I am using a new set of Comp Cams in a B16A head and after only 400 miles, I found the rocker pads got worn in quite a bit right under the base circle (a continuous contact point). I switched over to Mobil 1 synthetic oil and will check the pads again at 1000 miles on the head.

What exactly causes wear on rocker pads and when should I worry?

 

where the cam contacts the rocker can you feel a ridge from wear or is this more of a visual thing, my rockers look that way too, they should be fine if there is no ridge but if there is ,then somehthing is wrong.

 

yup, my head had that prior to installation. Now there is definately a ridge on the VTEC rockers... not on the entire length of the pad, but concentrated more towards the hinged section...

 

too high of a valve spring rate, too small of a valve lash setting, maybe some sort of oiling problem, oh and what comp cam is it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2000ekhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">too high of a valve spring rate, too small of a valve lash setting, maybe some sort of oiling problem, oh and what comp cam is it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

valve spring being too high is 99% not the cause (portflow inners, ITR yellow outers)... there is much stronger out there

valve lash isn't a factor on the middle lobe

when i had pulled the cams, i completely cleaned out the oiling orifices in the cam plates

is it possible that a vtec x-over set too high could cause this? (insufficient seat pressure on LMA's?)

 

I just had the same problem with 57200 comp cams !
After only 80km of race, VTEC cams of the intake camshaft is very damaged and Vtec Rockers are milled about 2 mm !!!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HRED &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just had the same problem with 57200 comp cams !
After only 80km of race, VTEC cams of the intake camshaft is very damaged and Vtec Rockers are milled about 2 mm !!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wow! And any problems since??? Sounds like I'm going to call comp cams

 

Comp cams deosn't care our problems...

i broke my first engine because of compcams single exhaust valve springs are crazy... they don't care...

Now i put very good springs and their cams hit the rocker arms !
look the pics : http://www.hred.net/pics/moteu...1.JPG
http://www.hred.net/pics/moteu...0.JPG

 

whoa thats nasty.
also worn pads really screw with your lift.

 

wtf... you broke a valve right at the keepers? how many miles on the valvetrain?

EDIT:

Just got off the phone with comp cams, he said the warranty department would love to see some pictures. I am going to take some and email them the pics... HRED, maybe you should email them your pics and story. the address is cobert@compcams.com

 

yes the valve broke just at the keeper after only 80km !!!

 

exactly what flaw in the camshaft causes this?

 

Speaking of Comp Cams, I called them the other day to look into their VTEC cams. And they basically told me to give Web Cams a call if I want Honda cams. What does this tell you about either their product or their commitment to making quality sport compact cams?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by StorminMatt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Speaking of Comp Cams, I called them the other day to look into their VTEC cams. And they basically told me to give Web Cams a call if I want Honda cams. What does this tell you about either their product or their commitment to making quality sport compact cams?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I find that very surprising since on three instances of calling them and expecting them to not know crap all about honda cams, they knew exactly what I was talking about when I said LMA, VTEC, b16 lmas, gsr lmas, itr lmas etc...

 

good information. kind of scary but worth it in advance i suppose.

now how do I go about addressing the issue? are my rockers finished or can i have them refinished?

 

interesting... so the first problem is cams and rockers damaged and thats why after the valve broke.
So valve quality cant' be in question and springs cant' be too hard. isn't it ?

 

So essentially the problem is sourced from a hardness/finish issue of the camshafts' lobes...

And the bad shape of the rocker pads will cause the failure at any given point.

Therefore, if I do switch camshafts to stock for the time being, the possibility of damage will still be there since the pads still have the bad wear pattern in them. Hence, the only solution is:

stop driving car
pull cams
pull rockers
refinish rockers
get pissed at mfg
put in stock cams

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by omniman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">unfortunatly this is true.

i wouldnt refinish them. i would buy a used set from someone. im sure there is someoen here that can sell you a used set for 100 bucks or so. also call the manufacturerer maybe they will cover it. i wouldnt hold my breath though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

well good news is i was slighty mistaken. the wear really isn't as bad as I thought. I can barely even feel anything with my fingernail, however you can SEE it. Here are some pics...

*i do not have the photography skills to get good pictures of this!!*









A buddy of mine refinished his rockers by hand using 180 grit, 600, 800, then polishing wheel until he got factory like finish. He used sand paper rolled on a rod and went with the length of the rocker... He has run the engine so far 800 miles with great results... Now like I said you can't really feel much at all on my rockers, but there is an uneven visual wear to them. Would you suggest just leaving it as is?

 

hot tank that head and run it with some stock cams for 1000 miles...then recheck.

 

the problem is your valve lash.

you can fix that by yourself. just get a sanding block with some sandpaper, and start with 320 and work up thru 2000 grit, then use a scotch bright pad to polish it out, and voila, they are brand new. snap...you already wrote about that.

dont leave it like that, unless you have the confidence that when you set the valve lash, you got it directly under the cam where the uneven wear had occured. oh yeah, when you run a new cam, you set the lash before you start the engine, then after 1000miles, you recheck the valve lash to make sure nothing has become skewed. after that, all should kosher...and if anything ***** up, you should be able to hear it.

 

Too tight settings of valve lash can cause that sort of wear on the VTEC lobe as well?

The valve lash was set at 7/9 when assembled and before pulling the cams i had measured it at 6/8.... comp cams asks for 7/9.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by omniman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">FEI,
...none of the after market cam cores are anywhere near oem quality. aftermarket cams have about a 20k-30k life span before the profile shape becomes worn enough to cause major unstability and power losses. a lot of this depends on maintanence and the type of oil used. even small amounts of wear of .002in in some parts of the profile can cause enough unstabilty in the valve train to cause catstophic failures. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I assume your up and coming omnipower cams will set a new standard as far as lifespan/durability is concerned? I hate to think that I could spend $900+ on cams and only be able to use them for 30k miles; I hope to keep my motor alot longer than that.

 

this could also be caused by not properly lubing the cams before running the motor.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gundamgsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">this could also be caused by not properly lubing the cams before running the motor.</TD></TR></TABLE>

the cams and rockers and journals were all VERY WELL lubed with the supplied assembly lube.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by omniman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you sand the rockers when vtec locks on the 3 surfaces wil not be parallel, cause ing the valve lash to be different on the vtec lobe vs the outer lobes.

your rocker arms are very worn and should be replaced. if you put stock cams back in you will damage them too. go find some used rocker arms.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Lets say the rockers were refinished and as you said, they were uneven and had different valve lash on VTEC. Which rockers would have the most wear? A buddy of mine refinished his rockers that had even more wear (by depth) than mine, and his rockers look real good. As bad as the rockers look in the pics, they really don't have any feel to all those scores as it looks...

Obviously, by my concern for this whole issue, I am not trying to build crap here, but a budget has been reached a long time ago, and I'm ready to call it quits on the big cam thing and just throw in some ITR cams and call it a day.

If I refinish these rockers and like someone said keep an eye on them, I'm curious to know which rockers are going to be the ones getting beaten if anything is uneven?