Camshaft failures

woodsnake

15 Year Member

Jan 16, 2007

1,352

15

69

Hicksville, NY

Jan 26, 2013

#1

• Jan 26, 2013

• #1

For those of us that have killed a camshaft early, what brand was it, and how did you do it?
I have killed two Edelbrock cams, Performer RPM, .496/.520. Both are a long story.
What's yours?

 

horse sence

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Wile Coyote's stunt double

Jan 28, 2013

#2

• Jan 28, 2013

• #2

we lost two cams in our ranger off road racer ,4 banger before we discovered the cams didnt have the proper hardend surface on the lobes ,they were a custome grind and i dont remember the brand but it ate the lobes completly round . i have been hearing bad things about edelbrok cams and this may be there problem. i have had very good luck with comp cams no lobe failures yet.

 

iskwezm

10 Year Member

May 24, 2005

4,159

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79

Rowland Heights,California

Jan 28, 2013

#3

• Jan 28, 2013

• #3

I've never had issues like until recently, even when i was swapping cams in high school. My first edelbrock cam lasted me till i split the block, about 9 years. My new "custom" grind cam in 05' lasted a few weeks. The next one lasted a week, then i went custom roller. The problem is the newer oils with less ZDDP

 

S-Car-Go

Member

Mar 25, 2003

332

0

16

San Jose, CA

Jan 30, 2013

#4

• Jan 30, 2013

• #4

I've had 4 cams in this motor. The first 3 were flat tappets (1 solid, 2 HFT). I wiped a lobe on cam #3, a Lunati VooDoo cam ~4 yrs ago. I switched to a roller after that. I won't go back to flat tappets.

 

horse sence

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Jan 31, 2013

#5

• Jan 31, 2013

• #5

how fast are these lobes rounding off?what are you guys using for cam lube?
i have built four motors in the last couple years ,all with comp cams 280 h 's
and not one failure. i have been using stp for cam lube and drenching them and coating the lifters before install. i then prime the motors for several minutes before start up long enough to see oil squirt from the tops of the push rods and not hear sputtering air .these are hard ran motors .the motor i am building right now has a 280 h comp cam for road raceing .i hope to fire it on the engine stand first of next week for break in ,hope my lucky streak continues.

 

woodsnake

15 Year Member

Jan 16, 2007

1,352

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69

Hicksville, NY

Jan 31, 2013

#6

• Jan 31, 2013

• #6

I used the stuff that came with the cam..The first time I lost a cam, it was a comedy of errors. The second one, should not have failed. I did a head swap, and within 15 miles, it had failed. I'm now on my 3rd Edelbrock cam, and have spent waaaaaay too much money on valve train stuff. Plus, I am now suffering from low operating oil pressure, once the engine warms up.

 

horse sence

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

12,180

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Wile Coyote's stunt double

Jan 31, 2013

#7

• Jan 31, 2013

• #7

woodsnake said:

I used the stuff that came with the cam..The first time I lost a cam, it was a comedy of errors. The second one, should not have failed. I did a head swap, and within 15 miles, it had failed. I'm now on my 3rd Edelbrock cam, and have spent waaaaaay too much money on valve train stuff. Plus, I am now suffering from low operating oil pressure, once the engine warms up.

Click to expand...

i realy have to think there is somthing wrong with the edelbrok cams.i havn't used one yet so i can't say. to bad about the oil pressure ,how low does it get? the last 4 i built are about 55 cold and 45 hot using melling pumps but my 351 is around 70 cold and 60 hot. it would be interesting to know just how many have had an edelbrok cam fail.

 

woodsnake

15 Year Member

Jan 16, 2007

1,352

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69

Hicksville, NY

Jan 31, 2013

#8

• Jan 31, 2013

• #8

This engine is actually pretty fresh, it has less than 5K on it since I rebuilt it..Cold pressure is around 60 lbs, when it warms up, it goes to 20 :-(

 

horse sence

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

12,180

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Jan 31, 2013

#9

• Jan 31, 2013

• #9

woodsnake said:

This engine is actually pretty fresh, it has less than 5K on it since I rebuilt it..Cold pressure is around 60 lbs, when it warms up, it goes to 20 :-(

Click to expand...

wow thats a big drop ,was it that way before the cam problem?

 

woodsnake

15 Year Member

Jan 16, 2007

1,352

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69

Hicksville, NY

Jan 31, 2013

#10

• Jan 31, 2013

• #10

Nope! But this is the third cam, and I am thinking that I have some junk in a bearing...IDK..

 

horse sence

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Jan 31, 2013

#11

• Jan 31, 2013

• #11

woodsnake said:

Nope! But this is the third cam, and I am thinking that I have some junk in a bearing...IDK..

Click to expand...

yup

 

brianj5600

Active Member

Sep 19, 2003

1,964

2

39

Middle TN

Feb 2, 2013

#12

• Feb 2, 2013

• #12

If you are losing the same lobe everytime you need to check that lifter bore. Lifters have to rotate or they will eat themselves and the lobe. There are oils and oil additives to protect cams. I have been running Joe Gibbs synthetic hot rod oil. Not the cheapest soultion, but with the heat my m otor makes and what I ask of it, it is worth it.