Freshly rebuilt 350 burning oil and tappet noise.

[69halfton]

sorry, i have missed a bit of this thread as i have been busy in school with exams and so on.

what did you find/did you take apart the oil filter?

have you/someone had the lifters out and changed them for different lifters?

i would doubt that a rocker is physically moving around in the motor when running, if it was, there would be some serious marks on the valve cover etc.

if the lifters are gone, or it is something in the valve train, but the motor seems to be running half decent and not missing/backfiring. this usually means that all the valves are still opening. they definatly are not performing well obviously, but there is SOME lift, letting the truck run.

aside from all the racket...how is the truck running? rough/vibrations?

low idle?
poor throttle response off idle?

...the valve train WILL know when more gas is applied even if the engine rpms arent increased instantly.

its like riding a bike, your chain wont skip until you really push hard on the pedels...your speed hasn't increased yet, but there is that much more stress on the chain etc.

...then you fall on your face

[69halfton]

by the way, i had mine built, and i have just a little bit more $$ in mine (its a stroker, so the parts are more elaborate) but my builder has also stood by his work.

its really worth the money, unlike you, i didn't put many miles on the motor, and it wasn't until 2 years later when these problems developed. he recognized that the engine didn't have that many miles, but he could have easily told me that it was just from sitting so long and that it was my fault. I think he also kinda liked the fact that me being only 17, and into chevy trucks and hot rodding instead of driving some honda, and that i was funding this myself, and daddy wasn't just paying for everything i wanted...

he is one of those old guys that you find in the back of an industrail unit working with 1 other guy in his shop. the company name is speed radiator...but every single circle track racer around here has a motor from him. he is exactly what you described and i chuckled when i read it, he has trophies and pictures of race-cars past, and from all over the continent.

[gavotter333]

Originally Posted by 69halfton

I think he also kinda liked the fact that me being only 17, and into chevy trucks and hot rodding instead of driving some honda, and that i was funding this myself, and daddy wasn't just paying for everything i wanted...

Just a really quick and not very serious comment( I say with a cheeky grin on my face), Dont knock hondas too much. They have one of the best engine designs that has ever existed. They might look like a japanese terd now and make pretty lifeless and boring cars however I was not allowed to have a V8 when I was 17 and so in revolt as my father and his 2 best mates were mechanics and one of them had a shop not too dissimilar to the one I am using built a totally spastic Civic with a 1.5L DOHC 4cl honda engine. Now we will be in KPH here but it use to almost get to 100 in second gear. This thing was insane it reved like a mororbike engine. Sounded reminiscent of a formula one engine would barely idle putting away. and as hard as i tried it would not blow up. Oh and I thrashed the living daylight out of this car. We also built a 1.2L City Turbo that would have shat on the current engine I have now. Intercooled turbo EFI etc. I went through 3 gearboxes in 4 months and they were rebuilt gearboxes. At the time there was only one Honda box that was vaiguely strong enough and it was japan only. LOL Pic below is not mine but the same model. Looks like a toy now.

I wish I was allowed to have a V8 when I was 17..Guess I get to make up for it now.

Sorry I know its not relevant to this but Thought id have my 2 cents worth.

[chevybuldr]

I wish all customers were like you are. A good machinest will stand behind his parts and his work. A shop will not use junk if they know that it might fail and they have to replace it down the line. There are alot of thing that effect a motor. A common phrase after we hang up the phone from a "mechanic" is everybody blames the machine shop. Never mind its something that they might have missed and just skimmped on changing. An old radiator no need to be replaced. Gee why is it running hot? An oil cooler not flushed out. Oil pan not cleaned. We try hard to make sure that all is taken care of but you can not make them do everything.

You sound like you have found a great shop with people that care. The money you paid for a replace and remove and rebuild with all new block sounds like a very good price. Your a stand up guy. Thank you for standing up for your machinest and shop. I have seen some shody work come thru and I have heard some real price gougers but not every place is like that.
Just my 2cents.

[Ryan Hubbard]

I had my engine consuming oil and it would not smoke. I found the intake manifold gasket was leaking into the intake port of the cylinder head and being burned. And since it was going into the combustion chamber it is completely burned without smoking. I think that will be you oil consumption issue. If you pull the intake to check the lifters and cam, you will probably see one or more of your intake ports in the head covered in oil. ALso check your spark plugs for fouling from burning oil.

[gavotter333]

Originally Posted by Ryan Hubbard

I had my engine consuming oil and it would not smoke. I found the intake manifold gasket was leaking into the intake port of the cylinder head and being burned. And since it was going into the combustion chamber it is completely burned without smoking. I think that will be you oil consumption issue. If you pull the intake to check the lifters and cam, you will probably see one or more of your intake ports in the head covered in oil. ALso check your spark plugs for fouling from burning oil.

