engine start up

[Ron]

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">I have a friend that just opened up a 'Cuda 340 engine that sat for 14 years after his last race. He said the all the bearings were still well coated in oil and that only the cam lobes were dry. Unfortunately a pre-lube system will not oil the lobes.

This of course is not to say that a pre-lube system wouldn't considerably speed up the pressure building process, just that there is antidotal evidence to say that at least the bearings do not start dry, ever.

My question would be, "Does the tapping sound you hear on startup mean damage is being caused?" If so, I would either fix the root case or add the pre-lube system. If not, why worry?

My concern is, does the pre-luber provide enough anti-wear benefit to offset whatever risk of catastrophic system failure that might occur while under driving conditions?

For me the bottom line is that for racing, I think the benefit outweighs that risk. For only cold start reasons, I think the case is weaker.

Just my semi-educated opinion.....</FONT f>

 

[C O D Y]

The ACR engine is the same as non-ACR engines except for the Mopar (K&N) Air Filters & Smooth tubes.

 

[Ron]

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">I'd agree with Henry on the ACR adaptor for track use, but it is not recommended for street use where ambient temperatures are regularly below (as I remember) 32 degrees.

In addition, since the with the ACR adaptor the oil cooler drains on shut down, I would think the start up tick would actually increase as time would be needed for the cooler to refill upon each start.

(Again, my common sense opinion only. I am sure others know more than I on the subject)</FONT f>

 

[Marv S]

Does it seem like a lifter tick or an injector(s)?

 

[Henry Cone]

There IS a difference between the oil system on a Gen II non-ACR and an ACR. Since most everyone changes over to smooth tubes and K&N's, the only real difference between the ACR engine and a non-ACR engine is the oil filter adapter. The ACR one does not compromise oil cooling for A/C performance as a non-ACR one does. This is easy and relatively inexpensive to fix - just swap to the ACR oil filter adapter.

We have done this on both of our '96 coupes and HIGHLY recommend it for any Viper that is going to be run at the track. JonB at PartsRack can provide everything that you need to make the change.