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My oil plug grew a chia pet :-(

Posted: April 16th, 2017, 5:34 pm
by SkylinesSuck
I started noticing a progressively louder, RPM dependent sewing machine like tick that sounded like overly loud valvetrain noise. Cold or hot doesn't matter. It got noticeable then louder over the course of the past 100 miles or so. Now I'm thinking I might be noticing a small flutter in the in the exhaust note, similar to the 3 other times I've had a cam crap out by eating a lobe. That could be me just expecting then "hearing" it though. Anywho, I pulled the valve cover and didn't notice any loose rockers or weird looking push rods. I drained the oil and noticed my magnetic drain plug looked like a chia pet though:

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I'll also mention that drain plug just got installed about 1000 miles ago with new oil. So it looks like something bad I think. Is bearing material magnetic? I really think it's eaten another cam lobe, but I'm not 100% sure. What would be the next step? Pull the oil pan and look up in there? Compression test? Ef it and just pull the head because it's coming off regardless?

Re: My oil plug grew a chia pet :-(

Posted: April 16th, 2017, 6:44 pm
by jsawduste
Ferrous metal will be magnetic. IE the cam and lifters for starters.

With the past cam failures and potentially the new one something is amiss.

What cam and lifters are you using ?
How do you break the cam in ?
How are you adjusting the lifter pre-load ?
What are your spring - seat and open pressures ? How far from coil bind are you ?
Type and weight of the oil are you using ?
Are the cam bearings showing signs of wear ? Are the bores straight ? Spring and pin or plate design ?

With the proper care and feeding your entire valvetrain should be bulletproof.

Lets try to figure this one out as I suspect something is funky.

Re: My oil plug grew a chia pet :-(

Posted: April 17th, 2017, 4:45 am
by SkylinesSuck
My explanation wasn't as detailed as it could have been. This particular motor has only eaten one cam. I've experienced it several times before on my old 4.0. I was just saying I'm familiar with the noises associated with a cam failure. This motor is a Golen crate motor, and it now has a comp cams 68-231-4 in it because the HUGE cam that Golen had in it destroyed the dizzy gear. I do wonder if the springs are too stiff.

My main goal right now is to confirm that it is in fact the cam/lifters and nothing else like bearings or something else before I start ordering parts or even tear it apart further. Once I'm sure that's the issue, I can start making a plan. I'm planning to call Russ today and discuss with him. Thinking maybe a nitrided cam and lifters from him, and maybe a P&P head while I'm at it depending on how long that would take.

Re: My oil plug grew a chia pet :-(

Posted: April 17th, 2017, 5:13 am
by SkylinesSuck
And too answer a couple of your other questions, I normally run VR-1 10w-30 but this most recent oil change I ran Mobil 1 5w-30 (which I regret now but doubt is what killed it). The lifters we used came from CompCams and was broken in per the normal accepted procedure. I haven't checked for any bearing or lifter bore wear but I will this time.

Re: My oil plug grew a chia pet :-(

Posted: December 18th, 2019, 10:57 am
by Tolemar
I know this is an old thread but I know of atleast 3 different smalblock chevys that also ate cams using mobil1 synthetic oil. Just an observation. Did you ever figure a fix?

Re: My oil plug grew a chia pet :-(

Posted: December 21st, 2019, 5:59 pm
by SkylinesSuck
Yeah, it ate a cam lobe. I replaced the cam and lifters.