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I have the engine out of the 87 to replace the front wiring harness that had a meltdown so thought I would take care of a few oil leaks etc while the engine is on a stand. What started out as a fairly simple cam cover / oil pan replacement project has grown.
Here is what one of the cam end seals looked like, the good thing is that it wasn't leaking!
A quick inspection of the oil pan gasket showed similar issues.
Just a bit over tightened?
Moving along to the cam covers. I had some oil leakage around the block off plugs and the breather fittings. Here is the plug, the 0-ring was so brittle it simply snapped when I tried to remove it. I am assuming that rather than order new o-rings someone decided a little gasket sealant would work just as well. When I removed the snap ring the plugs just fell out.
Galley pins appear to be homemade and one is broke off
Pin broken off
I particularly like that there are 3 different lengths.
Some nice grinding work
And finally the timing gears. I had the timing belt and water pump installed when I bought the car 2 years ago and there was no mention of gear wear. I can't imagine this is all from the last 14,000 miles.
I was a witness to all that as we resealed Kevin's engine in my garage. In all my years this was about the worst mechanic-ing I can remember. Unmentioned by Kevin above a previous mechanic used what appears to be black sealant in place of the waterpump and water crossover gaskets. Hard to tell with that goo there.
And finally the timing gears. I had the timing belt and water pump installed when I bought the car 2 years ago and there was no mention of gear wear. I can't imagine this is all from the last 14,000 miles.
Judging by the quality of work on the rest of the engine, anything is possible. What causes or accelerates cam gear wear: improper belt tension. With the rest of the shoddy work on this car, I'm sure the belt tension was off.
A loose belt slapping around will make short work of any components it comes into contact with.
Wasn't there someone recently who posted photos of their crank, oil, and cam gears which all looked like your cam gears (may have been on FB)? Just goes to show, any material is susceptible to wear if maintenance is not properly done.
As for the wear on the gears, that engine has had a Porkensioner on it for those 14k miles. Right, Kevin?
Correct, Porkensioner installed when I got the car, really no idea as to condition of the original tensioner as it was one of the first things done to the car.
Ok, if so then I think it's safe to assume the gears were that worn 14k miles ago and thanks to the Porkensioner didn't get much worse?
The plus, if any, is that wear was even for the most part and in the middle of the gear. The oil pump gear had this level of wear but only on about 1/4 of the gear. I just removed the Porkensioner and it was extended a little over 7 mm.
05-02-2017, 12:06 PM
Cam seals, galley pins and timing gears
