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how can i get more power from my 454?

Well I got the whole thing put back together and broke the cam in. This time it ran great for about 1k miles.... then.... I got that wonderful lifter chatter.... I fought it a shop messed with it and now i need to replace a set of lifters. I also ran a compression test and had a leak down done. it turns out i have an issue with the intake valve on #6. Basically this rebuild has been a giant pain in the ass and has shot any confidence i have. A BBC and a SBC are not the same! I could rebuild a 350 in my sleep with no issues this 454 has been a pain from start to finish. I have elected to let a shop take over from here. This way I dont have to deal with it and the work will have a warranty. I will post after the tear down and let everyone know what is found. Hopefully my loss and time will help someone else in the future.
 
For anyone following this:
We pulled the heads off and discovered i had a bad valve guide. that was the cause of so many issues for this motor. the heads have been reworked by the machine shop and we should be golden from here on out. I did take the opportunity to do some additional head work ( bigger valves) while the heads were off. I am eager to see if this helps.
 
I'm following, just didn't reply after the last post. Glad you were able to find a sold cause for your issues. Keep us posted on how (much better) it runs.
 
I hope you found it, was it the same lifter both times? I'm assuming the cam is junk again too?
 
Believe it or not the cam and lifters are in perfect shape. All the noise was coming from the bad valve guide and the valve slopping around. I just got the heads back yesterday, We put in new valve guides and bigger exhaust valves. This time the machine shop went through everything twice to make sure everything was 100% . We also discovered the valve with the crappy guide also slightly bent a push rod so those are being replaced.
Just to make sure everything was on point we are doing new lifters, push rods and rocker arms in addition to all the head work.
The goal is to have this thing up and running no later than Monday 10/12/15 because I have Moab trip planned for Wednesday 10/14/15 so everyone keep their fingers crossed :)
 
Update:
The engine is back together and the truck is running. I have not driven it because the brakes are torn apart. as long as we don't run into anything too crazy it looks like i will make my trip to moab next week. the only thing that has me nervous is driving it 4 hours from home then on a trail with virtually zero break in and testing. At least the Cam and the bottom end is already broken in so i'm really not too concerned.
 
I got it all back together and running, then the starter died... no big deal i slapped a new starter in it. then the water pump started leaking... no problem i switched out the water pump... then i loaded it for moab and decided to take a test drive to make sure everything was on point. well.... after driving for a little I lost all oil pressure... as in it was reading ZERO. I started to hear that familiar clicking from the top end (assuming no oil probably means my lifters aren't being pumped up) . I shut it off and had it towed back to the shop that just did all the work... needless to say i will not be going to moab. I have no idea what happened but i can say having zero oil pressure is never a good thing and never an easy fix. With the time money and energy put into this engine I could have bought a crate lsx and been 110% happier.

There must be a phantom living in this engine. It does not want to run.
 
Wow, I really hate to hear this. I understand the LSX thing. How far are you going to chase this? What if they suggest rebuilding the motor?
 
they just got it this morning, they said when it was cold the pressure was up where it should be but it dropped down to zero again when it warmed up.
Could be a defective oil filter, could be contaminated oil, could be a chevy thing... ;) I will find out more later

I really dont know how far i'll chase it. at this point I hate this engine enough i dont want to waste a penny on it
 
the waiting game sucks... i really just want to hear back from the shop and find out what the heck is going on. anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? where do i even start? a lot of forums have stated cam bearing are most likely to cause these symptoms. does anyone have any experience with this?
 
nvrenuf said:
Wow, I really hate to hear this. I understand the LSX thing. How far are you going to chase this? What if they suggest rebuilding the motor?
Click to expand...
That will be rebuild #3 this year.... at what point do you just toss a motor?
 
Well long story short I lost a bearing somewhere... my friends shop was trying to track it down and it developed rod knock, they are tearing it apart today so hopefully in the next day or two we'll have an answer as to what caused the issue. I'm not holding my breath but I am keeping my fingers crossed that it has something to do with the work the shop just did so i wont be out any additional $.

Note: This is the 3rd time this has been pulled this year.... this is the 3rd COMPLETE rebuild it has needed and that does not include the top end rebuild they did 2 weeks ago...

What I don't understand is how this could be built 100% by the book, following every torque spec, measuring every clearance, using all the little tricks and tips from the pro's and yet this POS grenades every chance it gets.... Each time its a "1 in a million" thing that goes out and it's never the same thing twice so seriously WTF. On a positive note 90% of the time i have been out very little $ because it has fallen back on something or someone else.

At this point i think i need the pope or other religious leader to come bless the new engine before we start it.
 
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nvrenuf said:
Wow, this is unreal.
Click to expand...
The funny thing is my daily driver (an 06 volvo) has almost been as bad as this truck.... i have been bouncing back and forth between my motorcycle, truck and car all year i haven't had all three running at the same time once this year lol . All I can do is laugh and realize that if i like unique vehicles i will always be broke just from repairs ;) .

I keep thinking " I'm a good guy, I help people and animals and all that..... when will my cars be nominated for overhaulin?" maybe then I can have one car that just works.
 
I hope you find the true problem, instead of the first symptom it caused. Was it the same shop that rebuilt it all 3 times?

Good luck, it sounds like a real headache and I hope you get it figured out.
 
no its been a combination of people who have built it each time. this time the machine shop is doing the complete build from start to finish so it all falls on one person to make sure its perfect. The shop that did the top end is new to me but was highly recommended by the machine shop.
 
Dude, if it wasn't for bad luck you'd have no luck at all. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be fatal, or super expensive.
 
Update:
The shop has the engine out and torn down to a short block and so far no major red flags. next Saturday I will take the engine the rest of the way apart at the machine shop and find out what bearing died and get a little more info on what the heck happened...
 
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