Cam bolts and Dowel Sheared off (PICS Added)
01-17-2013, 01:26 AM
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Cam bolts and Dowel Sheared off (PICS Added) To bring everyone up to speed. My 97 LT1 brokedown just after an Opti-Spark installation. The car was shipped from one state to another and then sat for a week before being driven the first time after the Opti-Spark replacement.
My wife was driving the vehicle. She stated that when she started the car, it was vibrating a lot but was working just fine and there was no SES light. She made it to third gear headed away from home when the car let out a slight bang and then died. She coasted to a parking lot where her dad came to get her. He tried to turn it over and said it sounded like it "lost compression". That was last week.
This week the car was towed to local shop. I called the shop tonight from Afghanistan and spoke to the mechanic. This is what he told me. All 3 cam retaining bolts and the Cam dowel pin have been sheered off. He believes that the cam stopped moving once the bolts sheered off and that is why I had Piston to Valve contact. He said everything inside was stock, but that the retaining bolts looked new that were sheered off. To his best knowledge, the timing cover had never been removed before.
What the hell would cause the bolts to be sheered off? Like I said, it was hard to follow the Mechanic. The Opti-Spark was JUST installed before this happened by a highly competent LS1/LT1 shop. He is sending my wife the pictures though and I will upload them. The Heads are still on the car, they will pull those next. What I do know is I have 5 or 6 bent pushrods as I had my brothers co-worker pull the valve covers when I thought it was the chain that snapped.
Scoobs
My wife was driving the vehicle. She stated that when she started the car, it was vibrating a lot but was working just fine and there was no SES light. She made it to third gear headed away from home when the car let out a slight bang and then died. She coasted to a parking lot where her dad came to get her. He tried to turn it over and said it sounded like it "lost compression". That was last week.
This week the car was towed to local shop. I called the shop tonight from Afghanistan and spoke to the mechanic. This is what he told me. All 3 cam retaining bolts and the Cam dowel pin have been sheered off. He believes that the cam stopped moving once the bolts sheered off and that is why I had Piston to Valve contact. He said everything inside was stock, but that the retaining bolts looked new that were sheered off. To his best knowledge, the timing cover had never been removed before.
What the hell would cause the bolts to be sheered off? Like I said, it was hard to follow the Mechanic. The Opti-Spark was JUST installed before this happened by a highly competent LS1/LT1 shop. He is sending my wife the pictures though and I will upload them. The Heads are still on the car, they will pull those next. What I do know is I have 5 or 6 bent pushrods as I had my brothers co-worker pull the valve covers when I thought it was the chain that snapped.
Scoobs
Last edited by Scoobie; 01-18-2013 at 05:32 AM. Reason: Added information
01-17-2013, 08:28 PM
#4
Check the oil pump. See if anything got stuck in there.
Edit: Or a severe cam bearing failure.
Last edited by Rob94hawk; 01-17-2013 at 08:50 PM.
01-17-2013, 09:56 PM
#6
If you can park the car and not drive it, just do that until you get home. The only thing I would recommend you trying to do while deployed is get a engine out of a junkyard and install that. Any other option is going to end up with you getting ripped off.
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01-17-2013, 11:59 PM
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Well still no pictures. It is a new day here in the asscrack of civilization and I was hoping to roll out of my bunk to some detailed photos. Well the car ran just fine except a slight a miss. A new Opti goes on, less than 1/4 mile later, here we are.
All I know from the Mechanic is that three cam bolts and the Cam Dowel pin have sheared off. He stated that the chain looks fine, the Cam sprocket looks fine and the Opti itself looks fine. Let's think about this. Your car runs fine for 70K miles. It gets a new Opti, then right in the same location, you have a catastrophic failure. I keep hearing that they probably aren't related, I just don't see how they car would get the "Go" and the first time it's started it shakes and rattles and soon after fails.
All I know from the Mechanic is that three cam bolts and the Cam Dowel pin have sheared off. He stated that the chain looks fine, the Cam sprocket looks fine and the Opti itself looks fine. Let's think about this. Your car runs fine for 70K miles. It gets a new Opti, then right in the same location, you have a catastrophic failure. I keep hearing that they probably aren't related, I just don't see how they car would get the "Go" and the first time it's started it shakes and rattles and soon after fails.
01-18-2013, 07:00 AM
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Guys, what do you see here? please tell me all. My Father in law is going to help me pay to repair/replace and I do not want to speak anything false. Likewise, I do not want to leave anything out.
01-18-2013, 08:35 AM
#19
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I can't see your pics here at work, but I think you should consider finding a different mechanic.
01-18-2013, 08:44 AM
#20
I had a snapped wristpin in a stock internal LT1 so it may not be anyone's fault. Granted I caught it while it was a slight ticking noise.