Engine Knock

[Lightweight BigDog]

Dammit man! That's the first I've seen of that. Were you able to recover all broken pieces? The worst of your problems may not be over. Never heard of the tappet block breaking, but the good thing is that you did find it. Now, just find the rest of the broken pieces.

I was hoping the worst was over! I did find the two pieces. Cam looks good. When you say "the worst may not be over" ............ Please enlighten me. Don't want to put this back together if there is something else I should be inspecting etc. Thanks!

 

[MARV]

With a high lift cam the roller on the lifter can bottom out on the tappet.
Lots of different cams went in those early motors.

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

With a high lift cam the roller on the lifter can bottom out on the tappet.
Lots of different cams went in those early motors.

Don't I have to order the Tappets based on the Cam size? This gets better every f'ing second. I do appreciate the comments etc. :up:

 

[reloaderbmg]

is the roller still working or did it lock up?

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

is the roller still working or did it lock up?

That was essentially the first thing I checked and yes it is still working. Did not seem to be any "slop" in the roller and what was left of the guide.

 

[BadBrad]

Stacy,
What I meant by "the worst may not be over" was if you could not find all the broken metal pieces from the tappet block. If you found them all then you should be ok.

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

Stacy,
What I meant by "the worst may not be over" was if you could not find all the broken metal pieces from the tappet block. If you found them all then you should be ok.

OK gotcha, thanks. Question that lingers though is what was making the knock I was hearing. It was rather loud at time of tear down. Not so sure based on what I am seeing actually caused the knock?

 

[MARV]

Don't I have to order the Tappets based on the Cam size?

NO

you have a S&S 107? if so its the standard block. the SSW motors take a different block to accommodate the offset of the cam chest.

high lift cams usually need a relief cut in the bottom of the block so the roller of the lifter doesnt bottom out. just one of many clearance checks

 

[MARV]

OK gotcha, thanks. Question that lingers though is what was making the knock I was hearing. It was rather loud at time of tear down. Not so sure based on what I am seeing actually caused the knock?

if the cam isnt worn and has no slop i'd throw it back together with a new set of blocks.

if a big ole chunk of tappet block didnt blow a hole in your motor i'd say LUCK IS ON YOUR SIDE! :2thumbs:

 

[Five Five]

One of the lifter blocks broke into two pieces and fell to the bottom of the motor. I have no idea what could have caused this! Metal fatigue? So plan now is to replace both lifter blocks, new rollers and new gasket set .... any thoughts or further opinions would be appreciated. Thanks! The picture is attached.

Stacey.... you should have the .600 cam as I do ... its marked on rear lobe of the cam .... whats the failure mode ?? hell i'm still thinking about that the lifter blocks are machined from billet material and not casted ....something caused fatigue to set in and it failed ....geometry alignment dont know ???

My opinion is clean it all up check for wear score marks on bearing, bushing and mating surfaces ... make sure and check for bent pushrods (roll them on a flat surface, piece of glass) if you remove your oil pump drive gear from pinion shaft make sure the recess on the gear is facing the flywheels when re-assembling ..... if you need another cam I have a slightly used one in great condition .600

put it all together and run it.


:2thumbs:
"five"

 

[Five Five]

Thinking about it could it possibly be that the lifter spun breaking the lifter block .... happens on twin cams.

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

if the cam isnt worn and has no slop i'd throw it back together with a new set of blocks.

if a big ole chunk of tappet block didnt blow a hole in your motor i'd say LUCK IS ON YOUR SIDE! :2thumbs:

Well this is new to S&S as well. Was in contact with the tech department, sent them the pic and it stumped them as well. Long story short, they are taking care of me VERY well. I am sending the Tappet Block to them once I am up running again for analysis. Great people at S&S!!!!!!

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

Thinking about it could it possibly be that the lifter spun breaking the lifter block .... happens on twin cams.

Yeah that thought crossed my mind as well. Do not know what else may have made it break out like that. S&S shipped parts today and hopefully will have on Thursday.

 

[MARV]

Well this is new to S&S as well. Was in contact with the tech department, sent them the pic and it stumped them as well. Long story short, they are taking care of me VERY well. I am sending the Tappet Block to them once I am up running again for analysis. Great people at S&S!!!!!!

GOOD DEAL!

what are they sending you?

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

GOOD DEAL!

what are they sending you?

All 4 Tappets and both blocks!

 

[Five Five]

Well this is new to S&S as well. Was in contact with the tech department, sent them the pic and it stumped them as well. Long story short, they are taking care of me VERY well. I am sending the Tappet Block to them once I am up running again for analysis. Great people at S&S!!!!!!

:up:good deal ....

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

OK gotcha, thanks. Question that lingers though is what was making the knock I was hearing. It was rather loud at time of tear down. Not so sure based on what I am seeing actually caused the knock?

I had a coworker explain to me the possible knock situation. I will see if I can get it right. Since the guide was busted out and the tappet was not able to build up oil pressure, it is possible the tappet "floated" especially as the motor became warm and oil viscosity thinned. Then the knock was the tappet against the cam itself? Hmmmmm ...... sounds possible and even logical??? Your thoughts?

 

[woodbutcher]

sounds logical but still doesn't explain what caused it to shatter. unless it did rotate. but that seems like would have caused grooves on the lobe of the cam with the roller being sideways.

 

[Brew]

You may want to drain that oil and I would pull the crank case plug and flush out the crank to make sure no little particals may have made it's way into the case area... Just a thought.

 

[Lightweight BigDog]

sounds logical but still doesn't explain what caused it to shatter. unless it did rotate. but that seems like would have caused grooves on the lobe of the cam with the roller being sideways.

I'm leaning towards metal fatigue and 20,000+ miles on a hard tail. Looking back I got slammed by a "repair" the wonderful DOT here in Indiana performed on the highway. Shortly after that is when I started to hear the knocking. The hard tails have to be harder on ....... well pretty much everything. My thoughts anyway.