Thread: Another 3.9 RRC tale of frustration.

Like he said ,you think that cam was bad ,check out one of me Solid roller cams Solid Billet
Mind you .625 lift ,600lb on the nose and 220 on the seat (thats triple the valve spring pressures and double the lift of a RV8 !) This wiped out the engine entirely !!!
Cause , excessive idling. Exactly how does the cam to lifter interface get lubricated ?? even on a RV8 ?

in a response by you in one of my threads you mention checking the preload on the lifters within a range 20-50 thou. i assume you did this as you are very thorough in what you do.

I must admit I was slack and didn't check but lifter preload is really more concerned with "pump up" of the lifters at high revs over say 4000 ,when preload is too high and slack at TDC firing which will cause noise.
The lifters were not noisy and I gave them a quick visual check and were tight at tdc on the few I checked.
I think the problem was with the metallurgy of the lifters, as the one that I bought locally, which I now know is a "genuine" (ie by Land Rovers OEM vendor but in plain box), has a far better surface finish and is unmarked compared to most of the Pom ones.
Regards Philip A

Could the use of synthetic oils cause this? The oil being too slippery and not allowing the lifter to rotate as it should?

Hmmm, It is clear the lifters have rotated but it looks like lubrication failure, yet there doesn't seem to be any evidence elsewhere.
I use valvoline 15-40 semi synthetic which I understand has quite a bit of zinc in it.
I did add some Liquimoly at the first change at 1000Km, and maybe that caused the problem.
Regards Philip A
Maybe I am trying too hard to preserve the engine!LOL

If you're after something with lots of zinc try Brad Penn Green Oil. Most zinc I could find, more than running in oils. They also make a running in oil.

Ok, I have now dismantled the engine down to the cam.
I inspected all of the rockers and the shafts and there is no obvious wear on either the rocker pads or pushrod sockets. The rocker shafts are in good nick with no galling.
The oil pump has a bit of marking but IMHO it is Ok to use. It was lucky that no large pieces flaked off the cam.
The cam bearings look fine.

There were at least 2 lobes on the cam almost completely gone. 6 inlet, 7 exhaust, and AFAIR 3 inlet (not as bad). I really have no idea why it happened except for just crap quality.

I have ordered a"genuine" cam and lifters from Gary at CLR, along with a Rollmaster Timing chain and the gaskets.
PS, I couldn't get the Molybond HF50? spray lube at my local Blackwoods as there was none in stock, so I got some Penrite camshaft and assembly lube.
Regards Philip A

hi philip,

curious to know if there was any noticeable change in engine performance or fuel economy (obviously with your oxygen sensors)?

with my cam fast disappearing it was easy to notice the lack of go but if i was not mistaken i could still pull a load ok. economy - it started to deteriorate a bit too.

it seems these motors can take a bit of wear but still keep going.

brett.

hi

philip,

curious to know if there was any noticeable change in engine performance or fuel economy (obviously with your oxygen sensors)?

Well it cruised pretty well at 100Kmh pulling the trailer but died on hills and got a rough exhaust sound. So yes the performance was noticably affected.
Fuel usage increased from say 15L per 100 towing the trailer to about 17, however I had the air dam off which LR reckons is worth 1L per 100Kmh.So yes it affected fuel economy also.
Regards Philip A