BROKEN CAMSHAFT/CYLINDER HEAD

[steve480]

hi,
yes can you beleive it. i was on holiday over in harris & lewis for the festival. i lost all power engine was running on 2 cylinders. no one on the island was willing to even look at it, so i got the AA to take me all the way home. just got back from the garage thats repairing van. the cam shaft has completely snapped in the middle. i find this very unusual, has anyone experienced a similar problem ??? i'll have to wait until they totally srtip it down to see if there is any other damage. before my holiday i forked out to have the pump overhauled because it had a leak. who was that said that these vans were good . hopefully it will be alright in the end. any help or advice will be appreciated.

steve

[francophile1947]

Sorry to hear that I've never heard of a camshaft breaking on anything before - any idea what caused it?

[dave_aber]

Broke one on a Citroen AX 1.4 diesel before - but that was after a botched up head rebuild, which led to massive wear on the central bearing surface. Then some cowboy dremel'd away the worn section of the bearing face thinking "The bits below the face level won't rub and it will be OK"

5 mile test drive, and the cam snapped. Had to drive back on 2 cylinders. And no brakes (Vac pump is cam-driven......)

[steve480]

Sorry to hear that I've never heard of a camshaft breaking on anything before - any idea what caused it?

i wish i knew mate, been talking to dandywarhol trying to figure it out. got fuel pump overhauled & refitted. not sure if that had anything to do with it. im a very sad bongier at the moment . steve .

[Simon Jones]

Really sorry to hear your news. Just been looking thru some pics I took when I had my engine in bits & although the valves are not recessed in the head, but there are some recessed in the crown of the pistons so hopefully the two haven't collided

[francophile1947]

If the valves and pistons collided, there would have been an almighty bang - there certainly was when it happened on an old Vauxhall Viva I had

[steve480]

hi folks
had a disaster on holiday on the isle of lewis, everything was going great heading up to Stornoway for the featival when i lost all power & only had 2 cylinders running. now im home after a long journey in the back of breakdown truck. got my mechanic to strip rocker cover off to discover the camshaft completely snapped in the middle. so im preparing myself for the worst eg; new cylinder head,camshaft,valves,bolts etc. been on ebay found complete set for £391 with everything brand new thats in the head. seems far too cheap so got my suspicions about that one. does anyone know or had similar experiences & had to buy major components like a new head or camshaft etc. looking for good companies to buy what i need. keeping my fingers crossed cause i dont know yet full extent of damage.
the thing is i haven't came accross anyone that has experienced a broken camshaft, there must be something serious to cause damage like that ???????? im still trying hard to keep the faith in my bongo. its a 1996 2.5td 4wd with 94,000 kls, so can anyone give me websites,phone numbers, of any good companies i can call. already called bongobits they told me they could get parts but there a bit expensive. ANY ADVICE WILL BE APPRECIATED, THANK YOU......STEVE