marshrat99

There's been some discussion regarding the failure rates for the XE262 cam. This poll will help determine if XE262's are more prone to fail than others. Please post/vote for your cam if it has failed. :cheers:

Madmikeee

Not that cam in particular but I have had cam failure. Old Monte I owned in HS that I redid with a nice 350 out of a 69 chevelle. Before dumping the 350 in I was going down the highway when my throttle got stuck in the wonderful 305 tried shutting her down to no avail and the cam exploded LOL :)

1SGRET

I'm interested also. I just completed my engine rebuild and went with the Comp Cam XE274. Think I'll camp out here for a while! :lurk:

The Dude

I had the Lunati die on me. But I don't think a particular grind or manufacturer is the culprit in premature failure. See, I noticed something interesting a while back that leads me to believe that camshaft blanks probably all come from the same place. I had three aftermarket cams from three different manufacturers. One hydraulic, one mechanical and one hydraulic roller. Each blank had the SAME 4-digit number cast into the shaft between the lobes. I believe that number identifies the blanks as small Chevy, small Ford or whatever, but the numbers on all the cams were cast in at the same spot on the cams. I think the grinders get these blanks in bulk and then cut their lobe profiles into them.

robert kirk

:iagree:

70PurpleLS7

This poll isn't going to determine jack except lead people on that the XE262 cam is bad. Ya think they use a different material when they grind the cam? Doubtful. You sell 200 of these and cams, and 2 yo-yo's don't do a break in right and the cam fails, does that mean the other 198 are bad?

Your going to have failures, especially if this is one of the most popular cams sold just by the shear numbers.

I had a guy call after buying a cam (not the XE262) from our shop. 2 of his valves broke after warm up, took the tips right off. He said it was fine until he put the cam in, thus thinking the cam is causing it. I mentioned did he check coil bind, he said "Duh no"... But in his mind it wasn't the geometry that was causing the problem but the cam itself (he was looking to get money out of it).

But I'm sure whomever he has talked to prior to actually getting stuff checked out, the cam he intalled probably is 'bad'....

Ironcross

Never had any camshaft failures. I have broken several in half however. Those make good conversation pieces along with the burned pistons and broken rods. Wolverine Camshafts and Melling Tool Co. supplys most of the aftermarket cam billets and the individual grinders cut them to their specs. Exceptions to this are the steel billets. Improper lash is normally what causes a cam to fail as long as the cam bearings are installed correctly. :thumbs:

Remember gentlemen, performance camshafts are not normally a drop in proceedure. Improper retainers, failure to cut the guides down, and coil bind are all ways to garbage a cam. Camshaft break in? Thats a lot of unnecessary :bs. Think about it, no drag racer will ever sit in the pits running a fuel or gas engine for 20 minutes to see if the cam is set up correct!. It better be, or you`ll never win. :lol:


[Modified by Ironcross, 1:10 PM 3/3/2004]

1979toy

I have to agreee with 70PurpleLS7 on this. There are a lot of reasons for what we think of as a cam failure. Comp Cams are among the most popular on the board of the non stock grinds and to say that they are bad would also be to say that the oiling system on every one of our engines was perfect, there were no valvetrain misalignments etc.

My count is 2 cams that have wiped off the first 3 lobes. Think maybe my last engine had some oiling problems?

SteveG75

Two

Comp XE262 - voted above. Cam was installed professionally when motor was rebuilt. Broke in fine. #3 exhaust lobe was wiped by the 5000 mile work.

Comp XE274 - put it in myself. #3 intake wiped within 100 miles. Tappet more worn than the previous cam. NO coil bind. Maybe be break-in related.

That said, I had previously swapped a Crane Powermax 272 in myself prior to the engine rebuild. It had no problems and no abnormal wear after 5000 miles.

Next cam will be a Crane hydraulic roller setup after I get the block back from the shop with new bearings and a good cleaning.

IRON WILL

I am alittle disappointed to hear this. I was told to use this cam in my engine by Comp cams. I gave them all my specs and told them what My use with the vehicle was. The XE 262 would be the best cam to use with what I have. Now I am not so sure. I am not happy with the crane cam that is currently in my car, I have had nothing but trouble with the lifters that came with the cam. I don't know what i am going to do now.

I accidentally voted for the comp cam, if you can please remove one vote from there.


[Modified by IRON WILL, 2:37 PM 3/3/2004]

lars

Cam failures have nothing to do with the cam - it's the engine builder (installer) and the break-in process that will kill the cam. 70purple is correct in his comments.

The only exception I know of is that GM did install some cams with faulty heat treat in '82 Vettes. This resulted in lobes going flat after about 50,000 miles.

Every aftermarket cam failure I have ever seen has been the fault of the engine builder or person doing the break-in.

The Dude

This is basically what I was trying to say earlier when I got off on my rant about most all of the blanks coming from the same place. My wiped Lunati was partially the fault of the engine builder and partially my fault at break-in.

My theory is that Comp's XE-262 is sort of a mild, entry-level type of "performance" aftermarket camshaft. As such, I would theorize that many of them are installed by first- or second-timers who just stab 'em in hoping to run 10s. There's almost as much to think about when physically swapping cams as there is in choosing the right one for your setup.

SteveG75

I have to agree and take responsibility for my problems.

My major reason for going hydraulic roller is to reduce the possibility of problems with the break in. My primary reason for going back to Crane is two fold. Later intake closing will allow me to run a shorter duration cam with my 10:1 static compression. Larger lobe separation angle will hope smooth out my idle. I just like the specs better than the comparable Comp cams.

tom102

I was in the Speed equipment business for a little over 30 years as a Wholesale Distributor. We carried the Comp Cams line and Crane Cams. During that period of time virtually all the warranty problems that came back to us as a so called "soft Lobe wipe" were due to improper installation such as not using new or the proper lifters, or assembly lube (improper lubrication.) Valve Spring Bind etc. There were very few that I can remember at all that were truly a manufacturers defect. So make sure when installing that you read all the instructions and be aware of the manufacturers warranties as to what is covered and what is not.

LiveandLetDrive

How could you possibly think that a specific grind is more prone to failure? That is rediculous. They are all manufactured from the same blanks, and ground down to the specified shape. Different manufacturers, maybe. But a 262 and a 268 are IDENTICAL other than a slight variation in lobe shapes.

-Chris

Never Finished

The XE262 is the only cam out of six installations that I have done that has gone bad. Coincidentally, it is the only cam I used the red break in oil that Comp Cams supplies with the kit. My gut feeling is the red oil is too light and may drip off the cam before you can get the engine installed and the lifters set. I like the dark gray cam lube that has been around for several years. It seems to work every time.

8T8T2

I installed the XE262 last winter and had the same concern as Never Finished with Comps red break in lube. After lubeing the cam and letting it sit for 15 min. most of it dripped off onto my bench. The engine was going to sit for a month after the cam install waiting for other parts. Went to Autozone and bought lube which was quite a bit heavier. Before starting the engine I got the power drill and ran the oil pump for awhile also pre-filled the oil filter.
So far so good but I probably only have 1000 mi. on the cam.

marshrat99

The reason I'm interested in this poll is that I installed a XE262 last summer. So far I've got a little over 2,000 on it without any problems. However, I've heard comments on other threads where trouble was mentioned. I'm hoping that those commenting above on proper installation being key are correct and that the XE262 is not the problem. Next question for me is if I did the installation and break in correctly. I guess time will tell. :cheers: :cheers:

comp

MINE was my fault plain and simple :withstupid:

EDDIEJ82

I know I got one of these, had 3 wiped lobes on teardown