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Engine Rebuilt

Yeah, what he said. RR's are supposed to be quieter. You might want to recheck your valve lash adjustments.

After some ponderance I have decided I'll probably never use RR's on the Jeep. The idea of the stamped steels flexing means they will absorb more shock in the valve train and produce less wear and tear on the cam and lifters in the long run. I just watched a video where they Dyno'd RR's that were 1.6 vs the stock 1.5 on a Chevy engine. They made 17hp and 2.5 Tq abot 6000 RPM on a 425 HP motor. Just not worth the money for small gains that add rigidity to the valve train and potentially reduce components' life time. I'm not concerned about valve tips. That's easier to work on than pulling the head to get the cam and lifters out. Parts will eventually dry up for the 4.0. In my search I am already seeing a lot less options out there, but Comp Cams will probably always have you covered since they don't just stock them and wait for them to go out of style, they're custom grinding mine and the cost of the cam was cheaper than just about everywhere, except the OEM on RA.
 
I didn't buy my roller's for any performance reasons. I only wanted the advantages they provide in wear, particularly the stems, guides, and springs. The beehive springs take care of any harmonic issues along with reducing the mass weight.
 
You know, I can tell just by looking at your block it's decked to 0. Golen didn't do that for me despite me asking them to do that. I'll never buy another engine from anyone again. I bet the dish in my pistons isn't 29CC's either. What's the seat pressure when closed on those springs?

Anyways, here's what Comp Cams will be doing with my cam next week, or this weekend. I didn't know it was such a technologically advanced .... thing. It looks so much different when it's done. Maybe I should paint my rims black to match it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ej8cQ2w2xI
 
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I had about .005" removed just to clean up the block surface. Russ did the springs but they are advertised at [email protected]" installed height.
 
That's the equivalent of stock so be careful what cam grind you choose. This build seems so "confused/fragmented" with machinists and parts. Has anybody been in charge to see it as a complete design?
BTW: what happened to the cylinder head locating dowels? That's asking for trouble!
 
Dean knows what he's doing. I know what I want but didn't get what I asked for. I looked long and hard over the years into the attributes of a good engine. I just didn't get what I asked for. The pushrod issue is the last thing that needs corrected at this point but I won't be able to solve that puzzle until the new cam and lifters come in.

It didn't make any sense to either of us how it's the same engine, with the same cam, and the same lifters with the same length rods and the rocker feet sat a quarter of an inch off of the pedestals. I think the shop that bought the rods up in NC fubar'd it. I should just ask Chad what he used to begin with. Those guys in NC kept buying rods and torquing to the OEM specs and it kept opening valves, then Chad said they just needed to adjust the preload only. But these feet have to touch so.... preload only goes so far.

I think those preload measurements don't matter unless you have the right length push rod to begin with. Even then, once the feet land those rockers aren't loading anything down so I still don't understand what he's talking about there. Getting the exact rod length and torquing it to spec is about the only thing that makes sense in my mind.

This engine didn't have them, for whatever reason. It doesn't have the spot for them at all. The 4.0 I have does. I'll get it lined up right like I did before. That's the easy part in comparison to everything else I've been through over the years dealing with engines. The 4.0 that came out last month is the first engine I've seen have them.
 
Well you've got nothing but bad advice so far! The 4.0 has a "non-adjustable" valvetrain so setting the correct pre-load is "absolutely" critical. It can be achieved in a couple ways with a adjustable pushrod being the easiest.
With all the issues you've had so far I would start by checking all the stem heights first!
 
I just spoke to the Stroker Oracle at Golen concerning push rods. He said basically you shouldn't ever need to use a different than stock push rod. Here's the description he gave me on how to properly set preload (which I didn't fully understand until he explained it):

1. Tighten rockers to 0 lash (rods barely free to spin around with no play between rockers and valve stems) while on base circle of cam.
2. Line up ratchet and tighten until it's snug. It should land between 1 and 1.5 full turns to land at "snug" (I am guessing this is where the feet should land at the base). If it's more or less then I need to call Chad and talk about that. They always use 4.0 rods, and if they wind up too short 4.2's for an application. They only ever use diff. length push rods if there is a unique application.
3. At this point I will then torque it to 25ft lbs.

Does this sound like a good plan, man?

He said I shouldn't put the lifters in pre-pumped. I tend to agree since I was opening valves while the feet were sitting off the pedestals a quarter of an inch. A problem I foresee is that I don't think 1.5 turns is going to close a quarter inch gap between the rocker feet and the pedestals, with the lifters pre-pumped anyways.

