Cam Carnage
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 689
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From: Perth, Australia
Cam Carnage Hi there. I'd love to hear from you guys as to what can cause damage like this.
The engine is a Callaway C4B. Basically a LS1 stock bottom end with heads and cam. 400hp.
From what I can gather the cam is something Crane supplied to Callaway in about Yr 2000.
212/222 .560/.569 117LSA
Car is daily driven, 43 000 miles, always Mobil 1, never raced. Has no other mods. Has broken a rocker arm and a valve spring at different times before this latest deal. Valve springs were special ovoid section originally but now the latest LS6 springs are fitted.
These are pics from another engine with identical damage to what I have here now. I believe the term used is spalling.
Anybody seen this before in a similar situation , and more importantly what is the likely cause ??????
The engine is a Callaway C4B. Basically a LS1 stock bottom end with heads and cam. 400hp.
From what I can gather the cam is something Crane supplied to Callaway in about Yr 2000.
212/222 .560/.569 117LSA
Car is daily driven, 43 000 miles, always Mobil 1, never raced. Has no other mods. Has broken a rocker arm and a valve spring at different times before this latest deal. Valve springs were special ovoid section originally but now the latest LS6 springs are fitted.
These are pics from another engine with identical damage to what I have here now. I believe the term used is spalling.
Anybody seen this before in a similar situation , and more importantly what is the likely cause ??????
Hmm. Good one.
Uneducated in this but will give a shot or two.
1) Spring pressure to high
2) Improper filtering of oil, stuck the roller wheel on cam lobe
3) bound up roller wheel
I'm not too good at this guessing game, hope I'm close though.
Uneducated in this but will give a shot or two.
1) Spring pressure to high
2) Improper filtering of oil, stuck the roller wheel on cam lobe
3) bound up roller wheel
I'm not too good at this guessing game, hope I'm close though.
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: May 2005
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From: Perth, Australia
Ok thanks for your input.
Some more info:
1) Original springs installed in the engine were selected by Callaway....these engines do have a history of breaking those. About 1500 miles ago one spring broke in my engine and all 16 were replaced with GM dealership supplied LS6 springs. Green stripe I think.
2) Car has had regular oil changes as per GM service manual , at the most every 6000 miles. Always Mobil 1. Filters as per manual. Always serviced by GM dealership.
3) On mine both roller wheels and lobes were damaged in the cylinder closest to the firewall on what would be the USA drivers' side. Two wheels were pitted same as the pic and had noticeable flat spots. They both still turned fine with no noticeable noise or wobble when rolled with a finger though.
4) Car is M6
Some more info:
1) Original springs installed in the engine were selected by Callaway....these engines do have a history of breaking those. About 1500 miles ago one spring broke in my engine and all 16 were replaced with GM dealership supplied LS6 springs. Green stripe I think.
2) Car has had regular oil changes as per GM service manual , at the most every 6000 miles. Always Mobil 1. Filters as per manual. Always serviced by GM dealership.
3) On mine both roller wheels and lobes were damaged in the cylinder closest to the firewall on what would be the USA drivers' side. Two wheels were pitted same as the pic and had noticeable flat spots. They both still turned fine with no noticeable noise or wobble when rolled with a finger though.
4) Car is M6
Check out what happened to me (page 2) https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...ght=cam+damage. This was on a Lunati cam with over 60K miles.
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: NE PA
Originally Posted by DaleMX
Maybe the hardening on the cam was not done properly or the steel was contaminated during manufacturing.
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I'm gonna blame it on the lobe...not hardened correctly...yes all the lobes are hardend at the same time before final finishing but if there was junk metal in that lobe then it wouldnt matter and i believe the correct term would be galling due to lack of lubrication or metal fatigue due to distress
Last edited by oange ss; May 25, 2005 at 12:06 AM.
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: May 2005
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From: Perth, Australia
No I don't have the cam out of mine yet. The pics I posted were of a very similar case in someone elses identical engine.
I have only viewed my roller lifters and looked at the cam by peeping down the lifter bores. 2 of my rollers and 2 lobes appear the same as those pics.
I'm wanting the dealership to pull the sump to check bottom end bearings and renew the oil pump as a very minimum. They dont even want to do any of that.
I already got loose needle rollers in the sump from the broken rocker that happened 2 years ago. The magnet picked up some needles 12 months after that episode but maybe not all of them. Since then I've had a broken valve spring and now hard facing is missing from cam and lifters. So who knows what else is in there ????
I have only viewed my roller lifters and looked at the cam by peeping down the lifter bores. 2 of my rollers and 2 lobes appear the same as those pics.
I'm wanting the dealership to pull the sump to check bottom end bearings and renew the oil pump as a very minimum. They dont even want to do any of that.
I already got loose needle rollers in the sump from the broken rocker that happened 2 years ago. The magnet picked up some needles 12 months after that episode but maybe not all of them. Since then I've had a broken valve spring and now hard facing is missing from cam and lifters. So who knows what else is in there ????
Sounds like there was a QC issue with these cams. Especially if you have two of them (your and your buddies).
I doubt the needle bearings has anything to do with the cam facing or the valve spring. But I would consider the car jinxed
I doubt the needle bearings has anything to do with the cam facing or the valve spring. But I would consider the car jinxed
