Comp Cams Lies to Better Business Bureau

[FFRCobraMike]

I really can not say anything about the end play on the cam. The same builder put it in both times and it is working fine now. It does have a HV oil pump and still does. The only difference between the two builds is the dizzy gear used. everything else was done exactly the same by the same person. At the time of the first build, the poly gears were not available yet. They were available when the engine was repaired, and i asked both the builder and Comp if that is what should be used and neither at the time recommended it. The builder because it was so new and he had little experience with the plastic gear, and Comp just wouldn't commit after the first failure. I know that regular hyd. roller cams use a steel gear with no problem. However this is a "Retro Fit" roller cam and for some reason, they are different. As I have mentioned before, there is even a difference in the Comp Cams catalog. The regular roller cams have a note beside the listing specifying a steel dizzy gear. The Retro Fit rollers do not have this note. So even in the Comp Cams own catalog, there is a discrepency between the two types of roller cams. The only parts i installed were the dizzy, the carb and the alternator. The rest of the engine was built by the builder. And to clarify about him recommending a cast gear, that was only on the engines that were built with the same cam as mine. He of course does not recommend a cast gear for all applications. He has built over a dozen engines that have the exact same components as mine. I was only saying he recommended a cast gear in those applications. And again all the other engines that are exactly like mine have not had a problem using a cast gear. Oh and Comp told the BBB that the cam is not what wore out. They told them the dizzy gear failed and the cam is fine. I think you can clearly see from the pic that was a lie.

Hope that clarifies things

Mike

[RICK LAKE]

FFRCobraMike Thanks for the info. I guess a bronze gears was a safe bet. IMO If there is an alignment problem the steel gear on the cam eats this gear up quick. The shavings will still endup in the motor on the way to the oil pan. If lucky, the filter catches the particles. I would have thought that Comp would have a recomended gear for each application. Someone said they should sell the correct gear with the retro kit. I have only run the car twice last year so I am not 100% sure that the composite gears is going to work. I do have extra oil going to this location to lube the contact spot of the two gears. This doesn't help you. Hope everything is OK with the motor now. The BBB is a waste of time and tax payers money. They don't do anything here in NJ except get paided. Fly by night construction companies with 3-4 different names. All they need is a PO box and answering machine. NJ is finally maken changes and forcing them to register with the state. Only the Illegals are complaining about this. Go Figure. Rick L.

[Silverback51]

Just did a quick search on the Comp Cams site to see if they refer to the cam material and hardness in their spec pages. Could not find anything.

By the picture it's easy to see that it's a billet material cam. Did any of the information they sent with the cam include the material specs?

It would be real interesting to have the hardness tested. I would do it on the shaft area between the distributor gear and the first cam lobe. Then I would test it on the cam lobe surface also.

It could be a heat treat issue. If so, it would not have mattered what gear was used, it would fail regardless.

[AC Cobra]

If I can come to Mike’s defense here. Back in 2006 I had a similar problem with my CompCam billet steel cam (Hydraulic Roller 35-426-8) in my 351W.

Out for a drive one sunny day and it stopped running. Had it towed home and discovered the cam gear was striped. I discussed the problem with my engine builder. He called CompCam and discussed the problem with them. He told me to remove the cam and give it to him. He sent it to CompCam and they replaced the cam with the comment that they had received a bad batch of cores from China.

CompCam highly recommended that I use the “Carbon Untra-Poly Composite” distributor gear that CompCam had just introduced. They sent it along with the replacement cam. The cost for the distributor gear was $115.69.

I was really shocked that CompCam would replace a “race part”. However, my engine builder said they were replacing it because of the bad batch of cores that they grind the cams from. Of course, he buys several hundred cams from them each year. That may have been the real leverage.

To Mike, I would recommend talking to CompCam about which batch your cam came from. It may be the same batch my cam came from. In that case you may get some satisfaction. Also, the Carbon Untra-Poly Composite distributor gear solves all the questions about which distributor gear, steel or bronze, to use.