sandking

iTrader: (7)

This is a good pic that shows the wear on the cam bearing.

sandking

iTrader: (7)

Just an FYI for comparison reasons only, this is an example of a good wearing cam. This is from my 2000 LS1 with 45k on it. I know yours had alot more miles. But.............scratches are not good.

bigshoe

iTrader: (2)

ok, now i'm getting worried!

I mentioned it before, but those scratches are totally smooth to the touch, so they are not deep by any means.

i know its hard to tell, but what do you think the chance of spinnign a cam bearing is now?

and how hard is it to change the cam bearings? I dont even know how you would do that? would the bottome end have to be removed? (sounds silly, btu i dont know of another way to get in there besides the valley cover that doesnt expose much)

again, thanks for your help

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

I was going to say that its tought to be sure from that picture, but it looks like theyre discolored striations in the metal and not actually scratches. Examining the picture, there are no lighting variations to show depth where the would be scratches are. Not sure what would cause the striations though. If the car is already togather, might as well drive it then. Whats the worst that could happen, you need to rebuild anyway?

bigshoe

iTrader: (2)

i didnt want to rebuild! AHHHHHHH!!

anyways, i figure at worst, it can spin a cam bearing, or possibly some type of failure with that other lifter (but i bet that other lifter is fine). I definitely dont need to be stranded somewhere, and if i spin a cam bearing, wouldnt there be machining required to fix the surface the cam bearing sits on?

I'm gonna go outside and get some pics of the cam now, only thing is the best i have is that camcorder for pics at the moment

oange ss

iTrader: (50)

looks like the roller on the lifter locked up on the lobe for a second, if it was lack of lubrication then the whole lobe would look like that

bigshoe

iTrader: (2)

oange, i think the roller is fine, the entire lobe is fine except for the pitted part, if the roller locked up, i dont think there would be actual pits on the top of that lobe.

now, after taking a closer look at my journals, i am convinced that my bearings are trashed. again, with my finger, you cant feel any of it, but if you run your fingernail across, yoiu do feel it (doesnt get caught on anything, but does feel the difference). I took some close up shots of the journals and here we go:
first cam journal:

2nd cam journal

3rd cam journal

4th (the bad one):

4th one different angle:

4th another angle:

4th, yet another angle:


last one


So i guess i can confirm that the journals are bad/worn, and that the cam bearing is most likely in the same condition
this really sucks. but i'm very glad i posted and someone caught it (i was just worried about the lobe at first), now i know i gotta take some action, but thats what sucks! you guys think i can let this sit a couple of months? (what I mean by a couple of months is, 4kmiles, a few autocrosses, possibly a roadcourse-but probably not, and the possibility of a dragrace). it also looks like I should probably hold off on tuning till this is sorted out

crainholio

iTrader: (2)

It's definitely had metal loose in the oiling system. The cam's surfaces are much harder than the bearings' soft tin/bronze/lead materials, so anything hard enough to discolor the cam is typically hard enough to groove the associated bearing.

Given the visible damage to the cam surfaces, I'd suspect the rods and mains are probably damaged as well.

bigshoe

iTrader: (2)

thats what i'm thinking,

if junk got past hte oil filter, it can be on the crank bearings, and well, anywhere, sothis is gonna become expensive and time consuming.

anyone think i should start restricting how much i drive and how hard i drive over this? the rebuild at this point may have to wait till winter

GuitsBoy

iTrader: (4)

Do you have a knock or metal in the oil? Maybe think about an oil analysis. Might not be as bad as it looks in those pictures...

bigshoe

iTrader: (2)

since i put the cam in, i have a ticking/exhaust leak sound, but I think that is normal, just since hte new cam is bigger, i'm using 918 springs also.

oil analysis crossed my mind the other day, i should look into that. as far as metal in the oil, i never had anything that i considered bad, just a small sludge on the tip of the magnet, not metal shavings.