455 comp hyd roller lifters; Too Loud?
 

I've installed the comp hyd roller cam (236/242@.50) and lifters. Lifters set at 1/2 turn preload. E D port heads. 500hp / 577 tq. The lifters sound too loud to me. I've adjusted them 3 times, additional preload does not change the sound unless you bottom the lifter out. So, is this what all hydrolic comp cams lifters sound like? This makes rhodes lifters seem pretty quiet to me. 10/30 HR oil, 60 lb oil pump. Scorpion roller rocker arms, Smith pushrods. Idle speed about 700rpm. Take a listen and tell me if I did something wrong, or if you think the lifters are bad. Comp said they made more noise than regular hydrolic lifters, but I hear this inside the moving car!


https://youtu.be/RUNix5cdPaU

https://youtu.be/RUNix5cdPaU

Mine are noisy as well. Can hear them in the car

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mine will clack just a tad when fully warm on a very hot summer day after some hard driving, but are usually dead quiet on most cruises. when they do make noise they are nowhere near as loud as in your video. might be the rockers adding to the noise but that does seem excessive. did you clean them out before install? comp & dave at SD suggests cleaning in gas or solvent before install & some even take them apart. might have a bad one, check with comp while still under warranty.

cliff mentions turning them down all the way then backing off 1/2 turn or so, he says that will quiet them down a lot.

Probably a lot of contributing factors that are all adding up. I see light oil, small pump, low idle speed, and scorpion rockers.

I hear a slight sewing machine sound which is normal, but it sounds like you have maybe one or two that is making an excessive tapping noise.

Me personally, I'd say there is at least one that is suspect but I've never had any issues with the comp lifters making any noises.

Lifter crossbars aren't contacting the valley pan, are they?

Correction, I am running an 80 psi pump. I initially ran 15/50 oil and it sounded identical. Crossbars are not hitting the valley pan. I did clean them before installation and then soaked them in oil before installation. As a test, I adjusted them all the way down to bottom the lifter out and I can make the lifters silent. Of course that so close to holding the valve open I had to do that with a vacuum gauge attached. I backed off this setting and everything looser than this results in this sound. It did make good power at 1/2 turn preload, but it seems like excessive noise to me. This is my first hyd roller cam and thus my experience factor is zero. Currently I'm at 1/2 turn preload. I inspected a Scorpion rocker arms and I couldn't find any reason it would make noise, very smooth and tight. All these parts have less than 5k miles.
These are Comp Cams Pontiac Hyd. Roller Lifter Set CCA-857-16. Do the Morel, Crower, Johnson, or Lunati make less noise?

Did you modify the lifter bore oil hole location? If not, and the lifter has a Chevy body like so many do, then they will bleed the oil out and be noisy because the only time they have to refill is when they are on the base circle, but the oil hole does not line up. So the block needs to be modified by lowering the oil hole 1/4".

Current Comp hyd roller lifters are not Chevy,the oil band is in the correct location UNLESS he got a set of lifters supplied by Morel.The Shaver lifters who is the primary supplier of hyd roller lifters are the correct oil band lifters.This has been beat to death on many threads on this site.FWIW,Tom

I made no mods to the oil bands and have plenty of oil flowing thru the restricted pushrods into the rocker arms. All parts from Butler within the last 9 months. I think solid lifter would be quieter than this properly adjusted.?

you said parts have less than 5k miles, how old are they? comp changed to the "S" type lifters a few years ago, the original ones were more prone to noise than the newer current ones.

roller rockers are known to make sewing machine noise & ive read scorpions are on the louder side. if you can isolate a ticker or convince comp more than one is ticking, they will replace them if you you are the original buyer. comp replaced a set of the original ones i had, even a couple years out of warranty.

Good oil flow to the rockers tells us the plunger reservoir is staying filled up. Reservoir full and lifter not holding tells us there's something wrong with the plunger check valve.
Bad return spring under the plunger and the plunger would stay on bottom all the time. Return spring could be weak (still works dry but weak) and the plunger won't return fast enough for the bottom of the lifter to take in another gulp of oil.

IMO Bogus Lifter or trash in and/or junk check valve
Clay

July 18, 2019 the lifters were purchased from Butler.

All of my lifters appear to make the same amount of noise.

I've been running a Crane hyd roller and HS roller rockers in my ford 460 for 20 years. They are quieter than the previous hydraulic flat tappet cam. I chased lifter tap, even replaced a couple and never cured it on the flat tappet setup.

i would call butler or comp & start a warranty claim if youre sure its the lifters making alll teh noise.

also you could swap out the rockers for some stamped ones as a relatively easy way to confirm the noise is from the lifters...

I noticed when I installed theses lifters that the internal lifter return spring seemed lighter than hyd lifters i had adjusted in the past. When I was at zero preload, I can still push the rocker down with my hand and collapses the lifter, when on the heel of the cam.

Wouldn't bottoming out the lifters resulting in the noise elimination indicate the noise was coming from the lifter? I think I've narrowed down to the lifters, the rockers make zero noise when I bottom the lifters out.

if they arent pumped up with oil, all lifters ive had will do that.

call butler & comp & see what they say about the noise & warranty replacement...

I sent them this thread this morning, I will see what they think. At one point we discussed if the pushrods could be too long. They are 8.850 long. That is what I came up with using their method and an adjustable pushrod. Could the pushrods being .2 long cause this noise?

Comp directions say don't pump lifters up.

Comp directions say don't bottom plungers out. It could damage the working parts: check valve and return spring.

If a cam lobe has more lift than the lifter plunger has travel....You run the risk of damage when the engine isn't running. That would include turning the engine over to adjust valves with the lifters NOT pumped up.

If the check valve retainer gets smashed...The check valve may not let any oil get to the bottom of the lifter.

Don't see a win on this deal
Clay

with 5k miles there should be a good indication of the rocker wear pattern on the valve tip. if pushrods are close to correct length the wear marks should be centered. if they are too long the marks will not be centered but should not cause that kind of noise.

I'm running the Comp/Shaver lifters and Scorpion rockers. Dead quiet from first start to shut down. If you look around you'll see noisy HR lifters from nearly every manufacturer except the expensive Cranes' and every make of engine. Seems like a crap shoot with these things.
Stripes, is the engine still pulling above 5500 or does it nose over noticeably?