For some reason within 10 min of me having the maro at 1500 rpm it began backfiring like crazy. Like every 3 sec it would pop. It's still in the cam break in stage and i don't know if to continue or what? It's currently running open headers and the timing isn't exactly perfect. Is this a common break in thing or do i have a major problem?

XxX

1500 is what i was told to hold it at when breaking in the cam then fluctuating it for 20-30 min or so... I did mess with the carb becasuse it was idling at 2700 rpm!!! That was not normal so i was forced to... The cam is a custom grind and no it wasn't popping through the intake it was just popping out the headers and i have no clue why it would be doing that... The timing isnt perfect but its not like insanely off.

you really should break it in at 2-3K RPM. 1500RPM is too low...

What oil did you use? Did you use an additive for the breakin? what spring pressures? Did you prime the oil pump? Did you see oil out ALL of the rockers when you primed it with a drill?

When you mean popping, are you talking a lope, or popping through the carb? what size of cam are you using? It it didn't do it for the 1st 10 mins, and now all of the sudden it is popping, then it could possibly be a wiped out cam.

I would immediately drain the oil, and cut the oil filter open and see if anything is inside... Report back...

My experience on dyno break in says that's a cam that went flat. I check timing though to make sure I am somewhat in the ballpark and I do break them in at 2500-3000 for 30 minutes. I will also use a know "good" carb on initial fire up.

What concerns me is that it started to happen 10 minutes into the cycle. The typical other cause of a misfire though is timing OR a bad module, bad cap, bad rotor and so forth. In other words iginition problem. Slight chance the jetting could be very, very fat as well causing a misfire due to a loaded up plug.

Check the rockers to see if they are adjusted in spec. If one or more is WAY off that won't be a good sign. Either it wasn't tight to begin with or lifter and cam is junk. You can also open up the oil filter and if it looks like a pot of silver in the bottom of the can that's your answer as well.

Was the engine running smooth while it was backfiring? Did it begin to 'break up' or run rough at all? I'd take the valve covers off and check to see if you have any rocker arms that are abnormally loose. What procedure did you go through to adjust the valves?

XxX

Now that i am officially lost... This is overwhelming all i heard was my cam was horse poopie and my heart went flat if i have to take the block out again ill shoot myself... UUUggghhh. Ok here we go.

I used 10W30

No additive

I did not prime the oil system

Popping as in loud backfire sound

The cam is baby as hell its about the same as blue racer 350/350hp vette cam

Im using a brand new holley 670 street avenger and only thing i adjusted was the throttle thing so it wouldnt be idling at 2700 rpm like it was when i first cranked it

Yes the engine wasnt doing that stalling about to turn off sound it was idling smooth with random POPS

Normally it idles at 900 more or less back before i took the engine out then i dropped it back in with new everything and it idled at 2700 rpm more or less and i adjusted it to about 1500... Thats what it says on the cam break in procedures here on this forum.

If the rockers are loose which i havnt checked for lack of time what would that mean or do?

Also since i installed electric fans the fans like raped my battery or something cause it lost all charge in like 10 min

Could the backfiring be cause by not enough energy or something? The underhood light started flickering and horse poopie...

Now that i am officially lost... This is overwhelming all i heard was my cam was fucked and my heart went flat if i have to take the block out again ill shoot myself... UUUggghhh. Ok here we go.

I used 10W30

No additive

I did not prime the oil system





:eek: Almost certain death! Regular old 10W-30 and no additive and didnt even prime the engine? WTF were you thinking??????? You should have asked questions first before you attempted to break in the engine!

Pull the valve covers and check to see if any of the rockers have more clearance than the others. If it does then the cam is most likely wiped which would mean pulling the engine and tearing it completely down and hot tanking the block and cleaning everything up real good and possibly new bearings and polishing the crank. Cant have all that metal floating around in the engine and through the oil passages!


For your sake I hope its not the cam!

Rockers are fine... Now what?
I doubted there was a problem with that cause my builder tightened em down to spec or w/e.

Rockers are fine... Now what?
I doubted there was a problem with that cause my builder tightened em down to spec or w/e.



