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Broken Camshaft??

7K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Anaxagoras1986 
#1 ·
Hey guys....I was having some problems with my SVT such as it wasn't accelerating even when flooring the pedal, oil was leaking somewhat, engine was getting really hot, and smoke coming from out the dipstick. Its still at the Ford dealership right now getting fixed. They tell me its a broken camshaft? Does that seem right?? I dont know much about internal engine parts. From my friends and a buddy that works for BMW as a mechanic the acceleration makes sense but not with the oil. Any suggesstions? I am picking up the car today sometime but I am afraid that its something else. The cars intake + exhaust combo was lounder than normal but no nocking or anything from the engine. Just talked to another friend and he said I wouldnt of been able to drive it as far as I did that a broken camshaft? ::confused::


Jay
 
#6 ·
I totally agree with all of you. Thats why i made the post. I did drive the car at LEAST 30 miles from when I noticed it sounding/acting different. All the Ford dealership told me was "we believe you blew a camshaft" they ordered it and are installing it as we speak I believe. It just doesn't make sense though. I am def going to question it when I go to pick it up.
 
#11 ·
I assume maybe one of the brackets that holds it in could have come loose making excess friction around in the engine burning oil ect. But its impossible for the car to continue to run for any amount of time with a cam shaft broken or cracked in half, the car would go into limp mode instantly, If it started at all. Id ask them to see the car with the cover off to show you what they are talking about before they fix something not broke.
 
#12 ·
A broken camshaft on any engine, interference or not, will completely shut it down. There is no way that it would run at all on an interence engine. If the camshaft broke, the damn thing would whipe out the whole top-end!

Maybe the cams "broke" by getting out of time because of our crappy cam gears? Maybe it was the VCT servo that crapped out? If the cams went way out of time it would def make you have no power but I doubt that it would make the car smoke out of the dip stick...

I hate dealership mumbo-jumbo! lol
 
#13 ·
Not if it broke somewhere out after the first couple cylinders. It could break out by number four and keep running no sweat.

The interference deal only matters in the sense that during a small part of the cycle the valves are open enough to touch the pistons if they're at the top...it doesn't guarantee that that it will touch. The springs pull the valves closed pretty quickly, so I wouldn't expect that anything would smack just because a cam broke.

I've broken Honda cams before (one) installing it. It was operator error for sure...me being the operator. [:D]

It could just be a fluke deal with the casting.
 
#14 ·
It wouldn't run no sweat on 3 cylinders- Have you seen the SVT running on 3 cylinders? It vibrates like a mofo and will barely even idle. It's pretty easy to tell if it was running on 3 cyl too just by it's characteristics.

Interference- It will guarantee that it will touch if the cam breaks and holds the valve open. The spring will do no good against the cam lobe.
 
#15 ·
I dont agree , You could break , say the Exh cam at the last Cyl #4 where the only thing not moving was the last 2 Exh valves in that Cyl this way the only thing not working would be 1 Cly and the car would run but be down on power BIG TIME not rev good yet run , much like taking plug wire off

The blow by, oil leak would come from the intake valves opening , firing then not letting out the Exh air because the Exh valves wouldnt open

Tom
 
#16 ·
Anaxagoras1986 said:
It wouldn't run no sweat on 3 cylinders- Have you seen the SVT running on 3 cylinders? It vibrates like a mofo and will barely even idle. It's pretty easy to tell if it was running on 3 cyl too just by it's characteristics.

Interference- It will guarantee that it will touch if the cam breaks and holds the valve open. The spring will do no good against the cam lobe.
LOL...dude...seriously...pull your belt off and tell me what your cams do. [:D] That's why they have a locking bar...the springs will turn the cam pretty easily, especially at certain angles. It just depends on what angle the lobe is sitting at. The fewer lobes you have on the cam (like if it was...say..."broken"), then the more likely it is to move from the spring.

As for the interference thing...the valves are only open full lift for a VERY short portion of the cycle. The rest of the time, they don't go past the surface of the head...or deeper than what the valve relief is. For the majority of the time, the piston can't reach the valve, no matter what happens. The chances of any given pair of lobes stopping (and staying at) full lift is very small. When you have four pairs of lobes on a cam, the chance gets four times higher for valves on that cam to hit.

Most of the time "interference" happens because the teeth slip a little as the belt fails (teeth strip off) and the piston tags the exhaust valves. if the belt ever just snapped, you'd more likely just tag a couple or even none at all...even on an "interference" motor. It doesn't mean you WILL, just that you CAN hit valves.
 
#20 ·
Yea they told me that. I said I wanted to see what broke b/c from every1 told me I shouldnt of been able to drive the car as far as I did and at the speeds of at least 60 mphs down the highway to the Ford dealership. They said they have to send the part to the extended warranty company.

They told me too.....on friday I called to see if it would be done b/c I didnt have a car for the weekend (was using my sis's car bc shes at college) and he said "Well you can come pick the car up and drive it this weekend but it will be in the same condition you dropped it off in. I was like umm no I will leave it there.

Thanks for all your answers and support. I knew you guys would know more than the "ford professionals" know haha. They said the car should be ready today sometime so hopefully I will get it and let yous know how it is if anything is better or what they said.

Jay
 
#21 ·
I have seen at the dealer where a few new taurus sho's have came in with the car running rough. With the 3.4 v8 engine they had problems with camshafts snapping right in half. The car would run but very poorly. Although it has 4 cams it still has another bank of cylinders that would run correctly.
 
#22 ·
The SHOs had a problem with the gear coming off/ loose IIRC. There was aparently a mod where theyd weld part of the cam. I also hear you have to buy a whole motor when it happens. They dont make a part to fix it anymore and its something crucial...I dont remember the exact details.
 
#23 ·
jayroda said:
"Well you can come pick the car up and drive it this weekend but it will be in the same condition you dropped it off in. I was like umm no I will leave it there. Jay


Tom- Yeah sure if that happened it probably would run but the likelyhood of the camshaft breaking right there, and none of th debris getting in the rest of the valvetrain is pretty unlikely. I still think it is something else and they really shouldn't let you drive a car with a broken camshaft.


Darth Focus said:
The SHOs had a problem with the gear coming off/ loose IIRC. There was aparently a mod where theyd weld part of the cam. I also hear you have to buy a whole motor when it happens. They dont make a part to fix it anymore and its something crucial...I dont remember the exact details.
You tig weld the gears onto the cams to fix this.
 
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