[Brabbit68]

Hey guys, I have an odd valve train noise that I'm not sure is tied to my 284xe comp cam or not. I've heard these XE cams can create a lot of noise when the valves are slamming shut but just want to make sure it's not anything else.

If you all could take a listen and let me know what you think that would be much appreciated. It's a 455 bored 60 over with 6x - 8 heads and comp cam xe 284 cam and comp lifters (almost seems like a noisy lifter?).

https://youtube.com/shorts/s6ocKEv_y...RdcY3DNp8HRx4z

Thanks,

[Half-Inch Stud]

Cannot figure the issue/problem with that video.
Basics:
Check for any loose rockers, and that would point to a worn lobe.
Ask why there is no oil shooting out the PS rockers. Any oil flow to them?!
Perhaps a relash on the suspect rocker/pushrod/lifter?

[steve25]

Doesn't really matter that it's a overbored 455 , other details are need from you.

1). Was this Cam & lifter set up just put in?

2) if not then how many miles are on that combo of Cam and lifters?

3) does this noise start off as soon as you start the motor when it's cold, or does the car need to be driven to warm up the oil.?

On that passenger side bank of the motor with the valve cover off there should be oil getting kicked out and getting all over the place at your idle speed that I am seeing there, and I can't see that your getting the needed amount of oil delivery, at least from the position you took this video from above the motor.

4) do you know what brand rockers you have on there , Comp Cams roller tip by any chance?

5) do you know if these are 1.5 or 1.65 rockers on it ?

6) are there whitness marks on the retainers that show that the rockers are hitting the retainer ?

[78w72]

Hard to hear any ticking in that vid, might be the mic on the camera/phone or its so faint its not picking it up... every computer/phone speaker is different so maybe I just cant hear the tick on my PC.

Need to check adjustment then possibly check again after 100 or so miles to see if things got loose again indicating a cam/lifter wear problem. Also if they are newer lifters, there could be some gunk inside thats somewhat common. Have also heard too thick of oil can contribute to hyd lifter noise, I was told to run 10/30 in my street clearance engine by comp & SD perf.

As for the XE cams being noisy, thats on a case by case basis in my experience, they dont all make noise... a friend ran the xe284 for years with no noises and I have the XE268 with comp supplied lifters (& even comp roller tip rockers ) There is zero ticking or other noises with this cam after 15+ years of use, none of the reported roller tip rocker issues either and they are almost 35 years old with close to 100k miles or more. Im sure the fast ramp of XE can be a problem in some situations, but they dont all do it.

Also the rockers look to be full roller types, not just roller tip, you can see the bearing fulcrum at times in the vid. Need to do some more checking or try another vid, if the noise is on the driver side area, maybe pull that valve cover and try to show the pass side too so we can see what the lifters/push rods are doing?

[Formulas]

I would make sure all pushrods are spinning good readjust the valves and drive the heck out of it ...

Also a possible noise source could be worn rocker arms if those are not crowers

How do you like how she runs with XE284 and 6X-8 heads

[Brabbit68]

Thanks all for the great feedback and support, really great community here.

That said here is my answer to everyone:

The sound is more like a metal "tinging" noise that happens when warm and at low rpm idle (below 1,000 rpm). Like a very high pitch valve closing. Oil PSI is good. Lifters are comp cam to match and rockers are new PRW full rollers 1.52 (sound was there even on the stamped rockers).

The crazy part is the car runs great. The power is perfect and it idles fairly smooth (for a cam it's size), it's really just this odd high pitch tick at low rpm idle.

I'm wondering if it just needs a good flush and some miles on it because it did sit for quite some time while it was in the body shop?

Thanks again all, really appreciate the feedback.

[steve25]

So this noise was not taking place before the car went into the body shop ?

I hope this is not the case but I have seen workers in a body shop take a customers car out and beat the crap out of it when the Boss was not around.

[Tim Corcoran]

I see your valve cover is off. Oil should be squirting everywhere. What's up with that?

[Brabbit68]

Well, I found the issue, the keeper came out of the lifter and the lifter cap was the noise I was hearing. I can't find the keeper anywhere and no signs of damage anywhere so I'm going to assume that keeper is in the bottom of the pan (or long gone on a past oil change).

Thoughts on replacing lifters and push rods and letting it ride?

As for the oil not squirting everywhere, it's always been a little light on the oil at the top end but oil psi has always been good, been thinking I just need to go to a 10-30 instead of the 10-40, that and I'm sure this isn't the only bad lifter, just the first to break.

What do you all think?

Thanks again.

[Tim Corcoran]

Definitely go with 10-30 unless you have large bearing clearances

[Brabbit68]

Thanks, you see any issues with just replacing the lifters and letting it go?

[Dragncar]

Can you buy a lifter and use the keeper or the rest of the internal parts ? That lifter body is mated to that cam. If you can "rebuild" that lifter you will not have to break anything in.
And we all know what a crap shoot that is today.
PRW roller rockers have had plenty of issues themselves. They would not be on any engine of mine.

[NeighborsComplaint]

Install a snap ring from the hardware store in place of the wire retainer and reuse the lifter. It wouldn't hurt to install them on all the lifters for peace of mind.

[steve25]

The only reason those wire rings only pop out is when the valves float from inadequate valve spring pressure for the rpm the motor was taken up to, and or the adjustment was not right.

That clip is now hopefully stuck to the oil pump pickup screen and I don't think one will fit thru the oil pan drain hole to come out .

Do you know if this motor is still running on the stock valve springs or have new ones been installed to match the needs of that Cam?

[Brabbit68]

The springs were chosen to match the cam and lifter combo, I do remember having issues with getting lash set correctly which is most likely what caused this. If I can't find a good keeper I'll bite the bullet and go with some new lifters and try to magnet fish the keeper out (assuming it hasn't fallen out already).

I think overall that's my best option at this point, because it doesn't make sense to rebuild the whole motor when no other issues are there and there are no signs of damage to anything else in the engine.

I think I dodged a bullet overall in this one (assuming the new lifter break in goes successfully).

[steve25]

The lifter may be ok.
As posted get an internal C clip ( you will need a tool to install it) and then do this .

Set the lifter preload while you have the valley open, then pull all the spark plugs out and kill the power to the distributor.

Now have someone crank the motor as you watch that lifter.
If it rotates like the others then the lifter and the cam lobe it’s on are both still good.

Look over all the lifters also because any that are spinning slower then others have had a questionable break in .

[P@blo]

The 18mm snap ring is fastenal sku 35210 for ¢11

[Half-Inch Stud]

Here's a tought; Old good habit of mine is to replace Lifter retainers with C-Clips from old lifters.

Aside from oetty-sounding improvements, itsa good practice for folks that lash-up at the Lifter max -1/4 or 1/2 turn.

Lifter base and Lobe may be happy, so keep-em happy.