wiped cam now what

[Turbo 6 Justin]

okay, I hate GN motors... no not really but they can try your patients at times. Okay buddy's car, dropped a cam late into the cam breakin, like in the 25-30 minute window. took .102 off the cam and kiled the lifter and pushed it in, yes that's right the lifter has a nice concave surface that measures about .040. He is really hessitant to pull the whole motor to clean out all the oil passages and bearings. If it were my motor it would be sitting on a stand already. So will he be fine? do I just need to pull it out for him and clean it up? I have done quite a few motors in my young life but this is the first cam I have dropped. Need some advice.

FYI comp 212/212 and the failed lobe was drivers side rear exhaust.

Jack C. has been really supportive throughout this, I can tell you he will get a lot of my money in the future just based on his willingness to solve a problem that he did not create.





on another note I finaly got my car out the other night, and all I have to say is running a modded 1000 cc bikes is a really good time. okay so I don't hate these motors that much

 

[MeanBuicks]

Most folks are going to vote for pulling the motor which is probably the wise thing to do. I successfully cleaned my engine out after flattening a cam. I say successful because that was 80,000+ miles ago and it's still going strong.

Besides cleaning the pee out of the crankcase area of the engine, I wound up changing the rod bearings and hand-polishing the rod journals on the crank. I also placed a few magnets inside the bottom of my oil pan to catch stuff I no-doubt missed.

 

[Bmason]

Convince him not to FART AROUND trying to short cut it. At this point, the motor should come out and be cleaned. Why risk the possibility of further damage (like to his crank)? I know how he feels though, but it's just one of those things.

For my information, how did you know to check the cam/lifter? What symptoms led you to start checking things? When my cam wiped, it took a while before I got the hint!

-Bobby

 

[Berman]

Definately want to clean it. It would SUCK to have some metal be down there in the bottom end and ruin the motor.

I know a guy who's turbos on his RX-7 blew. He took them off and sent them out to be rebuilt. Well the bolt holding the compressor wheel in was missing when he took them out, but he didn't think too much of it, and didn't investigate. I would have at least taken the whole intake tract apart. He didn't. He got the turbos back, put them on. The car ran great. For a week. Then... kpow. Turbos blow again. He looks at 'em. Hmm.. what is this bolt doing in my turbo?

The bolt had fallen down to be between the mass air and the turbo and got sucked in.

The moral of the story is your friend should do the extra work, because Murphy's Law is always there to bite you in the ass.

 

[Turbo 6 Justin]

okay I went through this with him today and he is still hessitant. He talked to jack C this morning who said it should be okay to just rip the pan off and spray it from the top down with carb cleaner then flush it with oil and it should be okay. I still disagree but jack knows his sh*t so...

as far as knowing when the cam wiped at the end of break in especially when we let it idle there was a lifter tapping sound/rocker sound. Pulled the valve cover and the rear rocker was very loose, started working down from there into the valley pan, It was visible that the one lifter was not moving nearly as much as the othes but we measured it to be sure, yep it's done, pulled the front cover off and out came the cam, it is very noticable where the problem was.

 

[rastaz]

What kind of valve springs were you using for the break in?

 

[Turbo 6 Justin]

they were I believe the 980's, double spring just a small step over stock. I never saw the invoice but they were from modern muscle and had at least 5000 miles on them. I was thinking about trying the stockers on the next cam but these really shouldn't cause a problem.

 

[rastaz]

You're right the 980's shouldn't be a problem. I just broke in a 212/212 on 980's with no problems. Could it be possible that there was no cam lube or not enough cam lube on that lobe? Did you check if all the lifters spun freely in there bores before start up? At any rate I would tear down that motor completely and clean it out. Keep in mind that the oil cooler in the rad will be contaminated also so that will need to be cleaned out or replaced too.

 

[JRGN]

Wanted to know did you use the lifters that came with the cam or new GM lifters.

Originally posted by Turbo 6 Justin
okay, I hate GN motors... no not really but they can try your patients at times. Okay buddy's car, dropped a cam late into the cam breakin, like in the 25-30 minute window. took .102 off the cam and kiled the lifter and pushed it in, yes that's right the lifter has a nice concave surface that measures about .040. He is really hessitant to pull the whole motor to clean out all the oil passages and bearings. If it were my motor it would be sitting on a stand already. So will he be fine? do I just need to pull it out for him and clean it up? I have done quite a few motors in my young life but this is the first cam I have dropped. Need some advice.

FYI comp 212/212 and the failed lobe was drivers side rear exhaust.

Jack C. has been really supportive throughout this, I can tell you he will get a lot of my money in the future just based on his willingness to solve a problem that he did not create.





on another note I finaly got my car out the other night, and all I have to say is running a modded 1000 cc bikes is a really good time. okay so I don't hate these motors that much

 

[Turbo 6 Justin]

I did not oversee the cam being lubed but right before break-in I had him pull it out to relube it cause we had been spinning the engine quite a bit while we were having oil pressure problems and couldn't get oil to the rockers. I probably shouldn't say this but others can learn from my mistakes but we even did a start-up (it was totally his decision) and had to shut down after ~15-20 seconds casue we had no pressure. I think this caused the cam failure but I have seen and heard of other people doing this and the cam has lived. so at some point it was pretty dry but it was relubed.

we used the comp lifters, I like the GM ones better but funds always seam to be a little tight at the end of a project and it is no different for my buddy. are the GM liftters that much better or is it that they just tend to be quieter.

thanks keep the replies/questions coming.

 

[JRGN]

Justin, I don't know about the Gm lifters, but the people I talk to seem to like them better, I am in the same boat as you and am starting to put my motor together same cam but had it molly coated just for a litte extra insurance, have the comp lifters but trying to decide on using them or the Gm.

 

[tc86gn]

I am now dealing with a similar problem. But it started with a small mistake. I did not pay attention to the way my oil pumpgasket lined up with the cover.. it was an aftermarket kit with its own gasket,any way it created a cavitational problem that was evident after I shut it down after cam break-in. The pressure would rise and fall for no apparent reason. I shut it down and investigated it. found the gasket problem and fixed it. 500 miles later I decide to get on it. I am going 55 and my foot puts it to the floor, It puffs and takes off. Hit 130 in no time. Put my T/A to shame. Got to the bottom of the driveway and heard a squealing noise. got to the garage it was louder. I turned it off and Pulled the motor. Disassembled it and found #5 rod bearing spun. All because of metal shavings created by oil pumpcavitation. I shut it down in time to save the cam,turbo and now I have to have crank turned to 010 and new bearings throughout. Clean it out right and dissassemble it and check every component. How does the front cam bearing look? I am telling you from looking at mine that you do not know where all this metal is until you tear it down. Don't make the same mistake I did.