cam journals

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Jan 26, 2007 | 05:04 PM

buttz

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cam journals

Im doing my head gaskets right now and the cam journals look pretty worn. theres 113k on it now and I bought it with 90. any ideas why they would be so bad so soon. Ive always had good oil pressure. thanks

Jan 27, 2007 | 03:19 AM

LxMan1

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From: Louisville,Ky.

What brand oil filter do you use? What weight oil? Most wear happens on start-up.
The cam rides directly on the head (which is aluminum) and is only protected by a thin layer of oil.

Jan 27, 2007 | 04:27 AM

Joe Finn

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From: DC

LxMan, Are you saying there aren't any cam bearings?

Jan 27, 2007 | 08:19 AM

LxMan1

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From: Louisville,Ky.

Nope, not on these engines. Here's a pic of a 4.6L that ran out of oil for less than 90 sec while my niece pulled off of the road. (Oil pressure switch broke and pumped all of the oil into the street) It's a little blurry, but you can see the scarring and the aluminum the rolled over the oil feed hole.

What it should look like.

After no oil pressure.

Jan 27, 2007 | 09:56 AM

buttz

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I use mobile 1 with a fram filter, but I hear its better to use a motorcraft?

Jan 27, 2007 | 04:03 PM

Joe Finn

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From: DC

Thanks for posting those pictures LxMan. I never would have guessed no bearings.

Jan 27, 2007 | 07:06 PM

LxMan1

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Joined: Dec 2001

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From: Louisville,Ky.

Me either until I tore into this Cougar. It had a gaulled intake valve from the ordeal that caused no compression. That's when I saw that the head was shot.

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Jan 28, 2007 | 11:02 AM

Johnny Langton

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Joined: Oct 2006

Posts: 4,171

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From: SE Texas

Dover cylinder heads actually can repair heads like those,and has a cam bearing available for the head after the repair that can be replaced if damaged.They use a tri-metal type bearing like rod and main bearings.I know of a few performance guys that use them even if the heads are perfect-it's insurance against the heads being ruined after they've spent $2000-4000 in portwork and valvetrain if they have a failure of oil starvation issue.
JL