Valvetrain noise in new engines
 

Hi guys, I finally had a chance to run my new Bullet engines. I have to back the boat into the water to run it because the adapter I have won't work on my sportmaster lowers. When running the engines I ran them at a high idle for a few minutes approx. 1800 rpm for about five minutes or so to help break in the cams. Oil pressure was 60 psi @ 1800 & 45 psi @ 900 rpm. That is where the idle is set right now. The valve train is ticking just loud enough that I can hear it over the exhaust when leaning over the engines. The temps were 130 & 150 so I probably need to look at the water pump impellers to be sure I don't have a problem there. The flow through my strainers is good but the water pressure is lower on the engine that was warmer. Any insight would be welcomed so I can avoid doing damage to new equipment. Thanks in advance, Randy

What brand of lifters are in them???? The rockers could need another 1/4 turn or it could just be the way they sound.

Griff, I do not know what lifters are in there as I did not get a build sheet with the engines. Something I am not very happy about for what I paid for these things. Randy

They all tick some. The Cranes hyd rollers I used in my 525SC were definately a little louder than what I was used to.

I just want to make sure I don't damage anything when I put a load on them.

They all make noise especially without a load. First time out you'll know if they need to be tightened. It'll have no power. They also tend to make noise if its not been run for awhile til they "pump up". Should you need to adjust , 1 turn from finger tight seems to be work well for me but id run it first.im sure its fine.

Pull the valve covers and check lash just to be safe, I had comp cams poly locks fail before (brittle) and they backed off wreaking havoc to my valve train, back then switched to arp locks and ran that set-up trouble free for quite a while. The Canada guys don't have alot of faith in this Bullet guy, I hope you don't have a real issue, Smitty
"Mixed reviews. Some guys have had his engines in their boats for years then an equal amount of guys (like my buddy) barely got out of the Marina before it self destructed. Taken apart and shortcuts all over the place."

Randy,
There is often an element of mechanical noise associate with the (Morel 4603, Crane) lifters that is inherent to the design of the lifter that lends itself to overall performance capability. Unfortunately, there is also an element of mechanical noise in lesser brands and cheap offshore knockoffs due to the lack of holding tighter tolerances. Most OEM replacement type hydraulic roller lifters have a cast body and .700” diameter wheel. These are not suited to even moderate performance applications in the marine environment. It is best to select a lifter with an 8620 body and .750” wheel to maximize durability. These are the lifters we will address.

For initial startup we suggest ¾ to a tick past full turn, although there are numerous opinions on that dimension. Do not be concerned as the plunger travel is ~ .142” and a full turn on a 7/16-20 stud is .050”, on a 1.7 rocker ratio that results in a .079” plunger drop. The Morels are individually pressure checked prior to release, in certain cases aeration in the checking fluid causing intermittent ticking on initial run in, which is usually mitigated in less than an hour. I have seen cases where as little as 1/8 turn has been the differentiation in a significant reduction of mechanical noise.

Other factors to consider;

• Run adequate spring force. Controlling the mass of a BBC valve train requires a window of spring rate dependent upon RPM. A quality hydraulic roller lifter will accommodate 200 # seat and 500 # open. Too little spring force is often the most damaging element in marine valvetrain.

• Lifter to bore clearance is critical! This is the most under validated spec in the entire engine. The vast majority of “stuck lifter” failures is resultant of too tight lifter to bore clearance, not component failure. Too loose comes with its own set of problems.

• Oil viscosity factors heavily into tight tolerance hydraulic roller lifters.

I would request a build sheet as a matter of course on these engines.

Bob

I have a set of pbm hyd roller lifter that make noise, the rocker stud are 7/16-20 i have start them 1 full turn and they make noise , trying 1 1/4 turn still make noise i finaly set to 1 1/2 turn and the noise comme non existant, i have make 2 1/2 turn without botom them before just to make sure i am not botom out at 1 1/2 turn, its seem to have a lot of plonger travel in those lifter.

Randy,

You heard from the best in the business! :D

I have ran into the same issue as you running on the hose. I took off the the water hose from the rear of the gimble that goes to the sea pump and then put a nozzle on the garden hose and a hose clamp and ran it in the drive way. I don't know what kind of exhaust you have but I took some home depot parts and ran the exahust into 2 small trash cans. The engines sounded like car engines with mufflers you couild hear the engine real good. I can post a pic of this if you would like to see it.

Jim

Please stop raining so I can go :boat:

Thank you for all of the comments, I don't feel there is anything seriously wrong but pulling the valve covers & physically checking the valves is not a bad idea. I can run them some more on the trailer or around the marina to see how things go, I am fortunate to have a marina literally in my back yard so dropping in the water isn't a problem. Big Jim this weather has been just crazy up here, The river has raised almost 10ft & dropped 4-5ft in a week and a half. I will put some more time on them before I start prop testing & if I find any problems I will let you guys know. Thanks again for your time. Randy

I had my Crane's set nearly exactly like RMB posted.
3/4 of a turn past 0 lash, tighten the poly lock and then maybe another 1/8 turn with a wrench while holding the poly lock in place to get them real tight.
They had "tick" to them, but all was good for 150hrs+ when I sold the boat.

My exp with bullet sucked..... he seems to know what he's talking about on the phone.... but shortcuts everywhere when we took engines apart with 24 hours OMFG it's funny I replied to another post... someone asking about him and the posts are now gone... I was surprised to come across this one...

1/2 turn past zero on my morels and they are super quite. 30wt oil. 60lbs at idle 60lbs wide open. Even after 5000 rpms for hours 60lbs and quite lifters. One other thing ill throw out. If the distributor is not aligned with with the oil passage way then the lifters on the right side of the motor will not get oil. Best to run through the valves and go from there....