Comp Hyd. Flat Tappets

[pontiacvince]

I have had a "ticking" noise in my engine for some time now. I have adjusted the poly-locks 2 or 3 times and it did not help. Decided to pull the top end off and investigate. I'm glad I did. As soon as I pulled the intake, there was a spring clip laying in the valley and I saw another half-way out of another lifter.
This is from a matched set from Summit (cam, lifters, springs, timing set, etc.)
As soon as I pulled the pushrods, one lifter cup popped out. The lifter faces look good.
This engine only has 9500 miles on it. Summit says the 1 year warranty is up. I have a call to Comp, but haven't heard back. I can't afford to switch to rollers right now. Any advise/recommendations???

[PbFut]

Figure out a way to go roller. The cam has run in with the now broken lifter. A replacement lifter is asking for trouble. If you replace the broken lifter, the new lifter will not run in without damaging the lobe and likely the new lifter as well. Now you will have metal in all the components and further failure a matter of time.
I will share that I had a cam fail. Lots of metal in the oil. Old engine so I flushed with diesel fuel. High milage motor. It's been a year and maybe 6k but I sence the end is near.

[mattfranklin]

In the old school rules, you could put a new lifter on an old cam and usually be ok. Not sure in this new era of low ZDDP oils. Although I recently noticed that Summit's new oil brand is called 'ZDDP," so maybe they have a little more ZDDP in it. One would hope. :-)

[68Gold/white]

I agree with posts 2 and 3, spot on, BUT...
Look at the lifter that came apart. Is there still s crown on the lifter base? Is the cam lobe showing wear on only half the lobe, should be back half, all the way around...
If so on both, a new lifter might be an OK option.

When a lobe is shiny across the lobe, front to back as in the engine, that lobe is going away.

There's great info on this site, although not a lot of engine specific info.

As far as I know, none of the cam companies make their own lifters...why? Its too expensive for them to do, in house.

Getting a set of same brand lifters as cam can make a difference for warranty (not his time, because of length of time...).

The ONLY brand of lifters worth buying are Hylift John son lifters. There is also a company called Johnson. Their stuff is good, but not as good as Hylift Johnson, period!!!
THeir lifters are expensive, but worth the money.

I'd replace those 2 lifters, if they meet spec's I mentioned. just go the OReillys and get 2 Melling lifters, or what ever popular brand they have. you need to put some moly lube on the bottoms of the lifters, Moroso part number 35000, or something like it. Run the engine like you did to break in all the lifters.

[HO455]

Can you post a photo of the failed lifters?

If I'm not mistaken your saying the circlip that holds the internal parts of the lifter has popped out of 2 of the lifters?

If so that indicates poor machining of the groove the circlip resides in, a mis-match of circlip and groove sizing, or just plain cheap circlips. Personally I would replace all the lifters since 2 of the16 have failed. I would also contact Oregon Cam Grinding and see if they can put a break in finish on your cam before installing the new lifters.

Good luck

[pontiacvince]

I heard back from THE warranty manager at Edelbrock/Comp/Lunati etc, etc....
(Personally, I believe THAT is the problem....a huge group of companies under one umbrella that USED to be competitors). He said he will send me 2 replacement lifters.

[hjewell2]

Originally Posted by mattfranklin

In the old school rules, you could put a new lifter on an old cam and usually be ok. Not sure in this new era of low ZDDP oils. Although I recently noticed that Summit's new oil brand is called 'ZDDP," so maybe they have a little more ZDDP in it. One would hope. :-)

100% correct have done it many times , I even just for giggles on a old didnt care about motor put solid lifters on a hyd cam nothing happened and ran just fine.

[PbFut]

If you are struggling to cover cost of new cam and lifter package, gonna be a problem if the oil turns into iron mud when the new replacement lifter wipes the lobe. May want to find a light valve spring or remove one if duel to improve your chance of success on run in.

[HO455]

I would do a thorough inspection of the rest of the lifters as well as the 2 that failed maybe you can find the cause and any more that might fail.

After installation change oil to a quality engine break in oil.

[MySons68C20]

Open up the oil filter and check the pleats for any metal before you make a decision.

[pontiacvince]

Originally Posted by HO455

I would do a thorough inspection of the rest of the lifters as well as the 2 that failed maybe you can find the cause and any more that might fail.

After installation change oil to a quality engine break in oil.

All of the lifter faces looked perfect. Even the 2 bad ones. I've never seen the spring clips come out.

[pontiacvince]

Here are the 2 lifters in question. Look closely at the second one....

[jjzepplin]

If Holmes on Homes (home repair guy) was repairing this issue, He would just go ahead and replace everything in question. This is what you should do. Replace the entire cam and lifters before your engine is a memory. You can't afford a roller cam. Can you afford an engine rebuild? Or catastrophic failure?

[MikeB]

I'd probably replace the cam and lifters. But I wouldn't be surprised if two new lifters worked out just fine. Use some break-in lube like CompCams #159 along with an oil with high ZDDP content, like Valvoline Racing Oil or Royal Purple.

Then again, if two lifters failed, others may ready to do the same thing! That's a sad situation for a company that at one time used only high quality valve train parts.

If you decide to replace cam and lifters, I wouldn't say a roller is the only way to go. The vast majority of engines with recently installed flat tappet cams are doing just fine. And use 5w or 10w-30, not straight 30w! Cold 30w does not do a good job of lubing the lobe/lifter interface.