Alan's Cam Failure #946 & #1048

Date 8/15/08, 8/18/08, 3/12/09

Not mine yet though. I was looking at a black 97, 172k. Owner was selling for $1200, no real problems except for a small tick from the rear bank. I was going to trailer it to someone for a weld without starting it. I kept asking the guy if it was welded, but I never got an answer. He called me today and said it doesn't run anymore. I went and listened. It cranks unevenly and seems to have exhaust pulses out the intake. Water pump still spins, so I'm pretty sure it's the rear. More details to come later. I'll be towing it away this evening. :)

--
Alan Ridge

Green 96 - Welded, LED Tails
Red 91+ Clone - 3.2 swap, RUNNING!!
2004 YZF-R6

Details pending - Buford

8/18/08

More info... Patient went terminal at 10:30 AM on Friday, Aug 15 after a can of seafoam was poured into the crankcase. I guess the sludge was holding it together. Engine was hot/idling when the inevitable happened. No debris as far as I can tell. Confirmed that it was the intake cam on the back bank today (see photo, silver stripe). Looks to be stripped completely, no eyebrows on #1 or #2, but the lobes are down on #4 (ran out of time to inspect). Hope to have her back on the road in the couple weeks if funding holds out.

Owner- (Waiting for permission to give name)
VIN- 1FALP54N6VA195945
Miles- 172,XXX
Location- Oxford, OH

3/12/09

Failure #946 is now a double failure. New owner contacted me to find out if I knew the front intake cam was bad too.

I didn't. 16 bent valves in that motor now.

Not sure when it failed, it ran on 4 when I bought it. Didn't see slip marks on the front cam. Did it fail on first crank? While sitting in the driveway? Yeah... I feel great now. :(

--
Alan Ridge

Contact Information