It almost seems as if you have to put them in no pre-pumped so they will oil up to the proper levels they should be during the valve train. . . .? I don't like the idea of putting lifters in dry though. I've read that it's recommended to let them sit in a high zinc oil for 24 hours before putting them in.
 
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... so everything I just mentioned is wrong, except for leaving the lifters internally dry. ?

At what point does it get torqued then?

How many preloads should a 4.0 lifter have? 1... 2... 30 thousandths. !?

Here are another good video. I found this on JeepForum.com. I seem to find a lot of good answers over there. This one explains that it's okay to see the valves open a little as after it's been sitting for a minute, or been turned on, the pressure in the lifters will bleed down to match up. Considering you can use the same style of hydraulic lifter for an aftermarket spring that is double the OEM specs they must be self-adjusting to valve spring pressures (I imagine you still want the correct length PR's regardless)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rg1XmzzrTM
 
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The rockers get torqued to spec after you have determined the correct pushrod length.
 
Yeah, but, doesn't the push rod length determine the preload. In all the videos I watched they adjusted the adjustable rods to get it just right, then ordered rods at varying lengths that were always longer, and that was what the preload was. One guy ordered them .070" over to get .070" of preload.

What's my magical preload number? Maybe I need to call the CompCams pros since they're supplying their lifters. I'm just curious what is expected for a 4.0. That might be what they tell me to reference and I haven't been able to ascertain that from searching ... yet.
 
Yes, measure to "0" lash and add your pre-load (typically about .050" for a 4.0)!
 
Don't know where you got the 1-1/2 turns at ???
Measure to "0" and add .050" !!!
 
The Internet. 050, .50... close enough. They're hydraulic. They'll make it work. Chad at Golen said to use the 1.5 turns as a reference. From the time the rods hit zero lash I should only be able to turn the bolts for the rocker arms between 1 and 1.5 turns before it's snug. He said if it's outside of those parameters I should call him back. I am guessing that means the rods are short if it's not snug, or if it's snug prematurely (the only possible thing that can happen in my application since I didn't increase gasket thickness, nor does anyone else unless maybe they want to run a turbo with high boost and need to reduce compressions).

So basically I shouldn't expect much change in my rods if any since it's clear this block hasn't been decked and my head gasket is only .009" shorter than the OEM. I forget where I found out the compressed thickness of the Victor Reinz gasket. Once I did I never forgot it. I am guessing it was on JeepStrokers.com somewhere.

I think the only place I went wrong was pre-pumping my lifters. I just checked the play on the 1 Melling lifter I kept (so I can dissect it and compare it to others in the near future) and it isn't too much different from the pre-pumped ones I had. Maybe it will compress more though since there's no oil in it. ?

I can't believe I used to use Shell Rotella 15W-40. I have come so far over the years. Thicker diesel oils do have higher levels (although not enough), they also increase heat as they hold it more. My engine used to get pretty hot before I encountered any issue. I could easily burn my hand on even the supercharger.

Oi, what cam are you running?
 
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I would hate to see what a non-budget stroker is. Mine was $7500 shipped to the door already broke in. I certainly overpaid, but I had the means necessary to and didn't have the time or inclination to spend 2 months building a stroker myself. I barely had the time to just get the engine installed and get to my new job location. In the end it cost me more to try to buy it built and make haste. Hind sight is always 20/20.

That was back in 2014 so we're through the looking glass at this point.

I've decided to use the CompCams break in oil. I'm also going to add in 16Oz of Lucas TB Zinc Plus. I checked the sheet on it and it's 31,000 ppm of ZDDP. In 6 quarts of oil it will be over 5500 ppm of zinc. I went ahead and got a second one. I'm going to break it in with the Comp+Lucas setup, then change the filter and oil and run it for 500 miles with the same setup.

Using Wix XP oil filters. I'm thinking about putting some magnetism in the oil pan. I read a document earlier that was showing the testing to see if magnetism affected ZDDP operation (it would suck to find out ZDDP is magnetic and it's being held prisoner in the oil pan). I knew Zinc was a type of metal so I should investigate.

I got a magnetic drain plug but that won't really be too useful until the oil has had time to sit and let any metallics drain down to the pan. It would be a good indicator but not really a preventative measure unless you do a lot of stop and go traffic.

I wanted to put neodymiums in there, but their magnetic capability starts to disappear after 175 degrees unless you get specialized magnets. I think a 210+ setup would be the best way to go. I'm not a fan of ceramics because of how easy they are to chip.
 
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