Guniea Pig for Cam and Lifter change EBay 2010 5.7

[MudDog2007]

Here is the kit I used . https://www.ebay.com/itm/255829095678

I bought a 2010 SLT with 178000 miles on it. Lifter tick on #7 very obvious. I figured what the heck, Im retired and a decent mechanic.

Jumped in and bought the kit and so far , approx, 100 miles on it, all feels good. Its not for everybody, but I enjoy the work so for me it was an adventure.

The teardown went well. Pulling the cam out , #7 Exhaust lobe had the slightest bit of rough surface, so tick had not been going on long but was loud. The 2 lifters for #7 Looked OK, but had a different look in the view hole than all the rest. Pic below.

This was an economy build as nothing in the engine had exhibited any issues. Cooling was good, Oil Press cold 52, warming to 40 at idle. Cylinder heads were clean with good tan color. Timing chain was tight and tensioner strong, so if it wasnt in the kit I didnt do it other than new Plugs.


I tore the engine down and laid all parts out in sequence to be sure all went back as it came off.


The kit came with full gasket set and new bolts. Only 2 gaskets were wrong and it was the 2 oil passage gaskets on the intake manifold as the ones supplied were significantly larger than the factory ones.



The box as received from LAbWorks



box contents



Good Looking Cam. Not a single mark to identify it.


Lost the photos of the new Lifters but they look same and included new holders.

The #7 lifter MSD holes were partially blocked internally. None of the other 3 sets showed the same condition. Have no idea if this was the problem.

 

[Hagar1]

Here is the kit I used . https://www.ebay.com/itm/255829095678

I bought a 2010 SLT with 178000 miles on it. Lifter tick on #7 very obvious. I figured what the heck, Im retired and a decent mechanic.

Jumped in and bought the kit and so far , approx, 100 miles on it, all feels good. Its not for everybody, but I enjoy the work so for me it was an adventure.

The teardown went well. Pulling the cam out , #7 Exhaust lobe had the slightest bit of rough surface, so tick had not been going on long but was loud. The 2 lifters for #7 Looked OK, but had a different look in the view hole than all the rest. Pic below.

This was an economy build as nothing in the engine had exhibited any issues. Cooling was good, Oil Press cold 52, warming to 40 at idle. Cylinder heads were clean with good tan color. Timing chain was tight and tensioner strong, so if it wasnt in the kit I didnt do it other than new Plugs.

View attachment 531593
I tore the engine down and laid all parts out in sequence to be sure all went back as it came off.

View attachment 531594
The kit came with full gasket set and new bolts. Only 2 gaskets were wrong and it was the 2 oil passage gaskets on the intake manifold as the ones supplied were significantly larger than the factory ones.

View attachment 531595

The box as received from LAbWorks

View attachment 531596

box contents

View attachment 531597

Good Looking Cam. Not a single mark to identify it.

View attachment 531598
Lost the photos of the new Lifters but they look same and included new holders.

The #7 lifter MSD holes were partially blocked internally. None of the other 3 sets showed the same condition. Have no idea if this was the problem.

"Blocked internally" ..... I have a bad case of lifter tick. No engine miss or any of that but my fuel economy went into the toilet in a big way. Down from 23 to 12 MPG. That hurts a lot with Canadian gas prices.
What I'm leading up to, it is pretty clear that the tick is an oil pressure supply problem. I pulled an engine apart that I plan on rebuilding some day and I discovered the oil gallery that one of the front main bolts went through, was quite congested with a thick grease like material. Something along the lines of Lubriplate.
That got me thinking, should I do a rebuild on my donor engine or should I do a thorough "in frame" cleansing of my existing engine. I am retired and I have both the skill set and the tools to do it. I cut every filter and use a magnetic drain plug so, so far, I have not detected any metal. Pulling the oil pan, front cover and heads as well as the MDS solenoids and then soak the oil galleries with oven cleaner, I'm thinking it should loosen up any crud and then blow it all out with a pressure washer.
What are the thought of the group on this?

 

[Wild one]

"Blocked internally" ..... I have a bad case of lifter tick. No engine miss or any of that but my fuel economy went into the toilet in a big way. Down from 23 to 12 MPG. That hurts a lot with Canadian gas prices.
What I'm leading up to, it is pretty clear that the tick is an oil pressure supply problem. I pulled an engine apart that I plan on rebuilding some day and I discovered the oil gallery that one of the front main bolts went through, was quite congested with a thick grease like material. Something along the lines of Lubriplate.
That got me thinking, should I do a rebuild on my donor engine or should I do a thorough "in frame" cleansing of my existing engine. I am retired and I have both the skill set and the tools to do it. I cut every filter and use a magnetic drain plug so, so far, I have not detected any metal. Pulling the oil pan, front cover and heads as well as the MDS solenoids and then soak the oil galleries with oven cleaner, I'm thinking it should loosen up any crud and then blow it all out with a pressure washer.
What are the thought of the group on this?

