Jacob Ochs Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 My dad is planning on buying a MJ here soon and was wondering if there were any down sides to the 4.7 motor route. Not like gas mileage or anything like that, but as far as reliability goes if you build it right! Any tips would be really appreciated, as always thanks everyone for all the help over the past few years! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Like any engine, it will only be as reliable as the rebuilder makes it. There are good ones and not so good ones, and generally you get what you pay for. Suggest you go HERE and start reading. Start with Stroker Basics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue XJ Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I built mine about a decade ago, I just recently experienced a cam failure, but from the sounds of ot, most people that used the same cam also had a failure. Mileage went up and so did power. The only downside I experienced was the ~$4K it took to build one myself, but obviously I used all quality parts and had everything machined to freshen it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj92131 Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 So who made the cam that failed?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue XJ Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 It was a Crane 753901, the one that most people recommend back when strokers were just taking off. It ran great with it, but like most others, it's starting to have some issues. I picked up a Mopar Performance cam for it, but its still sitting in the garage, it's been single digit weather for almost a month now, don't have the ambition to change it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 What are your symptoms BlueXJ? Lobes flattened? I've had the Hesco RVOB cam in for about seven years now with no problems. It's always had Chevron Delo 400 diesel motor oil with the added zinc content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue XJ Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I had a real bad lifter tick and when I pulled the valve cover, I noticed there are 3 or 4 lifters that no longer spin while the engine is running, I'm assuming its a wiped lobe on the cam. While I had the valve cover off, I also noticed that the lifters bleed down completely in about 10 seconds after I kill the motor. It's starting to stumble pretty good at idle as well lately. I have a new set of Mopar Performance lifters and a MP cam to go in it, just have to find the time, and some warmer weather. I didn't even think about the Hesco cam, forgot all about it somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 As someone who is likely going to be putting a stroker together at some point in time, this thread is pretty interesting. It seems like the cam/valvetrain is responsible for most of the problems I've heard people have with strokers. What cams (I'm assuming Mopar/stock? I've never heard of people having trouble with Hesco internals either.) have the best reputation for reliability? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knever3 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 My dad is planning on buying a MJ here soon and was wondering if there were any down sides to the 4.7 motor route. Not like gas mileage or anything like that, but as far as reliability goes if you build it right! Any tips would be really appreciated, as always thanks everyone for all the help over the past few years! :) Where are you located? If you are close to Hesco just go there. A reptuable shop who will stand behind their product and can dyno it is worth every penny! Mine is back at the shop after I pulled it back out and delivered it nearly 3 weeks ago, no response yet. :fs1: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue XJ Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 From what I have gathered from searching online, most of the cam failures in the strokers can be sourced back to the P5249464 valve springs that everyone was originally using. These are the Magnum V8 springs, which apparently have a much higher spring pressure than the stock 4.0 springs. At least that's what I came up with after doing hours of research on replacement cams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeepman Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I have had my 4.7L stroker in for a few months now and I can't imagine this engine in a stock truck as I am easily spinning 35" tires with little effort... Now as for downsides I can say this so far - Higher Cost to build (can be done cheaply but I am also going Supercharged) - If your automatic pay attention to your cam choice before buying one and installing it otherwise you will need a custom converter like I do which hurts my economy at this time - As said earlier cam failure is the most common and from what I have read on Jeepstrokers.com its been due to cam walk So far that's about the only considered downsides for me at this time I am happy with my Stroker engine and it still needs a little tweaking to fine tune it... Overall I am Happy with my build and maybe I would have changed a thing or two but its still winter and I haven't be able to fully test her out so once the warmer weather gets here I will make some adjustments... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Okay... there always has to be a Debbie Downer, and I'll be that guy. I love my truck, but I think I'd love it just as much if I were to have skipped my engine build and did a High Output swap instead. Do I regret building the engine the way I did?... absolutely not! Puts a huge smile on my face with every push of the skinny pedal! But for my driving style and how I use the truck, I think I would've been more happy with buying a low mileage donor for less than what I spend on just the engine. Don't tell Cruiser, but I'm definitely on the HO cheer squad with Don. :peek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacob Ochs Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 My dad is planning on buying a MJ here soon and was wondering if there were any down sides to the 4.7 motor route. Not like gas mileage or anything like that, but as far as reliability goes if you build it right! Any tips would be really appreciated, as always thanks everyone for all the help over the past few years! :) Where are you located? If you are close to Hesco just go there. A reptuable shop who will stand behind their product and can dyno it is worth every penny! Mine is back at the shop after I pulled it back out and delivered it nearly 3 weeks ago, no response yet. :fs1: I live in a town near St. Louis Mo! Thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybottoms88 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 What are your symptoms BlueXJ? Lobes flattened? I've had the Hesco RVOB cam in for about seven years now with no problems. It's always had Chevron Delo 400 diesel motor oil with the added zinc content. I use Valvoline VR1 oil for my AMC 360. It has the Zinc content as well. The correct oil is critical when your talking about flat tappet cams these days. Oil is not designed with them in mind anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Quaker State Defy and Mobil 1 High Mileage also still have zinc in them (API SL rated). Motorcycle oils have more (API SG) as do diesel oils (Rotella). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Lots of motor oils have some zinc content. It's the amount of content that matters. I like Chevron Delo 400 LE 15w40 because it still has a 1300 ppm zinc count, the most of any of the "over-the-counter" motor oils, and it's a dino oil which I prefer over a synthetic. It exceeds the API classification SM for older flat tappet engines, and is one of the few non-exotic motor oils that still do w/o a zinc additive. Chevron Delo 400 is a diesel spec motor oil and I've been using it for years in all the Jeeps I've had over the years, but especially in the stroker with it's mild cam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 SM drastically cut down on the maximum allowed zinc content. SN is not allowed to have any zinc in it as per government specs. The EPA is killing our engines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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