306 V8 Ranger, valve train noise identified

[Jbrown1238]

Found the Problem that was causing a little valve train noise. Wait until you see this! Turned out to be a little bit of excessive cam wear. Apparently the cam is the week link in this build. The metal properties of the Comp Cam limits the maximum mileage to about 150,000 miles with .512 lift, Trick Flow Springs, and 1.6 rockers. This one was pulled at 210,000 miles and started making noise at 183,000 miles.

Up until this cam was removed the truck still ran very well. It would idle fine, run strong and smooth with no missing. The one and only sign was rocker noise above 3000 rpms. I knew something was going on and over several months that it took to identify the issue I was careful to look for any metal in the oil. I placed a magnet on the oil pan near the drain plug and another one on the oil filter. When I changed oil I would bend a Q-Tip and swab the inside of the oil pan above the magnet and found no metal there. I would also cut open the oil filters and inspect the inside and found no metal there. I would strain the used oil and only found a very small amount of metal debris in the strainer, no more then what you would expect with a few new components like valve springs, lifters, etc. It looks like the filter was probably catching and pretty much holding everything that was running through the system.

 

[Jbrown1238]

Although cylinder 8 showed the most wear you can see other lobes are starting to break through on the ramps and peaks of the lobes. I started getting a little noise around 183,000 miles. It was all down hill from there.

All of the other components looked fine when removed with the exception of one lifter. With cam wear like this it is understandable why one lifter removed from cylinder 8 showed an unusual wear pattern, slight pitting and one small flat spot. The Ford Racing double roller timing chain looked almost new after 210,000 miles with only very minor slack. It would have gone another 100,000 miles without concern. The Trick Flow Valve Springs looked almost new when they were removed around 195,000 miles. They still had good seat pressure and no signs of visible wear. The valve stems and valve guides were fine and still had plenty of life left. No side to side movement and most valves would stay closed and support their own weight when the springs were removed. The Stock Steel Stamped Rockers have 312,000 miles and are in very good condition with only minor wear patterns. The Crane push rods were in perfect condition with no signs of wear.

 

[Jbrown1238]

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[Jbrown1238]

Dropped it off at my son's shop Friday night so it would be cool Saturday morning.

It went under the knife at 6:00am Saturday and went back to work at 7:00am Monday morning. New cam, new timing chain, new lifters, new cam synchro, new water pump, new ac compressor, etc. It runs much better. Here are a few action photos.

 

[Jbrown1238]

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[Jbrown1238]

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[Jbrown1238]

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[alwaysFlOoReD]

Is that considered a high lift cam? 150,000 (240,000KM) miles doesn't seem to bad to me.
It looks like you removed the front grill and rad support? Sooo much better access.

edit; ahh, just grill. pics 6 and 7 were the same previously.

 

[Jbrown1238]

Is that considered a high lift cam? 150,000 (240,000KM) miles doesn't seem to bad to me.
It looks like you removed the front grill and rad support? Sooo much better access.

edit; ahh, just grill. pics 6 and 7 were the same previously.

.512 lift isn't really anything exotic. I wish it would have lasted a little longer, maybe 250,000 miles. Although I replaced it with the exact same cam this time I think I will be going to a better core metal next time. I will do some research and see what might be available.

My son pulled the entire front including the radiator and AC condenser. We had cut the center section out of the core support and fabricated a removable replacement piece several weeks prior to the cam swap. It worked well and made the job pretty straight forward.

 

[19Walt93]

If you got 150k out of the last cam I assume you're using oil with zinc or an oil additive?

 

[Jbrown1238]

If you got 150k out of the last cam I assume you're using oil with zinc or an oil additive?

Castrol 10w-30 conventional every 5000 miles with a new FL-1A Motorcraft Filter.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I couldn't find it, are these roller lifters? The wear pattern on the cam looks like it. If so then a longer cam life is what I would expect too, tho I don't have any experience in the subject.

 

[Jbrown1238]

I couldn't find it, are these roller lifters? The wear pattern on the cam looks like it. If so then a longer cam life is what I would expect too, tho I don't have any experience in the subject.

Yes, Ford Racing Roller Lifters.

 

[Junglejoe]

Damn bro! Glad you caught that before something really bad happened!