broken RH front camshaft cap on my V6
Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 11:47 pm
Hi,
It's a bit of a long story as to why
but I set about removing the cam covers on my V6 to replace the seals as there was oil seeping from the near side LH cover seals.
I succeeded in completing the near side
and started on the RH off side. removed OK and cleaned up and replaced the gasket. Proceeded to re-fit the cover but when I came to fitting the last nut I realised that the bolt was not perpendicular - a slight pressure on it and it became floppy 
removed the cover again and found this: -
I have some photos that show the cover nuts were over tightened when the gasket was replaced last year and I suspect that was the root cause of this camshaft cap casting fracturing. You can see from the photos above that there is a fracture in the broken off piece and if you look carefully you can see that the face of the fracture on the main part is oiled across the majority of the face but relatively clean on the far left - which is where it was hanging on until I applied the final force that broke it off completely.
in this photo you can see that oil has been seeping out of this fracture over the nut holding the cap down - which is normally hidden under the front belt cover.
so it has been like that for some time.
woe is me
Anyway the reason for the post just now is the manual instructs you to remove and replace the cam shaft by undoing and tightening up the cap fixings in sequence a little at a time so
I need to remove this front cap and hopefully replace it - can i simply remove this one cap or should I slacken off all the caps to maintain an even stress on the shaft
Next
Lushprojects doesn't appear to list the part number for this (or any of the caps) - anyone know what it is?
And
Does anyone know if someone is breaking a V6 engine?
I'll be contacting Ian at the tower and I'll trying the usual choices on Monday but any suggestions in advance will be most welcome.
I shall be in contact with the garage that did this work last year but my priority is to get back on the road - hopeful in time for the MOT which is due early next month. not looking forward to catching the bus to work while I wait for a part.
posted by a very sad Bongo owner.
Grahame
It's a bit of a long story as to why
but I set about removing the cam covers on my V6 to replace the seals as there was oil seeping from the near side LH cover seals.I succeeded in completing the near side
and started on the RH off side. removed OK and cleaned up and replaced the gasket. Proceeded to re-fit the cover but when I came to fitting the last nut I realised that the bolt was not perpendicular - a slight pressure on it and it became floppy removed the cover again and found this: -
I have some photos that show the cover nuts were over tightened when the gasket was replaced last year and I suspect that was the root cause of this camshaft cap casting fracturing. You can see from the photos above that there is a fracture in the broken off piece and if you look carefully you can see that the face of the fracture on the main part is oiled across the majority of the face but relatively clean on the far left - which is where it was hanging on until I applied the final force that broke it off completely.
in this photo you can see that oil has been seeping out of this fracture over the nut holding the cap down - which is normally hidden under the front belt cover.
so it has been like that for some time.
woe is me
Anyway the reason for the post just now is the manual instructs you to remove and replace the cam shaft by undoing and tightening up the cap fixings in sequence a little at a time so
I need to remove this front cap and hopefully replace it - can i simply remove this one cap or should I slacken off all the caps to maintain an even stress on the shaft
Next
Lushprojects doesn't appear to list the part number for this (or any of the caps) - anyone know what it is?
And
Does anyone know if someone is breaking a V6 engine?
I'll be contacting Ian at the tower and I'll trying the usual choices on Monday but any suggestions in advance will be most welcome.
I shall be in contact with the garage that did this work last year but my priority is to get back on the road - hopeful in time for the MOT which is due early next month. not looking forward to catching the bus to work while I wait for a part.
posted by a very sad Bongo owner.
Grahame