aaddpp

I am pulling things apart for an intake refresh / timing belt & water pump change. When I pulled the passenger cam cover off, there was a slight, but noticeable smell of what I think is burned motor oil. The driver side cam did not have such a smell, and the oil in general when I removed it form the car did not smell.

An inspection of the passenger cam area did not show anything broken, and the cam shaft fingers and tops of the valves look normal...no obvious wear on them. The only difference I could see was that the chain pad was a little more worn than the drivers side. The pass cam did seem a little drier oil wise, but its a tough call to say if its true b/c the car has been on stands since June and any oil may have dripped clear by now. That said, there was oil pooled in the lips of the cam area where it dripped and could fall no further.

Last thing...I got a good whiff down the hole the manifold connects to (where you can see the valves below), and it smelled normal.

Any thoughts on what this could be / next steps if there is an issue?

Thanks,
Dave

SeanR

How are the rear oil galley plugs?

aaddpp

Sean, I had a look, and the rear galley plugs, and the lower plug looks like its partly pushed out and somewhat bent. I was able to snap a photo and post below. What do you suggest from here?

Thanks,
Dave

aaddpp

One more photo with both plugs

SeanR

Pull them out, you have to remove the bridge. Roger sells the pins that go in there pretty cheap. What happens is, when those pop out, oil pressure lessens on the cams and you get lifter noise. Get a couple of rear cam seals too.

aaddpp

That makes complete sense. I was having some lifter noise, but I always chalked it up to my car sitting for some time between drives in the winter. That would also probably explain why the pass can was a touch drier oil-wise compared to the drivers side. It would also probably explain why the chain tension pad is a touch more worn on the pass side.

What do you think was rubbing to cause the burning smell?

Thanks for your help!!!
Dave

ROG100

Sean,
Could the poppet valve be blocked? I can't think of anything that would give the burning smell.
Dave,
Looks pretty clean in there.

aaddpp

Thanks Roger. Is the poppet valve the spring / ball valve, numbers 39-44 on the cam housing page in PET?

Just an update, not that this will solve anything, but the smell is more like that of lightly burned oil mixed with ATF. Obviosly impossible, and even less likely to happen only in the pax cam, but thought I would mention just incase.

Thanks,
Dave