My Camaro went home to Oshawa to die......

[PQ]

Originally Posted by mikeSS

i know the OP went with a single bolt cam, what else didn't he do ? has he said ?

Are you nervous?

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by PQ

Are you nervous?

i have been nervous since i dropped my camaro off back in January for the cam. to be honest and if i blow a engine. its back to a stock ls3, no more mods.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by mikeSS

i have been nervous since i dropped my camaro off back in January for the cam. to be honest and if i blow a engine. its back to a stock ls3, no more mods.

Well, I got lucky. I caught my problem in time. And my fix is actually going further down the rabbit hole of moding. LOL

[Russell James]

Originally Posted by mikeSS

i know the OP went with a single bolt cam, what else didn't he do ? has he said ?

Sounds like he didn't leave the rev limiter at the stock 6600.

Takes more than a cam and springs to safely rev higher than that. Just an opinion, and may not have anything to do with the failure.

This has happened to many aftermarket single bolt cams, possibly several different failure causes. Was the dowel pin too long, too loose, not hardened? Hole too short? Cam gear flush against the cam? New bolt, loctited?

Valvetrain harmonics beating up the timing chain/gear/dowel? That's where adding heavier parts like bigger pushrods and raising the rev limiter can cause harmonics problems or maybe valve float. Especially with the stock heavy valves.

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by Russell James

Sounds like he didn't leave the rev limiter at the stock 6600.

Takes more than a cam and springs to safely rev higher than that. Just an opinion, and may not have anything to do with the failure.

This has happened to many aftermarket single bolt cams, possibly several different failure causes. Was the dowel pin too long, too loose, not hardened? Hole too short? Cam gear flush against the cam? New bolt, loctited?

Valvetrain harmonics beating up the timing chain/gear/dowel? That's where adding heavier parts like bigger pushrods and raising the rev limiter can cause harmonics problems or maybe valve float. Especially with the stock heavy valves.

i see, wow thankfully this forum has great info on it. my rev limiter is not stock either, . but i shift as if its there. now i know to be extra careful LOL. might even take it back in to put it back to normal( stock). idk why its not normal to begin with.

[Huggerorange73]

Originally Posted by mikeSS

i know the OP went with a single bolt cam, what else didn't he do ? has he said ?

Comp Cams XR281HR13 .571/.590 228/240 113 LSA ( single bolt )
Trick Flow pushrods
Patriot Gold valvespring kit
Ported intake manifold
Ported, polished and powder coated throttle body
SLP underdrive pulley
Elite Engineering catch can
MSD plug wires
Roto-fab CAI
Dyno tune by Straightline Performance in New Lenox, IL
Skip shift eliminated
Torque management eliminated
Kooks 1 7/8" Jet Hot coated headers & Hi Flow Cats

The limiter was raised to 6800.....with good springs I don't think it's much of an issue.

Either the tensioner let loose or the pin sheared...the only mistake I made was not using a 3 bolt set up.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Huggerorange73

Either the tensioner let loose or the pin sheared...the only mistake I made was not using a 3 bolt set up.

I would agree with this. Wish I lived up there. lol, I'd show up with my pry pipe in no time.

Kudos to Mrs. Huggerorange73 for letting you tear into it on her b-day.

[ColdCamaroSS]

Sorry to hear about the engine Hugger. Not that it should matter but what brand oil filter were you using and the weight of the oil?

Currently over 10,000 miles of hard driving on my setup (3-bolt) which does not include the LS2 tensioner, upgraded chain or aftermarket oil pump. Borrowed time...perhaps but not worried in the slightest. <knocks on nearby piece of wood>

[Russell James]

A floor jack handle makes a good cheater bar if you need to get that balancer bolt off.

[Jason7]

Talk to any shop and they will tell you it doesn't matter if you go three bolt or single bolt... They will tell you however that your buying a piece of mind with the three bolt. Have talked to several shops and tuners and NONE have seen anymore issues with the single versus the three bolt...

Jason

[themossman]

Originally Posted by Jason7

Talk to any shop and they will tell you it doesn't matter if you go three bolt or single bolt... They will tell you however that your buying a piece of mind with the three bolt. Have talked to several shops and tuners and NONE have seen anymore issues with the single versus the three bolt...

Jason

I think this is another 'chicken/egg' scenario...once the damage occurs...it's hard to determine where it started. There was a thread on this forum where a member had a sheared guide pin on a single bolt cam...I'll see if I can dig it up...

Edit:

Here it is....

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...5&postcount=40

[mikeSS]

Originally Posted by ColdCamaroSS

Currently over 10,000 miles of hard driving on my setup (3-bolt) which does not include the LS2 tensioner, upgraded chain or aftermarket oil pump. Borrowed time...perhaps but not worried in the slightest. <knocks on nearby piece of wood>

+1 i have the same cam setup as you of course, my shop that did the install says they have never seen a LS engine oil pump failure before on cars that they have done. for the last 10 years, and i must say i am willing to bet they have worked on more cars than most shops out there.

[Darth_Emma]

I stopped by my shop today and talked to them about the oil pump and why they had not suggested replacing it when my cam was installed. They said that, in there experience, they had not seen a problem with any of their builds with the oil pumps failing in the 5th gen Camaros. He did say that if they saw a pump fail on one that had been cammed, then they might start making such a recommendation.

I am planning to have the engine forged next winter. I will have them be sure to replace the oil pump at that time. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy driving it this summer.

Also, I don't think this was hugger's fault in any way that this problem occurred. Engines can fail whether they be stock or modded. Obviously, the risk is higher with modded engines partly because there are almost infinite combinations of parts that haven't all been tested together, but also because folks who mod their cars like to run the engines at higher rpms and hp than most folks driving stock cars. It's the added risk we take to drive a high performance car.

If my motor was was to fail, then I'd get a new motor and make the car badder than the first. I definitely wouldn't go back to stock. No way.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by Darth_Emma

......folks who mod their cars like to run the engines at higher rpms and hp than most folks driving stock cars. It's the added risk we take to drive a high performance car.

Unless you're Speedster.

I don't think an armor peircing 50 cal. round could stop his. LMAO