I'd use diesal instead of oven cleaner.Oven cleaner is a bit rough on any bearing it happens to sit on for a few minutes,or at the very least flush it afterwards quickly with diesal.

https://www.amazon.ca/Moroso-61820-Engine-Brush-Kit/dp/B000CONYTS

 

[Hagar1]

I'd use diesal instead of oven cleaner.Oven cleaner is a bit rough on any bearing it happens to sit on for a few minutes,or at the very least flush it afterwards quickly with diesal.

https://www.amazon.ca/Moroso-61820-Engine-Brush-Kit/dp/B000CONYTS

Yes, I agree, diesel fuel would be much less aggressive than oven cleaner. What do you think of my idea over all? The lifter problem is most definitely an oil supply / pressure issue. I am not detecting any abnormal wear thus far.
Interestingly, the "donor" engine that I was planning to rebuild, despite a wiped out cam lobe, showed no indication of metal fragments. If I would have known it was so good, I wouldn't have taken the bottom end apart. Did not even show any "wear" on the bearings.

 

[Wild one]

Yes, I agree, diesel fuel would be much less aggressive than oven cleaner. What do you think of my idea over all? The lifter problem is most definitely an oil supply / pressure issue. I am not detecting any abnormal wear thus far.
Interestingly, the "donor" engine that I was planning to rebuild, despite a wiped out cam lobe, showed no indication of metal fragments. If I would have known it was so good, I wouldn't have taken the bottom end apart. Did not even show any "wear" on the bearings.

It's not a bad idea to clean out as many passages as you can while the engines apart and on an engine stand. I'll agree it's an oil supply issue,but not that it's a pressure issue.When they moved the cam tunnel up,and stuck an oil passage for the vvt under the cam,they caused an oil supply issue,as not only is the cam farther away from the crank,the vvt passage also blocks alot of the oil that's flung off the crank from getting to the cam lobes. Pushing more oil through the system via a higher volumn pump,still doesn't really put any more oil on the cam lobes,the only way to get more oil onto the lobes is by raising the idle rpm,and don't baby the engine,it doesn't hurt to drive a hemi a bit aggressively. If you're doing an mds delete,remove the mds solenoids and replace them with Ma Mopars mds delete plugs,and then drive it like you stole it periodically.

 

[Hagar1]

It's not a bad idea to clean out as many passages as you can while the engines apart and on an engine stand. I'll agree it's an oil supply issue,but not that it's a pressure issue.When they moved the cam tunnel up,and stuck an oil passage for the vvt under the cam,they caused an oil supply issue,as not only is the cam farther away from the crank,the vvt passage also blocks alot of the oil that's flung off the crank from getting to the cam lobes. Pushing more oil through the system via a higher volumn pump,still doesn't really put any more oil on the cam lobes,the only way to get more oil onto the lobes is by raising the idle rpm,and don't baby the engine,it doesn't hurt to drive a hemi a bit aggressively. If you're doing an mds delete,remove the mds solenoids and replace them with Ma Mopars mds delete plugs,and then drive it like you stole it periodically.

I agree with you on the inadequate oil supply. I'm still leaning towards some restriction in the oil galleries because why else would this "tick" not show up until the engine get to a higher mileage. I am basing my suspicions on the almost "grease like" material in the oil gallery where one of the front main bolt goes through. That stuff is thick and sort of sticky. My assumption is that if it were to form or collect in some of the smaller galleries, it would definitely create the problem.

 

[Wild one]

I agree with you on the inadequate oil supply. I'm still leaning towards some restriction in the oil galleries because why else would this "tick" not show up until the engine get to a higher mileage. I am basing my suspicions on the almost "grease like" material in the oil gallery where one of the front main bolt goes through. That stuff is thick and sort of sticky. My assumption is that if it were to form or collect in some of the smaller galleries, it would definitely create the problem.

Everything wears out eventually,and Chrysler is a bit cheap on their cams and the hardening of the lobes,throw in the fact their valve springs are also a bit on the light side,allowing the lifter to start bouncing after the springs start to fatigue,and voila the cam lobes start to wear

 

[Hagar1]

Everything wears out eventually,and Chrysler is a bit cheap on their cams and the hardening of the lobes,throw in the fact their valve springs are also a bit on the light side,allowing the lifter to start bouncing after the springs start to fatigue,and voila the cam lobes start to wear

If my info is correct, cams and lifters are made by Melling. The 5.7 is an anomaly as far as life and endurance is concerned, I've ran chrysler engines in various vehicles that went 300,000 plus without issue. I think the engineers dropped the ball on this one.

 

[Wild one]

They used to be made by Melling,but i don't know if they still have the contract or not now.FCA is famous for grinding on their sub contractors to the point they end up changing contractors fairly often,as the contractor either goes bankrupt,or won't renew the contract when it's up.I haven't seen anything pointing to Melling being their cam and lifter contractor lately,i know they were also the oil pump supplier several years ago,but not sure if they still supply the pumps now either.

 

[Hagar1]

Grinding their contractors is not unique to chrysler, they all do it. It is part of doing business. It is often that the vendor is the one trying shortcuts that ultimately cause some problems. I've seen that first hand.