Im sure he did BUT if you had found one looser than the others that would have meant you had a cam lobe that was going flat (going bad) and that would show up as extra clearance in the rocker arm.

If its easy to change plugs on try putting in a new set of plugs and see if the poping goes away. Sounds like you might have a fouled plug or a plug that might have gotten damaged during installation.

Well i just looked through the 2nd gen camaro Haynes manual...

Backfire causes
1.EGR system not functioning (I yanked all that horse poopie off)
2.Timing incorrect (Haven't checked)
3.Vacuum leak (I have the vacuum from distributor to carb disconnected)
4.Intake air leak (Two very small holes on the new intake aren't plugged up)

So yea... Could that cause my problem?

If you started to have low voltage due to power draw of the fans that could cause an ignition problem. Charge the battery and leave the charger on and continue the break in. Keep RPM in the 2000+ range. That will also help keep the battery charged as well.

First though drain the oil, change the filter and fill with either Delo 400 diesel oil by Mobil, Valvoline diesel oil or Shell Rotella Diesel oil 15/40. Will better protect the camshaft versus the 10/30.

It sounds like you may need to upgrage your alternator to a 100 amp in order to support the electric fans.

Sounds like it will be an easy fix based on your post.

Thanks a lot guys... If there are any other suggestions PLEASE let me know.

updates??

What do you mean updates I gotta go to sleep and go to school tomorrow its 1 in the morning in Miami... I go to school and work a full time so theres not gonna be much for about a day or so...

cut the oil filter open!!! report back.

Literaly cut it open? Before i do that i have to wait till payday i have not a dime in the bank from trying to get her to run last weekend. Overdrawn like 4 times to tell you the truth. But thats besieds the point. I'll keep you guys updated and im gunna get the shop guy to time it correctly then get an alternator and see if that solves my probs... If not i dont know what i'll do.

The filter needs to be cut open with a tool designed for that job. Otherwise you'll have a mess.

That's not gunna happen then...

What I did:
Prime the engine after you add your oil, (and fill the filter up with oil too) wait till you see oil dripping from each push rod, then rotate engine 180* so the other side (pass side) gets oiled. Get your dist set as close to where it was before. I didn't play with my timing until after the break-in, I wanted to get the minutes in with the revs up and didn't want the car idling. You need the revs up so the oil gets splashed upward from the crank. Low revs will not be enough for the 1st 10 min which is the most important.

I used this for my cam break-in http://www.joegibbsracingoil.com/pro...nebuilder.html and now using this http://www.joegibbsracingoil.com/hotrod/index.html in my 70 Camaro and 87 Grand Nat'l.

You will know within the first 10 min if the cam is good or not. I broke mine in for 40 min. I started it up and held it at 2000 rpm until a bud adjusted the idle screw to hold it there so that would be my lowest rpm level. Then every min or 2 I increased the rpm to 3000 rpm slowly and down to 2000 rpm. 1800 rpm to 2800 rpm will work too. 30-40 min is ideal.

Dump the oil/filter and refill. I then readjusted my solids in case some were off when I set them cold. I did a cam lifters swap, timing chain, cam and crank sprockets and after the break-in, refilled with J.G. BR-oil with a new filter and ran for 150 miles. I broke-in the cam with my old springs. After the 150 miles I swapped the old springs & rocker arms with roller tip and changed the O ring valve seals, then did the same break-in for the springs. I ran another 300 miles with the BR oil then dumped the oil/filter, changed the filter and refilled with J.G. Hot Rod 10w-30 oil.

The filter needs to be cut open with a tool designed for that job. Otherwise you'll have a mess.

When I lost 3 lobes on my cam in the fall of 2007 after 43,000 miles, I used a hacksaw to open it up and took the webbing out and used a magnifying glass to see if I had metal in the filter. It was clean.

What I did:
Prime the engine after you add your oil, (and fill the filter up with oil too) wait till you see oil dripping from each push rod, then rotate engine 180* so the other side (pass side) gets oiled. Get your dist set as close to where it was before. I didn't play with my timing until after the break-in, I wanted to get the minutes in with the revs up and didn't want the car idling. You need the revs up so the oil gets splashed upward from the crank. Low revs will not be enough for the 1st 10 min which is the most important.