Very interesting. This would explain why there is no smoke or smell at all.

I am actually excited to see what the builder comes back with. I almost want to fly out to see it however think I will let him take care of all of this for me. I have driven about 10000 miles on trips alone this past year and think ill let it some back by carrier to me so history does not repeat its self.

I will have some time on Friday and am hoping that I can get my mechanic here to come over the weekend. Its 3 floors under the ground at the moment so It aint going anywhere.

[gavotter333]

Just an update for everyone that is reading this thread.

As it stands at the moment. The push rod on the cylinder in question is not moving as far as its neighboring cylinders. I have not measured it accurately but it would seem like its a lobe on the cam that has worn. Its a very lumpy cam and with the oil issues that have existed this makes some sence. The introduction of the new oil may have cause this failure. I am unable and unwilling to start removing major components like the manifold to see what else is not working. It is going back to the shop in Bakersfield for this. There is enough evidence that its failed. Weather it be heads block whatever will only be discovered upon disassembley.

I have however been told that I am not going to get the same lumpy cam back in the new motor and it will be a little milder. I am not too unhappy about this. I trust that what ever is replaced will be just as exciting and if its not then I will use this motor in my next project with a 1975 Chevy 4X4 rock crawler and will put a totally obnoxious stroker in the 72.

However this will happen after a bare metal respray of the entire truck and me finishing up the total replacement of all the interior components.

When it is started it starts. Its a really lumpy cam so you only really know something is horribly wrong when you try to accelerate. If its not pushed it sounds like its misfiring like a spark lead is dead. If you push it harder it gets very very noisy and tappy indeed. I have not started it or driven it since removing the rocker cover. I am unwilling to tighten the rocker down to match the rod and unless it can see medical attention here 3 storys below the snow it will only be started to move it to the surface to be put on a flatbed.

I will track its progress through its GPS and will know exactly where it is and how fast it is moving. I will also keep everyone on here updated as to the progress. If I have time I might fly to Bakersfield and take a nice bottle of something horribly expensive to give to him when I get it back. Then it can be shipped to NY and I will continue to drive it. Or I might get him to drive it for a week or until he is happy with everything before I get it.

There is also a possibility that it might go to Virginia to a shop that is a friend of the family so to speak, However I think it will be on its way to CA for the engine work.

I really appreciate all the comments and helpful suggestions offered by member on here.

When all of this is over Ill let you know who the shop and builder is and ORDER away.

I will keep you all updated.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by gavotter333

Just an update for everyone that is reading this thread.

As it stands at the moment. The push rod on the cylinder in question is not moving as far as its neighboring cylinders. I have not measured it accurately but it would seem like its a lobe on the cam that has worn. Its a very lumpy cam and with the oil issues that have existed this makes some sence. The introduction of the new oil may have cause this failure. I am unable and unwilling to start removing major components like the manifold to see what else is not working. It is going back to the shop in Bakersfield for this. There is enough evidence that its failed. Weather it be heads block whatever will only be discovered upon disassembley.

I have however been told that I am not going to get the same lumpy cam back in the new motor and it will be a little milder. I am not too unhappy about this. I trust that what ever is replaced will be just as exciting and if its not then I will use this motor in my next project with a 1975 Chevy 4X4 rock crawler and will put a totally obnoxious stroker in the 72.

However this will happen after a bare metal respray of the entire truck and me finishing up the total replacement of all the interior components.

When it is started it starts. Its a really lumpy cam so you only really know something is horribly wrong when you try to accelerate. If its not pushed it sounds like its misfiring like a spark lead is dead. If you push it harder it gets very very noisy and tappy indeed. I have not started it or driven it since removing the rocker cover. I am unwilling to tighten the rocker down to match the rod and unless it can see medical attention here 3 storys below the snow it will only be started to move it to the surface to be put on a flatbed.

I will track its progress through its GPS and will know exactly where it is and how fast it is moving. I will also keep everyone on here updated as to the progress. If I have time I might fly to Bakersfield and take a nice bottle of something horribly expensive to give to him when I get it back. Then it can be shipped to NY and I will continue to drive it. Or I might get him to drive it for a week or until he is happy with everything before I get it.

There is also a possibility that it might go to Virginia to a shop that is a friend of the family so to speak, However I think it will be on its way to CA for the engine work.

I really appreciate all the comments and helpful suggestions offered by member on here.

When all of this is over Ill let you know who the shop and builder is and ORDER away.

I will keep you all updated.

Do you have a lojack or something to track by?

[texanidiot25]

Now we will be in KPH here but it use to almost get to 100 in second gear.

But 100kph is only 60mph..?

[Pont406]

Cleszkie,
That's what I thought also. He keeps rambling about on and on. Just my opinion.

