Thread:

Long Idle's

Is idling for long periods of time bad on an engine, lets say something like mine, a locked out 10:1 498 stroker with iron heads a solid roller and around 650 lift?

Every year I always talk about how it would be great to decorate the boat with some lights and drop it in the dana point harbor to do the Christmas boat parade. We do it with my gramps 40ft sail boat and it's a good hour long idle around the harbor. I'm just curious how hard this would be on an engine like mine. If this was a stock mill i wouldn't even worry about it but with the timing locked out and the cam the idle is alittle rough. A though I had to help was to just setting the timing down to 10-15* since I wouldn't be running the rpms up over 2K anyway.

IMO just make sure the water valve is open enough to feed the engine enough water so it stays under 140*



S CP

I doubt temps will be an issue, the water is pretty cold! Only thing i have restricting water flow is a regulator and that shouldnt be doing anything but allowing water to flow fully at idle. Water system is -8

rpm0414, Running a Crank Trigger yes. I know it sounds weird but at idle the engines just seams like they are fighting themselfs to stay running, where as with alittle more rpm they smooth out. My idle runs about 1100 rpm. Another though was that at idle i'm flowing less oil

If I recall you have a Straub cam ? if so, he knows the lobes as well as anyone ask him able the idling.

S CP

Shaun, In the fall we will idle the mini almost all day...we like to troll for salmon. At that time of the year it is hard to even get the temp gauge off the pin..I put new spark plugs in every two years, and change the fluids twice a season..The engine has 400 + hours on it and runs great. Happy Idleing!!

Ill effects from a long idle on a roller is over rated. Do you think factory hyd rollers have needle oilers? Think the needles of a roller need more oil than the under foot of a flat? When rollers first cam on the scene, one of the big selling points was that they with stood idling BETTER than flat tappets
Dry sump, vac pumped, blocked valley with a scavange line I would be concerned. With the amount of oil you've been pumping to the heads, then down thrun the valley over the cam, I would'nt worry about it too much.

Idle a flat tappet long enough with enough spring pressure and crap oil and kiss it good bye. I would rather idle a roller than a flat tappert any day.
I could build a engine you couldn't keep a flat tappet alive in due to lack of oil. Hard to do with a roller.

I'd worry more about no water goin to the headers than anything, might get hot and blue em up

Originally Posted by Futs

I would be concerned about the lifters more than anything else. Solids right? Long idles are not good for them.

It has a lot to do with spring psi. Even at 740lbs over the nose I'd have no problem with it with the 565.

I think Shaun runs Mobil 1 oil, I wouldn't worry about that.


S CP

I always thought the magic word was hippo when it came to an "idle friendly roller" thats what my crowers are. I dont know...just tryin to learn.

Originally Posted by Futs

I would be concerned about the lifters more than anything else. Solids right? Long idles are not good for them.

Harder on the roller needles of a solid than a hyd? How so. spring pressure? Think a roller cares about the load? Think the load is higher at an idle than the at 7000?
Like I said, I can build an engine you could never hope to have a flat tappet live in, I doubt you could build one that could kill a roller. Not saying it can't be done, just not sure you would know how to kill a roller. Aside from to little spring pressure, or a bad lobe profile, its not easy to kill a well build roller lifter.

Its not a matter of choosing. I would never tell someone NOT to buy forced oil lifters. I will simply tell you that a stock 1965 sbc with a hyd flat tappet requires oil to the cam/lifter more than a .700 lift roller. Nobody ever worried their cam would go flat sitting in traffic on the freeway. Because Crower sells hippo lifters that means there is a need for them in the average build. How did they survive for the past 60 years without the hippo feature?
I wish had one roller lifter that died of oil starvation to convince me. But I never have.