Chevy "soft cams"????
TODD DAVIS
I use to own a 79 full size blazer(loved it!!) one of the problems I
had is the lobes on the cam rounded off. I was told that chevy had a
few years of these "soft cams". Could anyone tell me what all those
years were???? I am now looking at a 82 weebcraft with a chevy
enigine, and don't want to run into the same problem.
If you could e-mail me with the comments, thanks.......
FROM SOMEWHERE IN THIS THING CALLED THE WEB.............
TODD W. DAVIS
Doug Barnes
That wasn't the problem. The problem has some of the lifters were
slightly oversize and would hang in the bores, causing the cam lobes to
grind into dust. My father-in-law went to arbitration on this (GM had
an internal form with the main fields already filled in so they KNOW the
problem exists) and won-they had to replace the cam and lifters in his
82' Camaro with the 305 V-8. He had all the docs for his oil changes
and they'll try to get you on that point.
Steve Winters
Doug,
How many miles did your father-in-law get on his 82 Camaro 305 before
the repair? Mine went about 100K miles before the cam lobe went flat.
I paid for the repair myself, figured GM wouldn't help after that many
miles. Think they'd reimburse me after all that time? <g>
--
Cheers,
Steve
82 Z28
96 K1500
The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not represent those of
my employer or any one else.
Remove "*" from address to reply.
"It riles them to believe that you perceive the web they weave..."
Moody Blues
Joe Shlabotnick
I remember my dad's 1977 Olds Delta 88 with the Chev-built (code L) 350 was
a victim of soft cams as well.
--
[Always be sincere whether you mean it or not.]
Sam
No such thing ... cam failure is caused by lifters that stop rotating or too
much spring pressure, or lack of oil. So, change your oil and filter
regularly and DO NOT use Pennzoil or Quaker State.
........ Sam
--
Sam Solace
Century Performance Center
http://www.centuryperformance.com
Race Parts, Tech, Chat Room for "Racers", Newsgroup, LOW PRICES, the
Internet's FIRST "Online Speed Shop" ... Built by racers, For racers!
(888) 682-5009 Toll-Free order line
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TODD DAVIS wrote in message <6dvdcs$g91$1...@newsd-143.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
Chateau LindaMar
My 81 Blazer did this. When I took it in to the Chevy dealer they fixed it
for free ... no questions asked. However, when I got it back the AC no
longer cooled and they wanted >$200 to fix a leaky hose. I complained +
wrote letters for many months, but after re-filling with Freon a few times
it just started working again. Mark
M & R
Chevy had serious probloms with there camshafts in the late 70's. The hard
coat was breaking down and causing premature cam failure. It was more
common in the heavy doty applications. Sam is partially correct as to the
failure according to Chevy. The cams were already faulty and the spring
pressure was to great for the cam to withstand. Chevy sent out service
bulletins describing the problem to owners of certain vehicles and giving
them a time limit to make necessary repairs. If you missed the boat, so
sorry. Warrenty is an evil corporate thing. If you don't call them on it
,you lose! I work in a GMC truck dealership an dthe past mechanics had
welded up a metel monster with several of the failed cams. It is a
constant reminder o fbogus parts and representation.
Mark S.
--
"My Opinions"
"Constructive Opinions Boast Character, Negetive Promotes Disillusions"
DaveW.
"Don't use Pennzoil or Quaker State." Looks like there's another "old
wife" telling tales ... do you know that Pennzoil is one of the few
lubricant manufacturers using hydrocracked base stock? Do you understand
why that's better? If you don't, then do some studying and come back.
BTW, Pennzoil has (and has had for a many years) BY FAR the largest number
of dealerships, quick lubes, etc. that use Pennzoil as their "house"
lubricant (over 50% of the installed market). This means that unless a
person chooses an "upgrade," they get Pennzoil by default.
Now, let's see ... people who request a specific oil brand are more likely
to care how their car is maintained and, thus, have their oil changed more
often. Since Pennzoil is more often the "default" oil, it's exposed more
frequently to poor maintenance practices, than the supposed "upgrade" oils
such as Castrol and Valvoline.
Given this difference in risk exposure, I really don't think it's very fair
to make anecdotal comparisons of oil brands, even among technicians with
many years of experience. The only fair comparisons are based upon
standardized, industry accepted test data, which is available upon request
from all oil manufacturers. If anyone is interested, I have a list of very
informative websites that provide lots of actual, not anecdotal, data.
And, no, I don't work for Pennzoil. I'm just a car freak who's very
interested in "tribology," the study of lubricating oils. The oil I use?
Chevron Delo 0w-30 Synthetic. In Southern California. Let's go, "old
wives ..."
--
"Be good, or be good at it!"
Sam <Race...@centuryperformance.com> wrote in article
<35066...@news.greatbasin.net>...
> No such thing ... cam failure is caused by lifters that stop rotating or
too
> much spring pressure, or lack of oil. So, change your oil and filter
> regularly and DO NOT use Pennzoil or Quaker State.
>
> ........ Sam
> cut
Sam
Being a shop owner, engine builder, etc.... also having crewed on a
Pennzoil-sponsored car that ran TORCO as the engine oil (strategically
placed in Pennzoil drums). I can tell you from experience that Pennzoil and
Quaker State have the highest paraffin contents of any oil and made the
least HP as well as lowest heat dissipation and highest engine wear of any
engines we dynoed during testing. Is a $200,000 race dyno/data acquisition
system considered qualified data to you?
