Thread: what causes this....pic posted

I broke a cam bearing on my motor.
What causes and how can it be prevented??

low oil pressure. water in the oil. small particles and junk in the oil that collect over time and block oiling passages.

could be a few reasons.

im staying away from cams...

no no no no no. cams are good. you just need to have a good running motor and keep it that way. youve also gotta install stuff correctly.

the biggest power on these cars comes from heads, cams, and intercoolers in that order.

You know, i just took apart an engine last week that was toasted.

When I went to pull the cam, it would not come out. Finally it did...but one of the cam bearings cam with it. Finally got the entire cam out of the block, and the bearing fell off inside, and once I retrieved it, it looked a lot like yours.

A few rod bearings looked the same too. In this motors case, the reason for failure was either NOT changing their oil like they should or using very crappy oil if they did (massive build up and deposits through out the block) or they ran the oil low. My main guess would be a leaky LIM or Head gasket wiped this motor out if I had to put money on it because of what the cylinders looked like. So in this case...water/coolant in the oil did the damage for mine.

~F~

so many people just seem to spin bearings.

Originally Posted by GR8racingfool

In this motors case, the reason for failure was either NOT changing their oil like they should or using very crappy oil if they did (massive build up and deposits through out the block)

i use whatever oil is the cheapest at advance at the time. usually it is their brand oil. so far im having absolutely no problem with oil pressure.

oil is oil unless youre a freak and run synthetic in a $3000 car.

Originally Posted by GR8racingfool

You know, i just took apart an engine last week that was toasted.

When I went to pull the cam, it would not come out. Finally it did...but one of the cam bearings cam with it. Finally got the entire cam out of the block, and the bearing fell off inside, and once I retrieved it, it looked a lot like yours.

A few rod bearings looked the same too. In this motors case, the reason for failure was either NOT changing their oil like they should or using very crappy oil if they did (massive build up and deposits through out the block) or they ran the oil low. My main guess would be a leaky LIM or Head gasket wiped this motor out if I had to put money on it because of what the cylinders looked like. So in this case...water/coolant in the oil did the damage for mine.

~F~

I did have an oil pressure problem.
http://www.grandprixforums.net/f18/o...elp-10289.html
The mechanic seems to think the problem for the low oil pressure was because of the broken bearing.
So did i spun a bearing because of low oil pressure then?
Because i bought this 02 motor from a junk yard two months ago and was using castrol full syntetic oil.

So why the low oil pressure when its rare or even imposible for the oil pump to go out on these cars?
Could it have been the bad cam bearing?
Or the particles of metal where causing the problem maybe on the oil breather?
The mech said chunks of metal were on the oil pan.

the cam bearing caused the low oil pressure more than likely, but it probably spun because it wasnt getting lubed properly or had water in it.

Originally Posted by Bio248

oil is oil unless youre a freak and run synthetic in a $3000 car.

I use nothing but Mobil1 10W30, and a M1-201 Blazer oil filter in ALL of my GTP's....as well as my other cars.


you get what you pay for.

i dont care about my car. maybe one day if i beat it enough it will give back all the money that is into it.

I guess its different for some of us. Trade in on my car in my area is still $10k. She gets Royal Purple ($50 for oil and filter). I see the savings in MPG though, as well as the obvious reduced friction in the engine.

Spun bearings can come from a few things. On our engines I would think coolant in the oil as the stock LIM gaskets love to leak. If not caught early enough they can do damage. That's one of the first things I accomplished. Water can also do it; cheap oil possibly if it sludged up some and blocked an oil passage. Beyond that, over-revving is the only thing I can think of.

Originally Posted by Bio248

oil is oil unless youre a freak and run synthetic in a $3000 car.

guess im a freak too! i run moble1 synth in my gtp and in my bird!