Fuel pump pushrod

[pushrod]

I recently replaced the fuel pump in the 383 in my 65 Belvedere. It quit pumping Thursday and when I pulled it the pushrod was worn 3/8". It has a Comp ustom ground .510 lift cam with 248/248 duration, with only about 1500 miles on it. Do I need a bronze tip pushrod to compensate for the harder cam or is there another issue? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Meep-Meep]

I doubt your cam is any harder than the original or other aftermarket types so just replacing the push rod with a new one should be the end of that. I have had this happen and I'm really sure the problem was a 30+ yr old push rod that was well worn to the point that the case hardening on the tip was gone. Also the guide in the block can be worn, which probably doesn't make the situation any better.

 

[pushrod]

Thanks MeepMeep. The motor is all original exvept for Eddy heads and he cam and has only about 2500 miles total but I will check the block.

 

[doug glenn]

don't mean to alarm you Pushrod , but I had the same thing happen on fresh 383 (500 mi). Ground 1/4 - 3/8 in. off pushrod. Pulled the engine apart & found that all that metal debri got into my bearings. Replaced all bearings & cleaned engine really good before re-assembly.

 

[pushrod]

Thanks Doug for the reminder. I drained and flushed the oil, replaced filter but did not drop the pan to inspect the bearings,now I can only hope that works since I drove the car about 10 mi.

 

[5wndwcpe]

From posts on other boards that I've read, this has long been a problem with replacement pushrods. The most common fix was to find a used original in good shape.

 

[scotts74birds]

I believe fuel pump pushrods are only hardened in the tip. Once they wear beyond that, they might as well be erasers. We are only talking hundreds of thousandths of an inch for the heat treating. Or "surface" heat treating.

 

[pushrod]

THe pushrod was the original one as this motor came from a wrecked 69 super bee with only 125 mi. on it and had been sitting in the floor of a friends shop since 1969.

 

[Cranky]

Did you pre-lube the engine. I usually put some light grease on those things. It helps make them stay in place when it's installed plus it helps it work until oil gets to it but I also prime the engine before start up....

 

[69hemibeep]

There seems to be an epidemic of this thing happening. I may be way off base with this but that rod works pretty much mike a solid lifter and now that zinc has been removed from oil? Just a thought

 

[moparstuart]

call hughes engines and get the hardens fuel push rod , the happend to me and the mopar rods are not hardened and wear badly . Also this ate my main bearing also my front main only had 3500 miles on it and was warn into the brass because of this fuel push rod issue . hughes also has a big magnet oil pan drain plug get it also .

this was a new mopar performance rod and only had 3500 miles on it

 

[clemul]

I know its an old post but i believe this is an important thread and I wanted to thank Moparstuart for his post. Just ordered pushrod and oil drain plug today...Thanks for sharing hard earned knowledge, by posting you have probably saved others a lot of grief...

 

[440beep]

I'm glad this was refreshed. I just ordered the Comp Cams bronze tip push rod for my Edelbrock cam and now I'm starting to wonder if I should get the Hughes push rod.......

 

[clemul]

From the little I read while researching pushrods, I don't believe the bronze tip is compatible with cast cams...maybe others who have real experience can answer that better for you...

 

[Jonnyuma]

I know zippity-do-dah about metallurgy, what's compatible with what, and so on. But thinking outside the box a little here...some gunsmiths and custom (gun) shops offer heat treating as one of their services. A small part like a fuel pump pushrod should be no problem for them.
Also, there are companies around the country who offer Cera-coat, or C-coat, which is a hard ceramic coating used on firearms and automotive applications. From what I understand (from speaking w the owner of a franchise here in OR) this stuff is super hard and durable.
Seems like one or the other of these options might work.
Any thoughts or nay-sayers?

 

[snakeoil24]

Bronze tip is for roller cams

 

[440beep]

Then that's what I need. This place is great!!

Bronze tip is for roller cams

 

[brasil]

..but check those bronze tip pushrods once in a while..because of the softness of the bronzetip they will wear out fast. Same with the bronze distributor gears in Ford /Chevy engines....with rollercam conversions ... the cam ( billetsteel ) eats the cam gears...

Greetings Juergen

 

[HT413]

I know zippity-do-dah about metallurgy, what's compatible with what, and so on. But thinking outside the box a little here...some gunsmiths and custom (gun) shops offer heat treating as one of their services. A small part like a fuel pump pushrod should be no problem for them.
Also, there are companies around the country who offer Cera-coat, or C-coat, which is a hard ceramic coating used on firearms and automotive applications. From what I understand (from speaking w the owner of a franchise here in OR) this stuff is super hard and durable.
Seems like one or the other of these options might work.
Any thoughts or nay-sayers?

I have almost no engine experience but I do have a degree in metallurgy (fwiw). In roller and billit cam applications, the bronze cam gear and bronze tip fuelpump pushrod is supposed to be sacrificial. If you run one, you're supposed to accept the fact that they wear down and are to be replaced from time to time. If you put a hardened tip in there you risk damaging the cam and ruining your motor. I could be wrong, maybe there is something I'm not thinking of, but that is my understanding, anyway.

 

[snakeoil24]

Bronze tip fuel pump rod is for roller cams. The new technology from Crane uses a special steel that does not require the bronze tip on roller cams. A good source is Crane for new wear materials.