Hello Car Gods! Quick question

CybeRise · December 2, 2015

So I was lucky enough to have my camshaft go out on my 08 Escalade around Christmas time, wonderful! To top it off I'm currently not working and have kids that want presents! So I found a NOS (New Old Stock) cam for cheap and I think now I just need the lifters, and head gaskets. My question is, do I have to have the heads rebuilt? Or can I just them cut?

Thanks and really appreciate some advice!

barry G · December 2, 2015

that is a serious error..

if it gets going again, use an oil filter with a built in relief.

k&n or something.

I have never encountered a cam going "bad", in all the years of animal with a v8.

I would hope the block gets checked out before putting back together.

in fact, blunt advice:

get a whole other engine ready to go.

Doug_Scott · December 2, 2015

Interested in hearing how the camshaft was diagnosed. Cam failure is rarely a single part failure, and simply sliding a new one in does not fix the problem(as least not since the 305 camshaft/lifter issue back in the 80/90s.

Why are you pulling the heads? If you are going to pull them, at the very least they need to be checked for "flatness". I am pretty sure you have VVT on your engine as well. Why not look at an aftermarket cam that can take advantage of that. I remember reading an article a while ago about swapping the cam with one from Comp Cams that gave good results on a dyno.

tbarn · December 2, 2015

You don't need to do anything to the heads if you don't want to. Wouldn't be a bad idea though to have them rebuilt. You'll need new head bolts also. And new exhaust manifold bolts. If a couple of manifold bolts aren't broken already, it's not uncommon for them to break putting them back in.

CybeRise · December 2, 2015

Interested in hearing how the camshaft was diagnosed. Cam failure is rarely a single part failure, and simply sliding a new one in does not fix the problem(as least not since the 305 camshaft/lifter issue back in the 80/90s.

Why are you pulling the heads? If you are going to pull them, at the very least they need to be checked for "flatness". I am pretty sure you have VVT on your engine as well. Why not look at an aftermarket cam that can take advantage of that. I remember reading an article a while ago about swapping the cam with one from Comp Cams that gave good results on a dyno.

The heads and the entire engine was pulled out to remove the camshaft. It appears thats the only way to do it.

CybeRise · December 2, 2015

that is a serious error..

if it gets going again, use an oil filter with a built in relief.

k&n or something.

I have never encountered a cam going "bad", in all the years of animal with a v8.

I would hope the block gets checked out before putting back together.

in fact, blunt advice:

get a whole other engine ready to go.

One day I turned on my truck and heard a knocking sound. Turns out I was low about 2 quarts of oil. I added the missing oil and the sound went away. It then returned the next day after I took it to jiffy lube for an oil change.

Doug_Scott · December 2, 2015

The heads and the entire engine was pulled out to remove the camshaft. It appears thats the only way to do it.

It may appear to be easier, but it is not the only way. Usually you can just pull the grille, condenser and radiator out to get the required room to pull the cam out. Don't see why you cannot just pull the intake to get to the lifters as well. The downside is that you need to evacuate the a/c if you do it with engine installed.

Are they using "rev" kits in factory roller cam engines now? That would be the only reason I would think the heads needed to come off. "Rev" kits are essentially valve springs mounted between the underside of the head and the top of the roller lifters. It allowed for a lighter valve spring on the valves themselves, which in turn allowed a higher rpm with less chance of pounding the valve into the seats.

tbarn · December 3, 2015

Heads have to come off because they cover the lifters. Stupid, but that's the way they are. And the camshafts are normally replaced with the engine in the truck.

CybeRise · December 3, 2015

Heads have to come off because they cover the lifters. Stupid, but that's the way they are. And the camshafts are normally replaced with the engine in the truck.

Ok you seem to know what you are talking about lol

Please help me decide. I have to decide on a route tomorrow. Either replace the entire engine at a cost of about $3500 around christmas time no less! Or just replace the cam, cut the heads, and keep the same block. That would cost me roughly around $1800.

Any advice would be appreciated!

tbarn · December 3, 2015

Ok you seem to know what you are talking about lol

Please help me decide. I have to decide on a route tomorrow. Either replace the entire engine at a cost of about $3500 around christmas time no less! Or just replace the cam, cut the heads, and keep the same block. That would cost me roughly around $1800.

Any advice would be appreciated!

The short answer is, only you can decide. We replace 8-10 cams a year on this engine family and haven't had any issues. But a lot depends on the miles on the truck, how it was driven, oil changes etc.

Also the overall condition of the truck. I would put a cam in it but thats me. Only you can make that decision

SILVER SLED · December 3, 2015

I see alot of camshafts/lifters go bad, and we replace the cam and lifters. Depends on the miles, but we usually send the heads out to be checked and cleaned up, not a big expense.

CybeRise · December 3, 2015

Truck has 100k miles. Never had an issue before this.

CybeRise · December 4, 2015

I see alot of camshafts/lifters go bad, and we replace the cam and lifters. Depends on the miles, but we usually send the heads out to be checked and cleaned up, not a big expense.

Is it true the lifters alone are like $600?

Doug_Scott · December 4, 2015

Is it true the lifters alone are like $600?

Not necessarily. A quick check on an online performance catalog site shows OEM lifters for LS series of engines (without AFM) running at just under $130 for all 16. But, if you have AFM, lifters become $80, each. That ends up being $1200 for a complete set. Roller lifters are not like the non-roller lifters in how they wear with the cam lobe. The non-roller lifters would tend to wear into the lobe, so changing the cam would just about require new lifters as well. Roller lifters are far more forgiving in that regard.