Valve train noise

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moparker

moparker

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Ok. I will start with the specs.

71 340, 30 over, just rebuilt, engine wasnt hurt. Lunati Vodoo hydraulic 513 533 duration, 234 242 lift. Double valve springs. Started off with stock rocker assembly. Had a what I would describe as valves smacking. Car ran fine and has great oil pressure. So I thought an adjustable rocker assembly might get rid of any noise.
Bought push rods, rocker assembly, installed and adjusted. Preload is .0203. Fired it up. Was noisey. Lifters were makin noise. Shut it off. Waited a while and backed it out flipped it around and backed it in. It sounded better. So I took it down the street a couple blocks and sounded pretty good.
Next day I fired it up an 0 noise. Took it foe a longer drive. The noise came back after driving for a while. Maybe even a little louder. Kinda scratchin my head. I am more than frustrated. Still had great oil pressure and car ran fine. Lifters are pumped up fine.
Forgot, lifters are comp cams CCA-867-16.
Also when I did the break in I only had the single springs in. After I installed the center ones is when I noticed the noise. It doesnt sound like lifter to me. Any help would be appreciated. Noise is more noticeable around 2100rpm.
 
Are the shafts installed the right direction?
 
maybe lifters are bleeding down or not pumping up?? Many reviews saying Lunati has had lifter failures.
 
And the voodoo cams are naturally noisy. Now, saying that, you may have another issue. We can't hear the noise from here. Lunati Cam Noise
 
Add more preload, another .010 aka 1/4 turn and see if the noise goes away.

Check the valve cover for contact marks underneath
 
were the installed and coil bind heights of the inner springs measured to be good ? .0203" sounds funky, u measured all 16 it as accurate to .0203" ? I like .020" - .040"
 
The lunati lifters failed. Thats why I went comp cams set. I will try another quarter turn. Im kinda baffled why its more quiet at start up verses when hot.
 
moparker said:
The lunati lifters failed. Thats why I went comp cams set. I will try another quarter turn. Im kinda baffled why its more quiet at start up verses when hot.
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I thing there has been more complaints about Comp lifters noisy.
 
I've had two sets of Comp Xtreme-Energy lifters completely fail on me. The plunger spring broke on several of the lifters so I refuse to use Comp lifters anymore. If memory serves me, they were fairly noisy.
 
My son does a lot of motors we also had two sets of comp lifters clatter went away and always came back. Depending on where the motor stopped and sat. Comp had a bad lifter problem for a while by their own admission. We had a old 474 cam kit here from "Direct Connection". We installed those lifters and problem was gone. Pontiac uses the same lifter and same problem.

Install new lifters and check the surface for crown on all you pull out. If the crown is gone from clatter you'll also need a new cam now. Comp should take care of the replacement they did for our engine shop. They would not pay Labor, gaskets or any material. such as oil or Zinc

 
moparker said:
Wow. Hope thats not the case with my cam.
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Old man mopar makes a great point, however the video of UTG is just a tweaker parroting real experiences of folks like Steve..and not really 1st hand knowing because UTG is a clown who causes more harm to engines than fixes.
 
You have the 'Pro-Magnum' lifters and they are designed to run at a hot preload of only .002-.004, you're too far already.
Adjust them to the factory recommendation and you might check to see if they specify a certain oil viscosity with those. I doubt it's gonna quiet them down much...but at least they'll be right.
 
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"I will try another quarter turn. Im kinda baffled why its more quiet at start up verses when hot."

The one difference is that when the engine is cold there's little or no noise, when the engine is hot all your clearances change and the oil is "thinner". Maybe you need to adjust the rockers when it's hot??? They're either too tight or too loose, adjust one way and take a ride then adjust the other way and take a ride (when the engine is hot)....see if there's any difference. If none of this helps then you'll have to look at the lifters or ???.
 
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quality of lifters these days is questionable , i went through 3 sets before i found ones that were good . good luck hope you find the problem
 
I would maybe set them according to the instructions first...And remember noisy doesn't necessarily mean 'bad' with a camshaft like that.
'Treblig' makes a good point as well--even my solid-cammed big block is much quieter under the valve covers on first startup.
 
Lunati voodoo recommends using only the micro trol lifters with a preload of .02-.06. I would double check the preload. What springs are you running? Did you measure the install height? I have recently ran into a problem with that on my heads. All the books say that the install height in factory small block heads are 1.65-1.69 so I planned everything around that number without checking it. Now that I have measured them mine are only 1.62 on average so it messes up my coil bind. Its possible that is what had happened especially since it didnt do it with the inner springs.
 
That would explain why they are quiet when cold.
 
This is interesting, "Also when I did the break in I only had the single springs in. After I installed the center ones is when I noticed the noise."

I missed that when I first read this thread. The inner spring puts more pressure on the valve when opening and closing and heat and expansion effects all the components. The only question I have now is, "Was the engine at full running temperature when you had the single spring in there and when you had the second spring in there?? I also realize that there's no way you could have adjusted the valves "exactly" the same way after the inner spring addition.
Does anyone know if the rockers need to be adjusted differently with a heavier spring tension???
 
Yes. I did the 20 minute break in with the rpms around 2 grand. Then installed center springs.
 
I didnt have adjustable when it was broke in. Stock rocker set up.
 
RammerJammer75 said:
I've had two sets of Comp Xtreme-Energy lifters completely fail on me. The plunger spring broke on several of the lifters so I refuse to use Comp lifters anymore. If memory serves me, they were fairly noisy.
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I refuse to use comp anything!! No comp junk for me. As much as some people hate mopar parts Id rather use the mopar parts. I have erson pushrods mopar cam stock non adjustable rockers and more importantly no comp stuff.
 
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