440 engine break in-noisy valve train

[John Milner]

I tried to break in my new 440 in my Charger last night.  I was only able to get a little over 2 gallons of coolant in the radiator/engine so I left the radiator cap off and had someone fill it up as the engine started pumping.  The engine fired up immediately.  It was a little noisy with some valve train noise at first but got quieter.  It was immediately ran at about 2,500 rpm or so.  Once the coolant was filled the radiator cap was tightened back up.  It was starting to build up some heat, around 180 degrees. Then the noise returned and it started missing so I killed the engine.  It was ran maybe 10 minutes at the most.  Oil was Valvoline VR1 10w30.  I ran a zinc additive.  Does this sound like a flattened cam lobe to everyone?  I pulled a valve cover immediately after I killed the engine and a couple of the lifters do not feel pumped up as I can push down on the rocker arm some.  The camshaft is a Hughes hydraulic flat tappet.

[krops cars]

I would feel sick. Is there any silver flakes in the oil on top of head? Pull the lose lifters and look. Good luck.

[John Milner]

I really didn't see any silver flakes.  The oil still looks clear on the dip stick and under the valve cover.  Everything seemed to be oiling properly. 

[krops cars]

If you have pressure run it longer.

[John Milner]

Oil pressure was around 50-60 pounds the whole time.  It was the clatter and noticeable miss that occurred that made me kill the engine. A part of me wants to go ahead and pull the intake to have a look.  I guess it might be possible that a lifter wasn't pumped up or something?   

[krops cars]

I agree. Start it and let it idle awhile. A lot people start them and get into it right away. I don't believe in that. I let them idle for 20 to 30 minutes before going to 2500.

[BLK 68 R/T]

I'd pull all the plugs and see how they look. Check your valve train as well. Something going on causing a miss...
@ Krops cars, reason for 2500 rpm is cam break in for flat tappet cams. With a roller you don't have to do the high rpms.

Timing, intake sucking oil real bad, super lean, collapsed lifter(s). Just a few things off the top of my head.

[justcruisin]

If it was missing I would be first checking your plug leads and possibly pulling the plugs to see if you can spot the dead cylinder. Check for any obvious vacuum leaks. I would then pull the valve covers and to a visual inspection, then disconnect ignition and bump it over on the starter, checking all valves have full travel. I wouldn't restart it before checking.

[John Milner]

Thank you all for the replies.  It was the clicking part that worried me enough to kill the engine.  I was running it around 2500 rpm and it started missing the same time it started clicking worse.  Oil pressure was good this whole time and the rocker shaft appeared to be oiling.  I will definitely check into it before I fire it back up.  Hopefully I'll find the problem tomorrow morning. It sure feels like a camshaft failure but I did not know one could fail in only approximately 10 minutes of run time.

[BLK 68 R/T]

What cam are you running? Current valve springs?

[John Milner]

The valve springs are Comp 924-16 with about 120lbs seat pressure. The cam was a Hughes 3642 hydraulic. After further inspection, the cam did in fact start to go flat. The lobe isn't gone but I believe the wear marks look bad. It didn't eat a ton of the lobe or lifter so I am hoping it didn't trash anything. My main concern is why the lifter wasn't spinning. I could easily spin it by hand in the bore. It slid out easily. I don't know. I'll just clean everything up and fix it. Thank you to all that replied.

[BLK 68 R/T]

Do you have the inner springs removed from the springs for break in?

[John Milner]

No, I didn't have the inner springs removed.  I've never removed them on several different engines that I have running in my projects.  However, I think I will remove the inner springs on the next cam that I break in. 

[krops cars]

Sorry about that. Why do you have to remove the springs? I never understood. With all of the technology you have to do this. Pain in the a. When it is in a car you have to lean over the fenders and all that.

[b5blue]

All the pressure of the springs bears down on just the edge side of the lifter face. (Why a lifter spins.) So removing a spring reduces pressure. Did you use break in cam lube? 

[John Milner]

Thank you all for the replies.  Yes, I used cam lube.  I also used 5 quarts of Valvoline racing oil and some STP oil additive that has zinc in it.  The engine fired up immediately.  So, the cam lube certainly should have been on the camshaft and bottom of the lifters when it fired up.  You could physically feel and hear when the cam and lifter started going down.  It went from hitting on all 8 to having a noticeable miss with a terrible clicking noise instantly. That is when I killed the engine and popped a valve cover to find a couple of soft lifters. I have built maybe 10 engines over the past 15 years and have always used the same break in procedure with success. The cam itself was maybe 5 years old?  It had been on the shelf in the box and just had not been used.  I know I did not use the springs that Hughes recommends.  They were a little lighter than what the cam called for.  Hindsight, I wish I would have used everything that Hughes recommended and it might have lived?  Probably my fault.  

[BLK 68 R/T]

Good luck on the next one