Interesting flat tappet pre break-in treatment.

[machine shop tom]

I ran across this post in the Hotrodders.com forum, in a thread about cam break-in:

"71 Javelin,
Chances are you will be okay.I have seen failures anywhere from 2 dyno pullls to 90 days or more.The cam is more likely to fail during initial break in.A lot of the failures I have seen are from bad grinds.Comp and Crane buy from the same cam blank manufacture .These are Engine Power and Camshaft Machine.The initals EP are cast into the shaft is the best way to tell.Camshaft machine doesn't mark. Several months ago I met John Callies who once owned Callies crankshaft .He now owns Camshaft Machine.His suggestion before installing a new cam was to
a.visual inspect for chatter and miss machining.
b.clean the shaft with mineral spirits and dry
c.use a hand held propane torch and heat the shaft to dispurse any moisture.
d.spray the cam with graphite
e.select a quality lifter since the market is being saturated with off shore lifters that are soft.
f. make sure on startup the engine is ready to run at 1200 rpm no idleing allowed for 20 minutes.
Our failures have went from 12 a month to 5 or less in the last 6 mths.
Hope this helps"

This is the thread:

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/shell-r ... 07541.html

I think this may be a beneficial treatment to do to a flat-tappet cam before installing. Any thoughts from the engine pros here?

Thanks,

tom

[Cogburn]

I wash in mineral spirits and then hot water and blow dry. Then spray with Pioneer graphite and coat with rev-lube. No problems. If the springs are stiff I'll put in break in springs. I use Brad Penn racing oil or rotella for break in. Anyone have anything better?

[rmcomprandy]

Besides the normal instalation prepping and spraying the cam with liquid Moly spray, I have had NO failures since I started using the Joe Gibbs "BR" oil for break-in. I also use light springs for the initial break-in.

[dwilliams]

I'm still using the black moly grease from Isky or Comp. I put it on with a brush.

Anything other than a stock cam, I dump some GM Engine Oil Supplement in with the initial oil fill.

[cmw]

Using moly or graphite is not good for the engine, it is like throwing dirt in the engine. Put some moly or graphite on you finger and rub it on a rod or main bearing and see the scathes on the bearing. You need assemble the engine with a non moly assembly lube and then use a break-in oil. CMW Oil Company has assembly lube and a special formulated break-in oil.

[CRE2004]

Bob,
What are your thoughts on commercially available products like Clevite Bearing Guard and Crane's assembly lube, zep cam lube and similar products? How do your assembly lubes differ?

How does your fastener lube compare to ARP moly in terms of a friction coefficient? I don't like the moly lube in an engine and use it conservatively on fasteners, but unfortunately, there are few alternatives since most torque values are specified with it. We stretch rod bolts so that's not an issue, but the mains are a concern. What are your thoughts?

As far as cam prep, having all your bases covered on fire up seems to be the best preventative.
Thanks,
Mike

[machine shop tom]

Using moly or graphite is not good for the engine, it is like throwing dirt in the engine. Put some moly or graphite on you finger and rub it on a rod or main bearing and see the scathes on the bearing. You need assemble the engine with a non moly assembly lube and then use a break-in oil. CMW Oil Company has assembly lube and a special formulated break-in oil.

I took some Crane moly cam lube and rubbed it on a new bearing. It left no scratches. I took some ARP moly lube and did the same. It did leave minute scratches.

As a control, I then rubbed some McDonalds Sweet'n'sour dippin' sauce on the bearing. It left no scratches. This has nothing to do with engines, but it tastes better than moly.

tom

[EDC]

I like to use the Shell Rotella oil for break in oil since its got a lot of zinc in it.

Ed Curtis

[Brian B]

You had better stock up on the Rotella....
Changing for the worst some time soon..
Brian B
Dakota Parts Warehouse
The Ferrea Valve Guy
877 235 2832

[EDC]

You had better stock up on the Rotella....
Changing for the worst some time soon..
Brian B
Dakota Parts Warehouse
The Ferrea Valve Guy
877 235 2832

Great.. one more item going to the dogs...

Ed Curtis

[67RS502]

Ed
Please check your pm,
I need you to do a cam for me.
Thanks
Rafel

[EDC]

Ed
Please check your pm,
I need you to do a cam for me.
Thanks
Rafel

OK... I'm not all that good on this PM stuff.

Ed Curtis

[needforspeed66gt]

As a control, I then rubbed some McDonalds Sweet'n'sour dippin' sauce on the bearing. It left no scratches. This has nothing to do with engines, but it tastes better than moly.

tom

I almost spit out my beer lol.

[dizuster]

You had better stock up on the Rotella....
Changing for the worst some time soon..
Brian B
Dakota Parts Warehouse
The Ferrea Valve Guy
877 235 2832

Where did you hear that? As far as I know, even the newest diesel's being developed are still flat tappets. That being said, I doubt they'd make too many flat tappet failure related changes to diesel oil at this time. I know for sure that the current 3rd gen. Dodge/Cummin's motors are flat tappets, but I have a buddy that works at Cummin's tech center, so I'll get a hold of him and ask about new development stuff.

[cmw]

Mike,
I believe that Moly should not be inside of a engine. I only work with the racing industry. The industry is trying to have repeatability in assembly and running of racing engines. Here are a few problems that the Busch and Cup engine builders had me address. So I developed a lube for springs and retainers to stop micro welding. The same goes with piston rings that is having micro welding problems. I developed a break-in oil also.
I have been working with three fastener company's in the development of fastener lube without Moly for over 3 years. The friction coefficient is about the same. We test by fastener stretch method only
For the people who think that moly is not a problem they can keep using it. But when they take there engines apart and find scratches on all the internals of there engine and it looks like the engine was put together in a dust storm then what caused the scratches?????????