I don't think I broke in the hotcam enough when I first installed it. Now my oil pressure drops to zero when it idles after being hot. when I am cruising it is steady at 20 but goes no higher. I can smell something burning, and I found metal in my oil filter. Could this be a cam bearing and if it is, what else may I have messed up and what should I do? Try to repair or buy a new block..also did I roach my cam? I haven't took it apart yet, I am just wondering what to expect.

 

Roller cams dont really break in once installed. They can cause problems if not lubed properly though.

Chances are your cam bearings were already worn and you drove the nail in the coffin. Also if you have worn mains and rods then the additional power and RPM's will do the same thing.

Its a 50/50 crap shoot if a used engine lives right after cam install because of these reasons.

When I was doing my head and cam install, I saw that the front cam bearing and #1 ro bearing was shot, so I yanked the engine, bored it and rebuilt it to ensure that a similar thing did not happen to me.

You might as well as yank the engine and not run it any longer to avoid severe mechanical failure.
How many miles on the ticker?

 

85000...

yeah..I never should of messed with the engine without doing a complete rebuild...dammit

 

+1

Shut 'er down now and save it for a rebuild.

 

Doesn't make any difference how many or how few miles you have on an engine if the cam was not installed correctly, or the rest of your valve train or bottom end is not up to snuff. Vitally important to take care when installing any new parts to the bottom end or valve train otherwise you risk catastrophic (I like that word) engine failure. JMHO

 

I just did a 15 page term paper on engine bearings. LOL

 

They say irony can be pretty ironic, sometimes.