The reasons for your "lack of maintenance" comparison to "upgrade oils"
is ludicrous. First, Pennzoil and Quaker State license these business as
Franchises. Meaning, they are partly owned by these either of these two oil
companies. Second, just like Coke and Pepsi, in many instances, the oil is
so cheap (or free) to these vendors based upon their Franchise Fees that it
is the easiest to get as being the most profitable.
In the machine shop, the highest concentrations of buildup and sludge,
even in 3,000 mile interval religious changes, Pennzoil and Quaker State
have the worst. The only Valvoline, Castrol, Kendall, etc engines I've ever
seen come in in that condition were usually assaulted by STP (another
Pennzoil company) or driven out of oil to where things burnt up. Still,
there was not the massive buildups as with these two described oils.
Also stated, Pennzoil has recently spent Millions of Dollars redesigning
their refineries to "get with the program" of making oils that are better
for our cars. Less crap and more quality. I actually look forward to this. I
neither work or am affiliated with any oil companies at all either. I'm
stating this from "MY" experience with multi-million dollar race teams, dyno
tests, walk-in customers to my machine shop and my own personal tests and
evaluations. Any time I get a car or engine in, I ask what oils they have
been using. In many cases one can tell by the smell of the oil as to how
well this vehicle has been maintained.
"My Opinion" ... based upon the above resume, states that "I'll Pass" on
those two oils .... All my new engines break-in with Valvoline, my regular
service customers get Valvoline, Castrol, Mobil, Mobil-1, or Torco. Myself,
all my cars use Torco...
Now, for the uneducated public, for which most should not own a
motorized "anything", an oil change is an oil change. To them, one company
makes all the oils and puts them in different colored containers. For this
reason all they look for is simplicity to life. Oil changes are a chore
unwanted and PennStops and Q-Lubes are the places to be.
Like the reason for the bypass at your oil filter connection ... the
REAL reason that is there is for moron safety. Morons that forget to change
the filter, run gear oil because it's laying around in daddy's barn, etc.
When the pressure gets too high from a clogged filter, the oil bypasses the
filter. Smooth move huh? Do you want your oil going through your engine
unfiltered? Hell NO! But Sally & Joe Public are too mechanically ignorant,
even in 1998, to properly maintain their cars .... now we have 100,000 mile
service intervals. The affects of this should be interesting!
Talk to professional engine builders, racers, etc ... you will see, that
all the bypasses on our engines have been removed, plugged, or otherwise
disabled. The only racers not following this guideline are usually plain
ignorant, married to their Daddy's sister or making babies with farm
animals!
.......... Sam
Sam Solace
Century Performance Center
http://www.centuryperformance.com
Race Parts, Tech, Chat Room for "Racers", Newsgroup, LOW PRICES, the
Internet's FIRST "Online Speed Shop" ... Built by racers, For racers!
(888) 682-5009 Toll-Free order line
(702) 770-1057 Tech and Help Line
DaveW. wrote in message <01bd4fbd$b3dc1480$2e66d6ce@dwilke>...
M & R
I too agree with Sam. I have noticed through the years the cars we
serviced ran either Amaco or Valvoline. Val if I had any say so. When we
tore into the engines that we serviced regular basis they looked good
inside. The cars that run the Pennsylvania crudes seem to build up more
sludge or tarnish on the internals. Maybe I am crazy on this next point
but it also seemed that Fords were more suseptable to oil damage by the
Penn. Crudes. GM's were affected but not as much as F.M. CO. Maybe I am
biased but that i ssome experiance I would like to share with you. I
personally use Valvoline and have for several years.
joe...@usit.net
I was always under ther impression that Valvoline was a Pennsylvania
crude. I used to know the difference in the crudes but have forgotten
that over the years. Seems like one is aromatic, and the other
classified as aliphatic, or something to that effect. I have always
favored the Penn. oils myself. and have used quite a bit of valvoline
over the years with very little sludging. Tore apart a Ford one time
that I had just purchased with about 100k miles on it, and the sludge
was molded to the inside of the rocker covers just like a jello mold.
I don't know what they had been using!!!!
Folklore around here has it that Quaker State is about the worst for
sludging....I've never used it for that reason, so don't know from
personal experience. I'm inclined to agree with those, though that
say driving habits and changing habits have more affect on this than
the oil used. A friend services forklifts, and changes the oil on a
monthly schedule rather than engine hours, sometimes changing at low
engine hours in a month, and those engines look new on the inside!
Running the engine long enough to dry up any condensation every time
it is started seems to make sense in helping to prevent sludge. That,
along with reasonable change intervals is probably the key.
But back to the soft cams, we had an 82 Chevy with 305 that ate a
camshaft at 50k miles, There was very little wear evident in the rest
of the engine with the exception of rods and mains, which the debris
from the cam ground up. Cylinder bores were still within spec with
almost no ridge at the top of the cylinders. Pistons had very little
wear and there was no sludging. We had just purchased the vehicle,
used , and had no history of how it had ben serviced, or what type oil
was used.