ATR roller and cam sensor gear.

[NC87GN]

Have an issue with my stock cam sensor gear and my ATR roller cam. On a fresh motor (1500 miles) I noticed more than normal wear on my cam sensor gear. I replaced the cam sensor gear with a new one and put a roller bearing in place of the stock thrust washer. But the question remains what is causing this? I am going to keep a close eye on this but does anyone have any ideas or remedies? FWIW, I did pull the motor and inspected the main bearings, for peace of mind, and they looked good other than #1 top main, so I replaced the all. TIA

Mike Banas
87GN

 

[getchasum]

Mike, that sucks. Ive seen a few threads now with cam sensor gear failure w/ the ATR billet cam. Are you running a high vol oil pump? What made you notice you were having trouble? You may want to check out the BOP cam gear http://www.bopengineering.com/buick_v6.shtml

 

[87buick3825]

Well I was sitting back to see if anyone else replied . I have a Webber racing one with 2000 miles on it and it is worn bad !!!! and I thought roller cams had no problem's

 

[Nick Micale]

Originally posted by 87buick3825
.............. I thought roller cams had no problem's

Anything mechanical can have problems.

We have done ATR, Weber, Danny Bee and other methods of retaining the billet roller cam and have had very few problems.

The set up and clearances on cam parts and oil pump are very critical. If the machining, set up and install are done properly, they are reliable.

A worn cam sensor drive gear indicates everything is NOT correctl. Could be machining tolerance or oil pump issues - especially if high volume gears are used.

 

[NC87GN]

I did trial fit the cam sensor with the o-ring removed just to see the how much backlash I have. The sensor dropped in like a charm and felt a little movement CW and CCW when fully seated (this is good!). I am still using the HV oil pump and put the orange spring for the bypass so high oil pressure at startup should not be an issue. I did installed the roller bearing in place of the standard thrust washer, on the sensor, to help reduce friction. I am going to keep a watchfull eye every 1000 miles as its easy to pull and inspect..

The roller cams are a great piece and a good investment but like Nick said anything mechanical can have problems...

Mike Banas
87GN

 

[87buick3825]

"If it comes in a box you have to make it fit " Mine also set in fine . It was a new cover from Precision . Gears are worn smack in the middle