Help!!! My cams seized up !!!!

[dsmoverboosted]

Well I just finished swapping in my new head. After I got everything hooked back up I fired it up and It ran not the best but it ran (later I found out I didnt hook up my mas plug and I forgot to plug in a vacuume hose) and I ran it at idle for like 2 minutes till I realized my thermostat houseing was leaking.

I rtv'd it and cam back the next day and ran it again only to have the engine come to a dead stop from an idle. It sount like a bolt fell into the timing belt cover or something and when I tried to fire it back up none of the belts even budged.

So i went and got into the timing belt and there was nothing in there. I tried to crank it by hand and it seemed like the cam gears where stopping everything. After I un torqued the cam bearings I could turn the engine again by hand. I guess I over torqued them even though I torqued them to 15ft lbs with a brand new torque wrench.

What should I do about this? Can I just retorque them and fire it back up or what? Should I torque them a little less like say 10 lbs?

And yes I used grease on every bearing on both sides on the cam.

 

[GVR4592]

You may have put the cam caps on in the wrong location, they have to be installed in their original location, because they are matched to the cylinder head. Verify that the timing marks are still aligned, if the engine stopped rotating it may skipped a few teeth.

 

[FORMONTOYA]

I would have to go with the cam caps in the wrong place also. However it seems strange that it would run for a while then seize up without you hearing some strange noises before hand. If indeed it is the caps, I would pull them and check the surfaces as it will probably be "buggered" up if that is the problem.

As a side question since I've not pulled cams on my car yet...if he did put the caps in the wrong spot, how would he know where to put them now? Are they identified in some way?

 

[dsmoverboosted]

could it be the fact that the cam bearings are not from the same head? I swapped heads and used my old bearing caps on the new head.

I did check my timing marks and thats not the problem, it is the cams or bearings.

 

[drivemusicnow]

could it be the fact that the cam bearings are not from the same head? I swapped heads and used my old bearing caps on the new head.

I did check my timing marks and thats not the problem, it is the cams or bearings.

yeah... the caps from a seperate head = a problem. what did you do with the caps on the new head?

 

[dsmoverboosted]

well the head I rebuilt was off my parts car, i think i still have all the caps lying in my parts car. So i should dig them up, wash them off and install those ones?

How do I know what order they go in?

 

[majik2k5]

As a side question since I've not pulled cams on my car yet...if he did put the caps in the wrong spot, how would he know where to put them now? Are they identified in some way?

Most caps will be numbered with an order specific number, like 5 - 1, and are also marked with an arrow for further indication.

 

[GVR4592]

They're numbered.

 

[dsmoverboosted]

GVR4592 thats sweet thanks. So all i need to do is swap the caps with the original ones and that should fix everything.

 

[GVR4592]

Well that's debatable. I've seen the same thing happen before and after replacing the caps the engine ran fine for a very long time. It also could've caused some damage to the journals on the cylinder head. I can't see it so I can't say whether or not it's ok. Make sure the timing marks are lined up though.

 

[dsmoverboosted]

well i ran it at idle only and only for about 3 minutes total. I guess ill give it a try and see what happens. When I take off the cams what should I look for on the head? like scratches or what?

 

[jott5555]

you may be ok with it just stoping like that at idle.. but if it skipped more than a couple teeth you may have bent valve's so waht you need to do is make sure your timeing line's up. then do your cam caps One at a time..
and with LOTS of lube..

 

[dsmoverboosted]

you may be ok with it just stoping like that at idle.. but if it skipped more than a couple teeth you may have bent valve's so waht you need to do is make sure your timeing line's up. then do your cam caps One at a time..
and with LOTS of lube..

my timing is accually being discussed in another thread but unless this could jump it 6 teeth and not bend any valves it is 2 different issues.

 

[dsmoverboosted]

Ok well I took a look at the damage yesterday and I got real bad scoring on the journal right by the gear on the exasust side and small lines on all the other ones that i cant even feel. so I pulled the head off yesterday and I am going to bring it in to the machiene shop monday.

Now I was taking a close look at the cams and the exaust cam where the bad scoring happened is damaged bad so I guess thats toast but my intake cam looks ok, there is no discoloration and no scoring that I can see should I play it safe and chuck it or if it has no visible damage would it be ok to reuse?

Now I found all but one of the original bearing caps I think its exaust number 4 I dont have. Now I can get the machiene shop to machiene the non-original bearing cap to fit the journal and I should be ok right?