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Possible blown head gasket?

Comp cams.
That's about all I needed to see.
Widespread reports, spanning several years now, of failed lifters and cams from that company.
Too many for it to be coincidence - and I've witnessed one such failure myself with them.
I'll never use them again for anything.
 
Since you do sample, i wonder if it is visible to see the zinc ppm is coming down over time in these oils?
 
That's about all I needed to see.
Widespread reports, spanning several years now, of failed lifters and cams from that company.
Too many for it to be coincidence - and I've witnessed one such failure myself with them.
I'll never use them again for anything.
Their customer service used to suck and so did the tech and shipping department. Don't know what it's like now because I quit using them a long time ago.
 
It "smooths" it out, kinda like polishing, to enable movement within the bore by the lifter.
After micing all the lifters, I'll take one (if they are all the same) and and do a trail fit in all the bores.
 
The burnishing ball is smooth, it re-forms the metal so the lifter bore is round again.
I don't think the lifter bores get much wear, I think the holes get out of round after many years of the block heat cycling?
If the lifter bore are lightly rusted or the main oil galley enlarged, after using the burnishing ball, do a light hone of the lifter bore with a small hone like used on wheel cylinders to make sure the bore is smooth (and round.) I don't know if you can still buy oversized lifters for a badly worn lifter bore, but they can be sleeved if needed.
 
My guess is it's the friction modifier that you
used. I use Castrol GTX in 3 different engines
and none have experienced valvetrain failures.
2 of those have 50k and 1 went for 125k
before a valve job was done. There was no
to very little cylinder ridge, and no abnormal
cam or lifter wear.
 
The burnishing ball is smooth, it re-forms the metal so the lifter bore is round again.
I don't think the lifter bores get much wear, I think the holes get out of round after many years of the block heat cycling?
If the lifter bore are lightly rusted or the main oil galley enlarged, after using the burnishing ball, do a light hone of the lifter bore with a small hone like used on wheel cylinders to make sure the bore is smooth (and round.) I don't know if you can still buy oversized lifters for a badly worn lifter bore, but they can be sleeved if needed.

The Lifters Bores wear badly.... very common problem.
Next Time you have a Block apart..... roll it over and shine a light at the bottom of the Lifter Bores directly below where the Oil Gallery intersects...... get the light in the correct angle and you should be able to "see" that "half moon shaped" wear pattern worn into the Lifter Bore in that very short sealing area between the Oil gallery and bottom of the Bore.

It depends on the Block.... and how much 'wear' is there... but the amount of that "half moon" wear pattern in the bottom of the Lifter Bores can be a good indicator as to how well an HR style Lifter will seal against the increased V/Spring pressures HR Cams require ?
and,
why... the first thing all X-Brand Manufacturers did when designing Blocks specifically for HR Cams was to Lengthen the Lifter Bores for better sealing against the HR's intended higher V/Spring pressures.
 
So how does this tool "round" the bores without increasing their size?. If the bores are out of round, the unworn portion didn't get smaller in dimension. I could see it making them somewhat more round and increasing their size. But then what lifter to bore clearance do you end up with?
Doug
 
If one of sixteen lifters is bad and the other fifteen look "fine" odds are slim it is something in common, like the oil. Odds are more in favor of it being something unique to that failed lifter.
 
I recently bought a 383 4bbl engine it ran rough, I thought that the heat damper was stuck (Not) tore it down this is what I found.
Screenshot_20220309-154427_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20220309-154408_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20220309-154351_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20220309-154333_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20220309-154322_Gallery.jpg
 
By the amount of crud in that 383 it sorta looks like it could be allowed to kill/flatten a Lifter after a gazzillion miles ?

I also noticed that but i thought i am seeing that wrong and that is the casting...lol.
But that is a lot of crud indeed.
 
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