I used this for my cam break-in http://www.joegibbsracingoil.com/pro...nebuilder.html and now using this http://www.joegibbsracingoil.com/hotrod/index.html in my 70 Camaro and 87 Grand Nat'l.

You will know within the first 10 min if the cam is good or not. I broke mine in for 40 min. I started it up and held it at 2000 rpm until a bud adjusted the idle screw to hold it there so that would be my lowest rpm level. Then every min or 2 I increased the rpm to 3000 rpm slowly and down to 2000 rpm. 1800 rpm to 2800 rpm will work too. 30-40 min is ideal.

Dump the oil/filter and refill. I then readjusted my solids in case some were off when I set them cold. I did a cam lifters swap, timing chain, cam and crank sprockets and after the break-in, refilled with J.G. BR-oil with a new filter and ran for 150 miles. I broke-in the cam with my old springs. After the 150 miles I swapped the old springs & rocker arms with roller tip and changed the O ring valve seals, then did the same break-in for the springs. I ran another 300 miles with the BR oil then dumped the oil/filter, changed the filter and refilled with J.G. Hot Rod 10w-30 oil.

Thanks for the help bro...
I'll go ahead and finish the break in when shes timmed correctly.
But i was also told its normal for it to backfire since im running it open header. Is that true?
Also if the cam is screwed is it possible to instal a new cam without taking the engine out? Cause i work too much and have barley any time to work on her so the simplest and quickest the better. Any suggestions?

I changed all my parts with the engine and grill still in the car. Cleaned all surfaces and whiped them clean with laquer thinner before applying gasket sealer. Not a problem. Just the alt, fan, water pump and balancer needed to come off the block. The power steering was just swung to the side as well as the alternator. I used Permatex 2 non hardening gasket sealer http://www.permatex.com/products/Aut..._2_Sealant.htm on the water pump gaskets, timing cover gasket and all the intake threaded bolts. I used Permatex high temp red RTV for the rubber front oil pan gasket and corners to the timing cover and side corners where the rubber timing gasket touches the block. If you miss this area, it'll leak oil. I used Permatex High Temperature Threadlocker RED for my cam bolts --> http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/thread_compounds/a_threadlockers/auto_Permatex_High_Temperature_Threadlocker_RED.htm.
I used the red high temp RTV gasket sealer on the front and rear intake without a gasket.

PS
Hey Phil, It must be nice to have summer all year round. Do you want some snow? It's 34*F here. I can still see grass.

OK cool im thinking about swapping the cam either way... Anyways UPDATE!!!
I adjusted the timing cause it was like advanced and a half so w/e i think the backfiring problems were a mix of timing and unconnected vacuum hoses... Gotta drive it around for a bit now when i get the shaft and converter bolts in. See what surprises i get then!!! ONCE AGAIN id like to thank everyone for the help with my situation...

At least you have the weather to smile about, all year round.

When you put the chain on the cam and crank sprockets, have the cam sprocket dot at the 6:00 position and the crank sprocket dot at the 12:00 position. The dist rotor will point to #6 plug wire post. This setup is good for the street. The angle I took the photo makes it look like the dots and teeth are not lined up, but they are.
Your not doing any racing for money on the track so there is no need to worry about using a degree wheel. It won't buy you much more HP. Save the headaches. I took photos of my cam swap including swapping the valve springs, valve seal (valves O rings), and rocker arms to the roller tip. I shrunk the pics down for here.

http://www.nastyz28.com/~copo/cam1.JPG
http://www.nastyz28.com/~copo/cam2.JPG

This is a Edelbrock True-Rolling Timing Chain Set Part # 7800
The crank sprocket has 3 keyway slots that fits onto the crank keyway.

If you have 3 then the 0 is what you want.
The diamond marking is for degrees advance.
The square marking is for degrees retarted.

http://www.nastyz28.com/~copo/cam dot.jpg