<VV> CAM WEAR

[lechevrier at earthlink.net]

I am posting to verify the not moving much rocker observation --

Once a hydraulic lifter cam lobe starts to go bad, it generally goes bad all the way and very quickly, like before you ever have a chance to really notice it is going bad -- a special 'designed in' feature of hydraulic lifters.

And, it is a chicken and egg question about what caused the failure -- lifters, cam, or oil -- about the same time they introduced the new formula oils, there were a whole lot of bad lifters just come onto the market, courtesy of group outsourcing to the lowest bidder, and everyone, regardless of brand, had bad lifters (poor heat treat on the face), and GM has always had more than it's fair share of cam failures.

Would those bad lifters have survived break-in with a higher ZDDP level oil? Nobody knows.

Google 'engine break in' for a wide variety of expert opinions on the subject.

Bill Strickland