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Camshaft cover disaster

B

Billybod

PCGB Member
Member
Hi. The photo shows some bad news....can anyone please offer advice as to what has caused this and the likely consequences for me?

I bought the 1991 944T privately two weeks ago from the guy who'd had it 15 years, driven gently and had it serviced every year as he only did 3000 miles a year and now with only 94000 miles so I'm at a loss as to what it could be. The only thing I noticed was that it seemed a little sluggish for the last 4 miles before I stopped at a friend's house and fortunately noticed some smoke from the bonnet due to oil dripping onto the exhaust. On checking dipstick, it hadn't lost more than 1/2 a pint through the cover.



Thank you in anticipation.

Bill

9EDB632192E04C52B4F376DA97B7D951.jpg
 
By the look of it mate it has been done from the outside of the cover. Bad luck. Did you have anything under the bonnet on the engine like a tool when you last shut the bonnet? I would drop sulzeruk a line and see if he has a camshaft cover you can have.
 
I would disagree - and say it is a nut or similar that should be holding the cam box down has come loose, and been thrown at the cam cover from the inside by a cam lobe...

I reckon that because it isn't an unknown occurance, and there is a tiny hole on the inside, and a fracture face on the outside... if it had been something outside, the bonnet would have come off worse than the cam box, and the fracture face would be on the inside...

Probably not explained it particularly well, but I would say A) don't even think of driving it, B) expect the cam to be damaged too. If you are lucky, it hasn't jammed open the valve at any point to whack the top of the piston.

 
You could be right mate although it isn't a great pic to work with [:D] Have to admit I have never seen that before at least not on a car engine. I work with 3000HP two stroke diesels all day so you get to see some pretty spectacular failures sometimes.
 
Time served on engine test beds for a piston and piston ring manufacturer... but this was more to do with having seen the results of it happening before on a 944 engine (subsequently held together with araldite!!! There really are some bodge artists about - no, it didn't work!) and talking to some indi's who have seen just about all there is to see that can happen to a '44.
 
Rob. Thanks for that contact. I've emailed Alasdair.

tref. The friend's house is home to a diesel mechanic and he took the keys off me as my background is mains electrics, so I'm not too hot on oily bits ! He thought that it was something that had come loose around the cam and got onto a lobe and pushed it against the cover. I too hope it hasn't caught the piston.......

Regards and thanks.

Bill

 
Historically also dumpers and D-Day landing craft.

Id suspect that something has been propelled against the inside of the cover too. Better not to run it until you know for sure, because it certainly wont get better, but it can definitely get a lot worse.


Simon
 
Possibly had a recent cam cover gasket and one of the bolts has been dropped inside and replaced (they come out upwards). Usually the washer is captive so shouldn't drop in without the bolt.

There are no bolts inside to work lose and damage anything.

Sometimes a valve spring can break and a piece of broken spring could get caught under the cam lobe and cause it as well.

Pleanty of old housings around but two different cam profiles/timings - so make sure you have the right one for your year of car.

Baz
 
I have a cam tower on the bench at the moment and I'd say the only thing inside the cam tower is the camshaft itself, the holding down bolt that passes through and bolts to the cylinder head. Under the cam are the hydraulic followers. Apart from foreign material being left inside, the only thing that could fail is the bolt or the cam itself, or part of a valve spring or maybe a collet getting in through the return oilway.

As Baz has said, any cam tower will do, but only a turbo camshaft if you need one, according to the PET all the Turbo cams are the same with the part number 944.105.155.05
 
Update on the saga!
Photos of the bolt that was left in the cam tower by the so called "mechanic".
Third photo shows his fitting skills when locating the key in the rotor arm end.
More to follow.
Thanks for your inputs/help.
Regards
Bill

85F86918C2854817BEFC761CDA12B8DE.jpg
 
It didn't come loose...When the muppet was refitting the cam tower, the cap head bolt fell off his Allen key and rather than retrieve it, he simply got another........talk about incompetent, and my view is re-inforced with his key way refitting skills.
Fortunately the cam didn't suffer any damage.

Next saga is his pulley fitting skills that led to one being fitted with the guide on the wrong side so allowing the cam belt to wander and lose a quarter of its new width in less than 2000 miles, so the cam box was a blessing in disguise by bringing my attention to the belts before total disaster was due....

Fortunately he only touched the engine and the rest of the servicing is OPC or specialist.

Regards

Bill
 
WOW.. what a disaster.. sorry to hear this Bill... I hate it when a car suffers damage due to the incompetence of someone who you put trust in to work on your car. There are some very bad so called mechanics out there, some good too.. but these are hard to find and very rare indeed.
My own car is only worked on by myself or my son after a nightmare scenario caused by a well known Porsche specialist nearly 10 years ago now, never again.

Hope you get it fixed soon Bill and also that the cost is paid for by the fool that caused it.[8|]

Pete
 
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