[straitnate14]

It sounds like you have more money in this truck than you can count? You know half the fun is building the truck and fighting problems like this. If you pay people to do everything what do you really know about fixing and troubleshooting problems with your truck? I fought tuning my motor with my supercharger all summer long, had no idea what was what with timing and how to jet a carb, now it's like 5 min jets are changed, trucks running and I'm putting in more timing. I haven't been able to touch my truck in 3 months now and I would kill to rip blower, and heads off to find a problem, just me I guess.

[Skirkpat]

Originally Posted by Pont406

Cleszkie,
That's what I thought also. He keeps rambling about on and on. Just my opinion.

Or he has a low tolerance for ignoranance (actually I find the opposite to be true), Maybe if you reread the post you would find out that he traced it to a single rockerarm that was loose even at complete lift ( HMMMM.... Sounds like a flat cam?)? Nobody cares that you built your truck, if it makes you feel good do it, but if it makes you feel good that does not mean you should try to make others feel bad for not doing it...I can guarentee that alot of the people on this board are more than capable of building and tuning thier own engines and choose not to because of a multitude of reasons...all good reasons, whether it is spending time with their wife, or playing with their kids (try that sometime instead of making them play Wii, it is good for them) I have bit my tounge, and after this will continue to but the post asked for some simple advice, and while I am probably not the one to change his cam I am one of the ones on here that can point him in that direction.....oh yah and as far as money goes, He moved from San Francisco to New york, he has plenty of money,you can buy whole states for what it costs to live in Marin County....Leave the guy alone if you A) do not know how an engine operates, or B) are jelous of how much his nice ass truck costs, 99.9 % of every post I have read on this site is almost sickly sweet ( thats nice actually ) why are you flaming this guy? you have a nice truck too...even if it has stock wheels? just MY opinion

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by Pont406

Cleszkie,
That's what I thought also. He keeps rambling about on and on. Just my opinion.

"Ramble on....sing my song!" Another Zep classic!!!!

[long69]

dude asks what could be wrong. gets plenny answers. even yanks a valve cover as suggested but fails to check oil for metal which is even easer that removing a valve cover.
states that one rocker arm isn't raising as far as others, i didn't catch anything about a push rod loose as would be indicated by a flat lobe on the cam or out of adjusted valve. then we here some jiberish about how he turbo'd a 1.2 and it would kick his truck arse, it would even do 100 in second. sorry for rambling on, where's the bridge?

[gavotter333]

Originally Posted by long69

dude asks what could be wrong. gets plenny answers. even yanks a valve cover as suggested but fails to check oil for metal which is even easer that removing a valve cover.
states that one rocker arm isn't raising as far as others, i didn't catch anything about a push rod loose as would be indicated by a flat lobe on the cam or out of adjusted valve. then we here some jiberish about how he turbo'd a 1.2 and it would kick his truck arse, it would even do 100 in second. sorry for rambling on, where's the bridge?

Yes I did get plenty of answers. They have helped me a lot and this is how I have come to the conclusion that its the cam. No one seems to dispute this either. They all seem to want to come to my rescue and rebuild it for me. My comments about my old Hondas were merely entertaining and if you think about it ironic that I owned it in the first place. It was a little light hearted fun that if nothing else it should be embarrassing to me LOL however show that I have a keen and long interest in cars.

Actually the bridge is the Tribourough bridge in Queens looking to the upper east side of Manhattan. I think its a little easier to remove a rocker cover than to take an oil pan off in a very dusty underground car park that is 3 story's under the ground and on a 20 deg slope and have no real way to jack up the truck. I am also dealing with warranty issues and need to leave it as it is so the builder can see exactly what went wrong as per his request. For the others that think I don't do any of my own work on this truck you are very much mistaken. I have with the exception of things that should be done by a professional, all of the work on this truck. I have replaced with the help of my excellent mechanic in SF Mobill restorations on Howard St all of the components that I have restored my self. And yes it is very satisfying. However I get others to do work on it also as I

1 Do not have a House with backyard and garage.
2 Am not a mechanic.
3 Dont always have time to do it and get it done
4 Dont know enough to do it myself
5 Have paid someone else with more years doing this than I have been alive to do it and would rather have them repair an issue that is or may be beyond my control.

The weekend is Upon us and ill have loads of time to have a tinker. I do not intend to take this oil out as it may very much be the entire source of the problem and would make it harder to diagnose on the other end.

Think about it, You can ramble all you want but as the motor is non functional and its not going to repair its self. Its going to be repaired by the builder.

I have told everyone what I found. The rocker has a lot of play in it the push rod is loose and it would make a really good indication as the stud does not seem to have moved that with the oil that is in it the cam has failed. The movement of the rod is also not as far as the other rods on that side of the engine. I very much doubt that the rocker simply unbolted its self so at the risk of repeating my self we believe its the cam.

