BEWARE during Cam Swap....
03-03-2009, 09:11 PM
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BEWARE during Cam Swap.... Just a reminder for all those first-time cammers out there.... take your time and pay attention to what you are doing. I did my first cam swap last weekend and was so excited that everything was going back together, I overlooked a critical mistake. While reinstalling the front cover, I accidentally pushed the front of the oil-pan gasket back and broke it, but didn't realize it. Thinking everything was ok, I continued to button-up the engine and and go along with the install. I DROVE THE CAR FOR THE LAST WEEK, WITH NO OIL LEAKS AND EXCELLENT OIL PRESSURE then today I drove 70 miles to my tuner and 1.5 miles away, my car started pouring smoke out of the engine compartment. I pulled over and it looked as if an oil grenade went off under my car. After checking the oil I limped the car the last mile to my tuner's garage. 6 hours later after lifting the engine, dropping the k-member and oil pan then replacing my oil pan gasket, my car runs again. By the grace of God, there was no damage. Long story short, PLEASE learn from my mistake and TRIPLE CHECK EVERYTHING!!!
03-03-2009, 10:17 PM
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Dang man...I always carry two extra quarts of Penzoil Platinum in my car just in case. lol I'm doing my first cam swap sometime within the next month and I'll keep your experience in mind. lol
03-04-2009, 06:15 AM
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Yeah, at first I was pissed that it happened. Then I looked on the shop floor next to my car and there was a LS1 block sitting there that had a broken Rod Bolt, and the dumbass that owned it drove the **** home over 10 miles. So instead of replacing connecting rods and getting the crankshaft turned, now he has a destroyed crank, cam, pistons, and a cracked block. It could always be worse.
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03-05-2009, 10:05 AM
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No, I didn't. Had I beat the thing on with a hammer, this would have led me to believe that something was wrong. It went on smoothly, with no excess pressure needed. The guys at RPM told me it's actually a common mistake caused by not lining up the cover correctly and it takes almost no force to destroy that thin aluminum gasket.
03-05-2009, 02:57 PM
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nice save dude! patience and a good set of eyes is always critical with this kinda stuff. its really easy to get excited and want to rush, unfortuanatly that just cost a buddy of mine a motor. he was doing a H/C install and was using the new prc 215 heads (which were JUNK btw) and texas speed told him he didnt have to worry about PTV with his cam and... well. he did. he started it and heard some noises but figured it was just valvetrain nose. he drove it around the block and it shatered a piston and windowed the block. :/
oh and destroyed his brand new heads.
oh and destroyed his brand new heads.
03-05-2009, 07:45 PM
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No, I didn't. Had I beat the thing on with a hammer, this would have led me to believe that something was wrong. It went on smoothly, with no excess pressure needed. The guys at RPM told me it's actually a common mistake caused by not lining up the cover correctly and it takes almost no force to destroy that thin aluminum gasket.
03-05-2009, 08:07 PM
#19
I agree with HavATampa. Murphy's law must have been in effect here. If you set the cover down on the protruding upper face of the pan(where the pan gasket resides) this can't happen. You have to do multiple things the wrong way to get this result and you have to work pretty hard at it to end up with this near disaster. A cam swap assumes more than a minimal degree of mechanical skill, but if you work at it hard enough you can do as the old cliche says: "Screw up a wet dream".
03-05-2009, 08:13 PM
#20
I agree with HavATampa. Murphy's law must have been in effect here. If you set the cover down on the protruding upper face of the pan(where the pan gasket resides) this can't happen. You have to do multiple things the wrong way to get this result and you have to work pretty hard at it to end up with this near disaster. A cam swap assumes more than a minimal degree of mechanical skill, but if you work at it hard enough you can do as the old cliche says: "Screw up a wet dream".
