[Healeys] tappets - the pits :-(

[Alan Seigrist]

Hi John -

Tappet surfaces are supposed to be shaped slightly convex, which when in
operation causes them to spin in circles which serves to bring in oil
lubrication between the tappet and cam.   The spinning of the tappets is
often interrupted for many common reasons, then the cam just runs over one
part of the tappet for a period of time, causing pitting.  Usually it breaks
loose and starts spinning again then sticks again, causing more pitting.  It
usually isn't a major issue, but pitted tappets will eventually wear down
the surface of the cam lobe causing decreased performance, but this may take
100K miles to do so.  If a tappet remains unpitted, usually the cam lobe
won't wear at all.

If pitting is minor, I wouldn't get too worked up about it.

Alan

On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 1:26 PM, john spaur <jmsdarch at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> Are tappet pits okay? This is really embarrassing!
>
> I just sent my rocker arm and tappets to a well known re-builder. Several
> tappets had what I thought was extensive pitting. This occurred after 1000
> miles or so since resurfacing them. However, the engine was not run since
> 2003 due to other issues. BTW, there was no rust on them, just a well coated
> oil surface after eight years of benign neglect!
>
> The re-builder told me that the pitting was minor and typical; meaning that
> it might reoccur after another resurfacing.
>
> What causes tappet pitting? The cam looks fine. Could it be that the
> tappets, are not rotating in their bores?
>
> I want to solve this problem!
>
> Help!!
>
> John Spaur
> '62 BT7
> ______________________________**_________________
> Healeys at autox.team.net
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.**html<http://www.team.net/donate.html>
> Suggested annual donation  $12.75
> Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
> Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
> Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/**
> options/healeys/healey.nut@**gmail.com<http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/healey.nut@gmail.com>