I am not going to pull this truck to pieces just for the satisfaction of some of the people who posted on here. Ill leave that to the man who built it. I think that's the sensible thing to do.
Case closed. You will find out what I do when its stripped down.

Sorry just wanted to ad that the rocker is not just loose it wobbles about like a rattle. The push rod when flat leaves about an 8th of an inch of play. As for the oil being burnt. I assume that this will also be repaired with the fresh rebuild.

Fingers crossed I that my beast back soon and move on in a forward direction, Pardon the pun

[Skirkpat]

Gavotter www.purposebuilt.org good website for performance engine questions, I think you have to register but its free, but if you want to go fast they can teach you some tricks.

[long69]

ok I'll say it there is no way a name brand oil of the wrong weight is going to cause your engine to fail in such a short amount of time. certainly not a 30w, with the exception that if the engine was built to modern clearances, meaning requiring something like a 0 weight oil. and even if this were the case it would not affect your valve train.plus your builder would have told you to be careful of what kind and weight of oil to use. so keeping the oil in there is useless. not to bust your ?alls or anything but it seems you have been led to believe that possibly your oil may have caused this, I say capitol BS. I'll even say your break in did not cause this and your builder did not do a terrible job, and you didn't pay too much. its some kind of parts failure and the big question is which part. i'm now leaning to: that its not your bottom end so you might as well keep that oil in there. you have all winter to get it checked out.

[71 super]

Sorry for the outcome. On the positive if the edelbrock is purchase you will get warrenty in writing and a dyno sheet for the glovebox . Maybe some local members can help you out once everything is hashed out and the new motor arrives.

[long69]

sorry i can't see a flat cam lobe causing a push rod to punch through a rocker arm like that.

[haysonj]

I've built a few chevy engines and have never seen one with that much thread above the rocker stud nut. with the high lift cam he has it probably had valve spring bind but I wouldn't think it would have made it all the way accross the country unless someone readjusted the valves.

[gavotter333]

Originally Posted by haysonj

I've built a few chevy engines and have never seen one with that much thread above the rocker stud nut. with the high lift cam he has it probably had valve spring bind but I wouldn't think it would have made it all the way accross the country unless someone readjusted the valves.

I think in retrospect its a miracle it made it here too. It is well and truly in NY at the moment and tomorrow its going on a flatbed to SF. Nowhere near Bakersfield. The engine in it is going in the trash and Ill be starting totally a fresh. I think out of respect for my poor truck she needs a really big break and really good engine to say sorry.. LOL

[gavotter333]

Well its been a while and in case anyone was wondering ...

I will now say avoid Reynolds automotive in bakersfield like the plague. After many months of hard work I finally got the engine rebuilt by the shop that did the work. Far be it that the BAR association had to get involved and oversea the whole process. Its running although it burns oil still and leaks it as well. However while it was in the shop it was broken into and my stereo gear was stolen. Its an ongoing battel and will end up in court. So to help others not have the same problems dont do to that shop for anything.

The guy is not what I thought he was at all. I have learnt the hard way and hope others dont make the same mistake.

[ll____b0t____ll]

Sorry to hear this story end this way.
It a sad day when its so hard to find compitant engine builders or humans with some resemlance of decency or honer.
Im not shocked about your stereo though my mother took her lumina in to have a new timing chain installed and over a week later got her car back and the 3.1 V6 was some how magicaly transformed into a 2.8 V6.
Like no female would notice that....but he got his in the end as he sold the 3.1 and couldnt get it back lawsuit ended and he had to buy a bran new crate moter lol haha.

[gavotter333]

Originally Posted by ll____b0t____ll

Sorry to hear this story end this way.
It a sad day when its so hard to find compitant engine builders or humans with some resemlance of decency or honer.
Im not shocked about your stereo though my mother took her lumina in to have a new timing chain installed and over a week later got her car back and the 3.1 V6 was some how magicaly transformed into a 2.8 V6.
Like no female would notice that....but he got his in the end as he sold the 3.1 and couldnt get it back lawsuit ended and he had to buy a bran new crate moter lol haha.

Man that is amazing. Truly makes you wonder what its all coming to. I very much doubt that the 2K heads that I paid for on my original engine were put back on the new engine that I have now. It runs but I have to say that it does sound different. I will not know unless its taken apart but I think I will just throw away the junk he built. I actually just got off the phone with the Bakersfield police and he did not even file the claim when it was broken into. For the last 2 months he has been saying he is in contact with his insurance company. I have now however through being polite had my report filed and a wonderful policeman is on his way out to visit our engine re builder to verify this. Let the games commence.... I am back in Australia now and am just waiting to ship the beast here. However I would like it to be complete before I do..

That is crap on the engine theft man... Wow

[Skirkpat]

That is a bummer. Sorry to hear it did not turn out right.