 140 closed 360 open. my guess is i'm a bit high. what to do now? =

Hi Ray,
If Brodix said 360 & the card said 355 & one check was at 350 It's a pretty safe bet that's what they are & the springs are not the problem.
I believe Brodix uses the same computerized spring checker I do which is very accurate.
They are on the high side & you don't need that much pressure but I run it all the time after break in with no problems.
But, you can lower it with a set of +.050 keepers assuming there are no shims to remove with no problem.
Assuming a 300#/inch rate .050 will drop the pressure by 15 lbs.

jim, the springs on the 215 heads are 135lbs at 1.875 and 350lbs open. mike i'm going to remove the inner springs for break in on the new cam. then see what happens. thanks ray