cam gear wobble, fearing the worst.

[7M4EVR]

All started when I drove the car from the shop to home for the first time, its about 10 miles. Car was finally running great and I was very happy but about halfway it started getting jerky, which I especially noticed at low speeds. No cel came on and i just wanted to get it home. Then right before I got it home the temp gauge started creeping up a little. I've learned my lesson here before so I immediately pulled over on the side of the road about 2 blocks from my house. Got out and the turbo was glowing red and I could tell the engine was running very hot. I let it cool down awhile and checked over the engine then decided to start it to limp it the rest of the way home. But....

Was hard to start..and had an extremely low and jumping idle and sounded like crap. I got out to inspect and heard a squeal. Looked at where I heard the squeal and that's when I saw it.... Cam gear on the exhaust side is wobbling very bad, and I hear what sounds like a cam lobe hitting the top of the valve cover.i immediately shut the car off and screamed in agony. The gear is about a half-inch away from the rear timing cover and angled down a bit. I called a buddy and pushed it home.

Now for the questions...is my best case scenario the dowel pin breaking off and just need to pull it off and re-time it? If so would I hear the tapping on the valve cover what could that be? And is my worst case cam destruction which could also lead to bottom end destruction....basically how f-ed am I?

 

[Nick M]

The odds of the cylinder head being bad from overheating is very high. The odds of the block also being bad are not nearly as good.

 

[7M4EVR]

Lol Yeah figures... So you're telling me there's a chance (dumb and dumber voice).. Idk i did pull over right when gauge started to rise and it never reached red but the radiator was super hot as well. Definitely running way hotter than it should have been. Have you ever heard of that happening to the cam gear before? What are the things that could cause that?

I'll be pulling the valve covers in the next few days but the not knowing is killing me...any guesses?

 

[IndigoMKII]

cam caps not torqued properly or threads pulled out.

 

[7M4EVR]

I torqued them per tsrm in right order im confident of the proper torque part...I guess what my question is, is if the dowel pin just broke and the gear pulled away from the timing cover and jumped off timing or something what could I be hearing in the valve cover? Or in other words...does the noise inside the valve cover definitively mean I have bigger problems ?

 

[T3rril79]

The odds of the cylinder head being bad from overheating is very high. The odds of the block also being bad are not nearly as good.

I agree, since it ran hot warpage could be a possibility. It doesn't take that much overheating on an aluminum head.

 

[7M4EVR]

Kind of stupid to spend the money on a good machine shop, good head gasket, ARP hardware, new internals, and do everything right when a slight over heating one time can throw it all away...cars suck ass.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

No way a slight overheat could warp the head enough to have a visible wobble on the cam gear. None at all. The cam would be unable to turn before that happened, and it'd snap or strip out the timing belt.

May have broken a cam, but then I would expect it not to run at all.

If the coolant was full, and you did not let it hit the red, you ought to be okay, but you'll need to see what's under that cam cover.

 

[GrimJack]

How can you tell what the cam is doing? Do you not have the cover on? Or are you running a clear cover?

 

[7M4EVR]

I can't tell what the cam is doing until I open the valve covers up...that's why I'm asking for opinions on what it could be doing, because I just hear something hitting the top of the valve cover and the cam gear is all sorts of wobbly.

 

[jdmfreak]

think he is asking how you can see your cam gear

 

[7M4EVR]

Oh..lol I cut the front cover to show the gears....just like the look of it that way

 

[supraguy@aol]

Since taking a valve cover off only takes about ten minutes, why not do it, and let us know what you find.
Ps- not sure why your turbo would be glowing red hot either...

 

[IndigoMKII]

Ps- not sure why your turbo would be glowing red hot either...

More likely improper timing.

 

[7M4EVR]

I will be very soon, just haven't been able to get to it yet. Had my daughters bday party and work in the way...I'm getting it on the car trailer tonight to get it back to the shop. Like I said just not knowing what it is is killing me and I'm very impatient lol. I'm really hoping the dowel pin just broke and caused the cam gear to get knocked off track and that's what's causing the timing problems because ignition timing was right on prior to this, and it was running very good until it happened. Its just scaring me to hear the tapping in the valve cover...last time I heard that I ended up putting $5000 and a year and a half of labor into the car haha.

 

[super51fan]

Just curious. You said car " just left the shop". What kind of work did you have done?

 

[7M4EVR]

^it left my shop, full rebuild....

Update...the supragods were on my side this time! Turns out the cam gear just came loose and threw it off timing. The tapping I heard was the spokes of the cam gear hitting against the bolts behind it on the rear timing cover since the cam gear was angled so much. Cams look perfect. My theory is this started happening slowly and that's why the car was running great until the timing actually got knocked off then the engine started running jerky and hot.

Fixed her up and now all is good. Well, I got a code 31 now but hey at least that can only be 3 things...ecu, AFM, or wiring in between. I actually like working on the car when I know what the problem is lol. Thanks for the input guys...except you Nick you made me stress out lol:icon_razz

 

[Silver MK3]

Glad to hear it was something simple. Simple fixes are always the best.

 

[7M4EVR]

Amen to that! I was assuming the worst because that's just my luck...just get it back together and running right after a year and time to start over lol...thing is tho after tearing it all down and putting everything back together I wasn't scared of doing the work again so I had comfort in that I was just scared of how much money I blew.

 

[super51fan]

First I would talk to the shop about what happened. Show them the pics you have. Have them write up an RO and inspect all external fasteners they can get to.

I wonder what else may have been missed. Anyone can make a mistake. And maybe it could be just one loose bolt.

Have Them inspect work done and make sure they write up a Repair order so you have a paper trail. Also make sure they write it up as a recheck or comeback to work that was recently done.

Good luck. You don't have to be butthead with them just talk about the facts and your concern that something else may have been overlooked.