The Cal-look Lounge

This is an Engle FK 87 cam and the lifters are Udo Becker.
One of the tappet is completely flat and one lifter is also destroyed.
The engine ran only on the dyno !
Have you ever seen this before ?[attachment=1]

Hi Freddy,

I would ask how are you doing but regarding the topic i assume not so good... ::) ::)

Was this with a set of lightweight lifters from Udo?

There have been others before you with this experience i can tell you.

Try to talk about the issue with Udo,see what he comes up with...Off course it's not sure that the issue is at the lifters,many other variables are important into the game,firing up and running in the engine was that with the dual springs(Udo's instruction says duals on no running in needed) on and wich ones at what spring rate? What oil did you use?Did you load the engine havy on the dyno when running in? Did you check the radius on the tappet of the lifters?Was it a brand new camshaft?

Best regards Steve

Have you got pictures of the lifter?

Yes I have,
with two sets of those lifters actually!

My cousin's engine is apart now, we used Cb lifters in his...
All looks like new..
wish i bought those  from the start  >:(

Oh, they destroyed a CB cam and a webcam of mine as well:
lobes were non existant

I have had an fk8 go flat with scat lifters, it was my first and only experience, i put it down to very poor quality oil, well actually its probably more to do with the fact that my oil selection (castrol semi synth) was not suitable for application, after running mineral oil high in zinc levels i havnt had a problem, i just broke my cam in on my new motor using plenty of cam shield single springs and 20 mins running with the millers high zinc. a mate of mine has run an fk87 with cb lightweight 2 piece lifters running valvoline vr1 and a one shot zddp additive, after a full season of long dyno time and racing he pulled the motor down over the winter, the cam and lifters were like new. I feel your pain flat cams are heartbreaking.

Me 2, i used high quality oil and did the regular break in sequence to be sure,
but no luck...
first time there was a fault with the hardening of the lifters i was told.
second cam... exactly same... and i was fucking paranoid not to do anything wrong...
I even did the run in with single springs...
will go for CB's next time for sure

not every body had luck whit the CB ones as well.
mine last for 20 min.
not sure what caused the probleme.
could be the coil bind that i had that damadged the lifter.
but we never turned the engine over so not sure if that was the probleme that caused the damadge.

henk!!!

Hey Henk,
that's an important measurement you forgot !
i did check for coil bind, but nonetheless

follower to case clearance? would have been more serve then just that i would have though if it hadnt of cleared....

bummer :( i thought tool steels where the be all and end all of lifter/cam issues :(

As Peter mentioned,coil binding is one factor you should never overlook,as is the end play between the lifter and the case !
Otherwise the CB-lifters are very good,not one failure here! They have the correct radius too.

What's up Freddy did you get any info from Udo about your lifters?

Just asking.

Best regards Steve

Checked the follower to case clearance as well..
it was all fine..
shit happens i suppose  ::)

My cb light weight lifter years ago

http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,3960.0.html

bought a new webcam cam and used theres lifter no problem and after a upgrade to jpm cam his lifter also without problems

John

that is also how my two lifters looked.
i know that it is important to check for coil bind,and we saw it before we turned the engine over so that is why i'm not sure that this was the cause.
we did not turned over by hand,before iwe changed the springs with the VW650.
i guess that lifters will be an discussion that last for ever,some has luck with a brand others don't.
i have lifters from Udo now and no probleme so far.

henk!!!

i am sorry, but the problem can't be Udo's lifters alone here as different people have different experiences. just want to point this out, as i feel that people that try to make quality parts (what Udo's lifters are, again in my opinion, among others) don't always get the credit for doing that. there is however an important 'match' between lifter and cam concering hardness (make/brand/...) and how the valve train is build and adjusted is also critical.

did a valve or rocker show any signs of seising maybe?

Agreed. Most if not all times it's not the lifter at fault. Many things can cause this and knowing the signs of a problem durring the break in important so you can shut it off quickly. 1 major important thing overlooked when building a motor is that all the lifters spin and move up and down freely since a lifter that sticks will not turn when she warms up and that becomes a dead lifter. Many other things also to look for.
I've seen many different lifters fail including the CBs I've seen them cup on the face and even break in half. We're they the lifters fault, I doubt it but since I didn't build the motors I can't say.
I've yet to have a single lifter failure except for wear or pitting. I've used all of them. CB, Udos, Scat, Wiesmen, Norris ect. Bye far the best I've used it the Thorsten P. tool steel.