How do hydraulic flat tappet lifters fail?

PRH said
Actually......

This is the the 701 Voodoo cam, which is a fast rate .904 design.

Depending on the barrel diameter of the cam core, and how “cupped” the lifter has become, it’s not all that uncommon to see the lifters get chipped on the edge, from where the edge has been contacting the barrel.

You can see the witness marks on this cam where the edge of the lifter was contacting the barrel of the cam:

View attachment 1715614043

I think (I hope) we’ll find some answers when I pull the cam and lifters. Drained the oil today and it was very, very clean. I’m going to cut into the filter and see what it looks like, and check the rod and main bearings (at least a few) to ensure they’re in good shape.

When I pulled the valve cover, I saw the #1 intake pushrod shifted to the side. Here you can see the divot it made in the rocker. And yes, I have a new rocker to replace it! :lol: