Engine and Transmission Tech

Please can someone familiar with the Rover V8 or Buick 425 engine advise me on the amount of time it should take for the cam followers to pump up after having been completely emptied of oil?

I have just replaced the valley gasket and took the opportunity of checking the cam and the followers. I have stripped the followers and cleaned them out. I soaked them in oil overnight and refitted.

I have just got the car together and started it this evening. The noise from the followers is quite loud. I ran the car for a short time (about a minute) as I do not have any coolant installed at the moment and whilst I can convince myself they have got a little quieter, they are still a lot noisier than I would have expected.

I read elsewhere on the web that it could take as long as running up to temperature and even going for a short drive before the followers pump up to full pressure.

I can only assume that soaking them in oil does not allow sufficient oil to seep into the follower.

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Don't know if it helps but when I did my rebuild I completely stripped and thouroughly cleaned the cam followers, put oil in them them and pumped them with a hammer handle to remove any air. Before starting the engine I removed the distributor and spun the oil pump with a drill to get the oil circulating.

The engine a Rover 3.9l started OK without any clattering.

Ian

Did you pack the oil pump with petroleum jelly? If not the oil pump will not self prime and no oil will be delivered to the lifters to pump up. If all is well, it will take a few minutes for all to quite down completely, but you should notice a constant improvement from start up onwards. To break in the new cam and lifters, you should run it at 2K rpm for a good 10 to 15 minutes without shutting it down. Starting it and running it for a minute is not a good thing. These engines are prone to cam wear if not broken in properly.

Also, the lifters and cam develop a wear pattern. The lifters have to go back in the same holes they came out of.

Thanks for the replies guys. Car is now running quietly. I didn't need to pack the pump as I had not replaced the cam or removed the pump. The oil pressure was up to normal as soon as she fired up, just a bit rattly until the followers filled up. They seemed to take a long time, but I guess when it makes that sort of noise it does seem a long time.

I did swap the cam and got it running yesterday. It took maybe a minute to quiet down but it is a nerve racking rattle for a while...

I did not fill the lifters but used a home made tool to run the pump until there was oil at both rocker shafts.