If he doesn't send it in they can't replace it, can they I'm not saying they will replace it but if he doesn't try they won't

Well my question is if you all think it's worth the time, hassle and money to send it back or are they just going to tell him to pound sand anyway? I know you all don't know just looking for opinions.

I’d send it back. A builder local to me lost 2 Comp cams in a row. Comp replaces both cams and lifters, even though they have no idea what went wrong. So I think it’s worth the hassle at this point.

This is sort of testing the waters, and it only works if you caught the company during a management push for customer satisfaction.

Call whoever it is up and see if you can get a Tech guy to agree to at least inspect it and give his opinion on what happened.

Once the part is in their hands, it becomes "chicken or the egg" and they may agree to replace it for goodwill
based on the part potentially being at fault.

If you aren't lucky and their budget is pulled or frozen, they will just tell you to not waste your time sending it.

If they won't agree to an inspection, ain't no way they will agree to a replacement.



Comp is generally not too bad to deal with.

Well I didn't say whose cam it was but it is a Comp cam. They have given him a return authorization number and said a replacement would be dependent on their inspection. Shipping of course is on him. So thanks guys, I appreciate it.

This scenario is nothing new. Flat tappet cams are a risk nowadays across all brands because the quality left the building years maybe decades ago. Unfortunately a conversion to roller is the only sure way to avoid this but mopars are $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to convert. I see for my future project Im looking at $1300 for roller cam lifters push rods adj rocker arms springs etc. I remember on this board around the year 2000 when the high failure rate of FT cams would come up. Someone pointed out the reduced zinc and sulfur of our beloved oils. A short time later a member posted his new lifters and the LACK of a crown on the bottom. Then as years rolled on we learned about metal hardness (lack of) being an issue. I miss the days of low risk low cost high performance flat tappet cam kits.

Somewhere in a box here I have the original 66 273 D Dart cam and lifters. Last time I seen them was 20 years ago but when you put that lifter on a hard flat surface you can rock it some due to the crown. The cam you can see the taper to the lobes when you run a dial indicator across its face.

After 40-50 years lifter bores get worn and how many really check them?

15-20 years ago we used to do quite a few of some 350sbc oval track motors.
There were two classes, and we did several for each class.

The milder class were 8.5cr, ex manifolds, stock 2bbl intake, and heads with 1.72 intake valves.
We had done a pile of cam testing on those things, and had it narrowed down to 2 different ones.
One was a Comp, the other was a white box special.
The Comp was about 5hp better, but cost twice as much.
If it was for a customer that wanted the “good stuff” and was okay with paying for it....... it got the Comp.
I wasn’t doing assemblies, but checking for lifter rotation wasn’t part of the normal assy...... and cam failures were very very rare.
So, I’ve got one of them on the dyno and fairly quickly into the cam break in I start hearing some clatter.
We ran these with zero preload, so if there was any clearance in the valvetrain, you’d hear it.

Pull the covers, find one rocker is just barely loose.
I reset it, start it back up....... a few minutes later, the clatter starts to come back.
Pull the cover...... it’s the same one loose again.
Okay....... didn’t make it through break in.

Pull motor off the dyno, put another one on.... and carry on.

They pull the cam out........ one lobe and lifter are starting to go away.
The others are perfect.

Stick another cam in the motor, new lifter in that hole, install pushrod and rocker...... turn the cam round and round...... no rotation.
Decent rotation in any other hole.

Okay, it’s a lifter bore problem.

Checked lobe taper on cam, it’s basically right at .002.
I order a cam and have them add a thou of taper..... so, .003.

Get new cam, check taper....... it’s .003.
Checking for rotation in the offending bore.......lifter starts to move...... barely....... then goes back the other way.
The lifter still won’t go round and round.
The others all really whip around good now with .003 taper.

What to do, what to do? Really don’t want to pull it all apart and get the lifter bores done.
Well, at that point in time it was easy to get Schubek lifters..... especially for a Chevy.
We bought one lifter and put it in that hole.

Buttoned it up and it was good to go.
Worked like a champ.

So Comp Cams contacted my buddy and asked him what his break in procedure was. He told them everything I told you guys and they said they would send him another cam but asked that he use a dedicated break in oil. So we will see how it goes.

Use Driven “BR”, with no other additives.