i recently installed a 270h cam on my 72 satellite 318. now i have a valvetrain noise like a lifter tapping........anyone have any common problems? when i check the lash there is play in the rocker arms, i can grab the pushrods and spin them....is this normal in the non adjustable 318?

 

DID you do a proper cam break in..

 

What was your procedure for breaking the cam in?
Did you measure the pushrods to make sure they were the right size or did you reuse the old ones?

 

proper break in and proper lube, i am just an idiot and had a header leak on that side....
i have a broken header bolt in the head i have to drill out.....im embarrased but relieved

 

Don't be hard on yourself, something many of us have done but won't admit. The positive is many will read this and learn from your experience, thanks for your honesty. Now go beat some Chev, or give us a burnout picture.

 

And now to recant I took it to my buddy and he said stuck lifter

 

I looked up your cam and if I got the right one it's .470" lift. If it is, have a good look at your valve guide to retainer clearance as most 318 heads get tight above .450" lift. If they have been touching it could be the cause of your slack. Hope I'm wrong, Good Luck.

 

I'm unsure what to do at this point, I had it at a shop they said stuck lifter drive it out.

 

I'll try and help if you can tell us what your 270H advertised lift is and did the kit have springs, retainers or just cam and lifters?

 

470 lift, was told by the cam maker this I'd the biggest with stock valve train

 

Did you notice if the lifter plunger moved down inside the lifter when you first tightened down the rocker shafts. .010"-.100" are the min. and max. .040"-.060" is best. I'm asking because if the problem showed up after start up you would most likely have bent rods and not all of them. I would look carefully between the coils of the spring to see if you have any marking on the valve seals. Next remove a rocker shaft and check rods for straightness then (not easy) remove a lifter and measure it against the original. The last thing would be if the cam's base circle was ground too small but that would have been seen on original install, back to the noticing the plunger depress when rockers tightened down. There is a special tool for removing lifters with manifold on but a very strong magnet can do it to.

 

I will check that, thank you for the knowledge. I will get back to you

 

Pulled the lifters, all good! Did the hammer trick, all good guess I should check the rods. Why does dodge use solid pushrods?

 

What is the "hammer trick"? These engines push oil through #2+#4 cam journal up a passage in the block through the head and one of the rocker shaft stands into the shaft. The shafts are filled with oil and comes out through holes in the bottom of the shaft at each rocker. If you were to prime this system turn the engine until the balancer T.D.C. mark faces at approx. 10:00+2:00 while turning the pump, and you should hear the oil pressure squirt. At this point the oil will fill the shaft and you should see the rockers fill. Inside the lifter valley you'll see two bumps that run up the block, those are the block to head oil passages.
The newer magnum engines use bolt,stud mounted rockers with hollow oil through pushrods.

 

Start the car with the valve covers off and with a hammer handle push down on the rockers and see if the noise stops.

 

60 over pushrods did the trick, the camshaft base circle was smaller and i had no preload on the lifters

 

Attaboy!