I hate my cam!!

[Joe Tiano]

I just installed seald power lifters..HT969..on a stock cam....no noise..and only 2.99 each...they flat a$$ work!...jus my O2 joe

 

[Mac in SD]

It aint' the T&Ds and it ain't the lifters...

I went through all of that trying to get rid of the Mark ITXB noise. Went through 2 or 3 sets of different manufacturers lifters, changed to roller rockers to adjust preload, etc.

It's frustrating to have a car that runs really strong (no doubt, it's a good running cam), but is noisier than hell around town. I feel your pain.

It is the cam. Look at KB's advertisement: "most lift per degree of duration of any cam..." That means nasty ramp speeds, and my guess is that's what causes the noise.

Lifters, rockers, whatever. You'll just waste time and energy. If you want a quieter cam, you're going to have to change it out. Sorry for the bad news...

 

[tc86gn]

I am really not sure what kind of lifters they are. They came w/the cam. I bought all this stuff a few years ago before I had internet access and access to all this good advice on the board.
Man, this sucks. I changed to the stock rocker setup this afternoon and it is still the same thing. Noisy as hell! I noticed no difference.
Mac, I think you are right on the money.
Now I need to try to siphon through all the good info in this thread and try to figure out what will be the best cam for what I have in my combo.
I have also been having a problem getting O2's into the proper range. Tuning 009's to O2 readings suck. My ME and EGT gauge should be here any day now. Should I take this into consideration also when making my cam selection?

 

[Mac in SD]

Too bad. One thing you might want to keep in mind when you choose your new cam: a lot of folks are having trouble with lobes going flat, apparently due to lobe-to-lifter bore alignment issues. The lifters don't seem to be rotating because they're sitting square on the lobe. I didn't have that problem with my Erson cam, of the KB for that matter. There's a few theories floating around about why this is happening, and some concern about the actual cam blanks having the lobes in not quite the right location (especially #3 exhaust, I think.)

Sooooo.... maybe you'd want to get that KB cam reground to less extreme specs, as I haven't heard of any of those going flat. As you research your cam choice, see if you can get any feedback on the flat-lobe frequency of the cam. Oh yeah, 4 words: GM Engine Oil Supplement.

I'm serious when I say I feel your pain....this whole thing drove me nuts about 7 years ago. However, you'll feel a lot better when your engine is running quiet again. Good luck.