dlw

I finished checking my valve springs and there were 7 broken inner springs. The main springs look OK, but the thin inner springs were broke in various pieces. Some seals were chewed a little but most were Ok.

What are reasons these would break, and what do I buy so not to go thru this again?

All opinions are appreciated as always!

QuickVet

How often is this car used? The only reason they would break (that i know of) is if they were to tight. What method did you use to put them in and are you sure they are the correct ones for your application?

tnt76vette

Mak SURE your new springs are rated for more than enough lift to support your cam and you should be OK. :cheers:

norvalwilhelm

You could be running into coil bind. You need to check the installed height, the open height to make sure you are not running into the seal with the retainer and coil bind. To check coil bind use one of the retainers and put the spring and retainer in a vise and squash the spring to coil bind and measure this length.
You might also check this length with just a good damper spring or flat spring with the retainer and then agian with just the outside. The greater of these 2 dimentions is your spring bind. It needs to be at least .060 less then the maximum lift of the cam.
If you are installing a new set of springs in a head I could go into detail on how to set up a head and the proper way to check for proper clearance.
It is just a little long to do if you are not interested.

PatsLs1vette

also world products are known for valve springs breaking, a few others on the forum had theres break on there sportsman2 heads ,including me,almost all my inner ones were broke.

redvetracr

Did you think a valve spring would last forever?? I change mine every year, consider your self lucky you didn`t drop a valve!! ...redvetracr

dlw

These are world products S/R Torquer heads. 2.02/1.60 with manley valves.

I only have about 3000 miles on this engine and never had it above 4500 rpm.

Never raced or hotrodded! I know, I live a boring life!

Ther original valve springs are 1.437 dual 125# seat for a .600 lift. My cam has a .480 lift.

I'll do a measurement closed and see if I'm within the requirements.

I have heard others that had broken springs with these heads also.

Anybody have a recomendation of which replacement springs to use?

Thanks guys.

redvetracr

dlw,
You didn`t say 3000 miles!! in that case I would suspect they were bad (cheap) springs. ...redvetracr

ZL1powr

I agree with redvetracr.

ddecart

Interesting....
I had a broken dampener (inner flat spring) on some of my World Products springs a while back, too. But then again, they were the stock 1.25" springs and my cam was 0.516 lift. I'm thinking defective spring in that case. Improperly treated or has a burr or surface defect that shortens the life or something along those lines. The only other thing would be over-compressing it (assuming the seat pressure/height is ok)

Turbo-Jet

If there is no coil bind, and the spring specs are matched for the cam's lift and lift rates, then I would say that the springs failure resulted from mechanical fatigue, suggesting that they were made of the wrong material, not heat-treated, or mispackaged etc. :skep:

Also check for excessive stem/guide wear due to possible side loading of a broken spring.



[Modified by Turbo-Jet, 2:51 AM 2/27/2003]

Wrencher

Sounds like junk springs. I use Crower kits in most of my engines, but most recently I have been using Jim Herbert (does mostly NASCAR) stuff.

Hans

dlw

I have measured the springs the best way I can, and I dont think its anything but junk inner springs (dampers). Lifters, valves and guides look new (once I cleaned the crap off the valves) and I only need to replace two valve seals.

Just how much does a company save by doing stuff like that? If I could only find a name on these springs I would write the company a letter. And I will let world products know that I'm just thrilled about their parts!

Oh well, its snowing AGAIN, so what else do I have to do huh? :mad

MasterDave

I've got WP Sportsman II's on my engine. I had a valve cover leak and took off the cover to replace the gasket. Found two broken inner springs on the heads, they only had about 50 miles on them! WP replaced the spring. I just recently did an engine swap and took the heads off. Turned them over to clean them up and found 6 broken on the right and 5 on the left. :mad A call to WP and the dealer I bought from was made. Good thing I was still within my one year warrantee. They basically said they have had no issues with these springs, however they were sending me 'updated' springs at no charge. Why update if there is no problem? Hmmmm.