Spun cam bearing?

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Nov 6, 2011 | 06:09 PM

Hawk312

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From: Bluffton, SC

Spun cam bearing?

Started making noise a few days ago. Noise goes away at idle. Has been getting just a little louder over time. It was running about 2 quarts low on oil, which kinda concerns me. The other thing I thought it might be was the power steering pump, which has been making alot of noise over the past 6 months or so, and has been losing fluid. Please see the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Nu-...el_video_title

Nov 6, 2011 | 07:37 PM

David_viny

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First thing I would do is take off the serpentine belt and start it up. That will confirm / eliminate it being the issue with PS pump, idler pulleys, water pump etc.

Nov 6, 2011 | 08:05 PM

Hawk312

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From: Bluffton, SC

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_viny

First thing I would do is take off the serpentine belt and start it up. That will confirm / eliminate it being the issue with PS pump, idler pulleys, water pump etc.

Why didn`t I think of that.

You guys know if changing a cam bearing requires pulling the engine, or is there a way to do it with the block still in the bay, even if it means pulling everything off the front of the car? The car hasnt even been driven 20 miles since it first started making noise.

Nov 6, 2011 | 08:22 PM

chrisfrost

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From: phx the cactus patch

You can only change the 3 forward-most cam bearings with the block in the car after moving the radiator, condensor, grill ...........etc . The reason is because there are 3 different OD's of the bearings with the center 1 having the smallest OD . #'s 2 n 4 being the next largest OD n #'s 1 n 5 being the largest OD . As far as "spinning" the cam bearings ,,,,,,,,,I've never heard of anyone having that happen but they can n will wear enough to be noisy n mess up the bearing journals on the cam ,,,,,,,,,fairly rare though .
I just listened to You're video and I seriously doubt that is internal engine ,,,,,,,,,,,,but if it is ,,,,,,,probably in the valve-train such as a lifter . Sounds external to me .

Last edited by chrisfrost; Nov 6, 2011 at 08:27 PM.

Nov 6, 2011 | 08:22 PM

DMM

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Out of curiosity, why is a cam bearing your first thought? If you did spin a cam bearing, the motor has to be pulled and stripped and a machine shop has to line bore the block (like if a main had spun) since the material to hold the factory sized bearing has now been worn, requiring a larger than stock OD bearing. At that point it would probably be easier going with another short block to be honest. Crappy video, but it sounds like a bad P/S pump and a collapsed lifter (or something in the valvetrain) to me.

Edit: Spinning a cam bearing is rare, usually a rod bearing will be first to go when there is a lubrication problem. The old 2.8/3.1 V6 iron motors used to spin cam bearings when the intake gaskets leaked coolant into the motor (they were priority fed to the cam, not the crank), but the V8's have never really had a problem unless they were installed incorrectly.

Last edited by DMM; Nov 6, 2011 at 08:32 PM.

Nov 7, 2011 | 04:21 AM

ausls1

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sounds like dive belt slip i had, some dry lube stick on the belt while running and it went away. came back every now and then but some dry lube again and it went away again.

Nov 7, 2011 | 06:55 AM

Hawk312

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From: Bluffton, SC

Thanks for the help guys. I thought it was a cam bearing because the oil got so low and it seemed like the noise was coming from near the middle/top of the block. That, plus I have a tendency to expect the worst scenarios first.

I think I have ruled that out though. I started it up this morning without the belt, and no unusual sound at all. I put the belt back on, and still no sound except the power steering pump whine, and after a minute or two the sound was there again, but very faint. Removed the belt again, and can`t get it to make the noise. Put the belt back on, and again, it`s there after a minute or two.
How difficult is it to replace the power steering pump?
Thanks again!