Pics of her chest! (cam, that is)
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,196
Likes: 3,085
From: NW AR
I was gonna suggest pulling the oil pump and looking inside it, but, as usual, Spanners beat me to it. I will suggest pulling the cam out and checking the inner bearing, just for the hell of it, that being a known failure point. And, yeah, inspect the lifters too. And the cam lobes.
Lets see what we know:
Something steel (or iron) let loose and is sitting in the bottom of the timing chest.
Oil pump has low pressure.
Motor runs OK, no funny noises.
Breather is probably shot from the steel going through it.
I wonder if the previous owner didn't have something fixed just good enough to get it sold? Do the oil lines have the factory crimp band thingies or worm screw compression clamps? That's not 100% accurate, but a hint as to if anyone has been in there. Cut the oil filter apart and look inside it. If you have a oil cooler, that's gotta be replaced or left off for now.
I would suspect either a sheared half moon in the oil pump or a really scored pump housing or both.
But where did the metal come from? And how can it get there, post the oil filter? Unless the oil filter is plugged solid. Have you changed the oil since you bought it? The old filter still around?
Anyway, check out the stuff mentioned above by everyone and let us know.
Lets see what we know:
Something steel (or iron) let loose and is sitting in the bottom of the timing chest.
Oil pump has low pressure.
Motor runs OK, no funny noises.
Breather is probably shot from the steel going through it.
I wonder if the previous owner didn't have something fixed just good enough to get it sold? Do the oil lines have the factory crimp band thingies or worm screw compression clamps? That's not 100% accurate, but a hint as to if anyone has been in there. Cut the oil filter apart and look inside it. If you have a oil cooler, that's gotta be replaced or left off for now.
I would suspect either a sheared half moon in the oil pump or a really scored pump housing or both.
But where did the metal come from? And how can it get there, post the oil filter? Unless the oil filter is plugged solid. Have you changed the oil since you bought it? The old filter still around?
Anyway, check out the stuff mentioned above by everyone and let us know.
Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,476
Likes: 5
From: Florida
I was gonna suggest pulling the oil pump and looking inside it, but, as usual, Spanners beat me to it. I will suggest pulling the cam out and checking the inner bearing, just for the hell of it, that being a known failure point. And, yeah, inspect the lifters too. And the cam lobes.
Lets see what we know:
Something steel (or iron) let loose and is sitting in the bottom of the timing chest.
Oil pump has low pressure.
Motor runs OK, no funny noises.
Breather is probably shot from the steel going through it.
I wonder if the previous owner didn't have something fixed just good enough to get it sold? Do the oil lines have the factory crimp band thingies or worm screw compression clamps? That's not 100% accurate, but a hint as to if anyone has been in there. Cut the oil filter apart and look inside it. If you have a oil cooler, that's gotta be replaced or left off for now.
I would suspect either a sheared half moon in the oil pump or a really scored pump housing or both.
But where did the metal come from? And how can it get there, post the oil filter? Unless the oil filter is plugged solid. Have you changed the oil since you bought it? The old filter still around?
Anyway, check out the stuff mentioned above by everyone and let us know.
Lets see what we know:
Something steel (or iron) let loose and is sitting in the bottom of the timing chest.
Oil pump has low pressure.
Motor runs OK, no funny noises.
Breather is probably shot from the steel going through it.
I wonder if the previous owner didn't have something fixed just good enough to get it sold? Do the oil lines have the factory crimp band thingies or worm screw compression clamps? That's not 100% accurate, but a hint as to if anyone has been in there. Cut the oil filter apart and look inside it. If you have a oil cooler, that's gotta be replaced or left off for now.
I would suspect either a sheared half moon in the oil pump or a really scored pump housing or both.
But where did the metal come from? And how can it get there, post the oil filter? Unless the oil filter is plugged solid. Have you changed the oil since you bought it? The old filter still around?
Anyway, check out the stuff mentioned above by everyone and let us know.
It's possible the po new something was up, because it had a new ops he said dealership installed due to random oil light (go figure), but I'm usually a good judge of character, and I think he didn't know squat about motors and was just taking their word on it. Could be wrong though, either way I own t he problem now.
The oil lines (along with most everything else) are/were in factory form when I bought it. Only things I can tell that have even been touched are the tires, battery, and oil drain plug. It looked like a museum piece.
I've changed the oil twice since I got it. Original filter may still be in the shop can, I'll have to check.
Guess pretty on the outside don't always mean pretty on the inside, huh?...
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 7,736
Likes: 1,524
From: Coromandel Peninsula New Zealand
Yeah, I am wondering if a lifter crapped itself after standing and it got replaced to be sold.
You may as well pull the rocker covers and pull it down so you can look at the lifters etc while you are doing the oil pump. We are into the forensics stage of the operation.
You may as well pull the rocker covers and pull it down so you can look at the lifters etc while you are doing the oil pump. We are into the forensics stage of the operation.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,872
Likes: 83
From: Canton, Michigan
Looks like someone must have been running a bunch of seafoam through it.... sorry couldn't resist...
I was okay with most of it, until I saw the last pic. Although, with only 14k on the engine, that cam bushing doesn't look all that great either. Like the experts have posted: something let loose inside. At 14k, your EVO should be just nicely broken in. Not broken.
Not that much work to 'do it once, and do it right'. Since you're going 'in deep', it's time to start racking up the MAW's (might as wells). Make yourself a shopping list: New aftermarket cam, cam bearing, S&S breather, etc. If you don't have a performance air cleaner and/or exhaust, they can be added later. The biggie is the cam. Since you're already 'in there'... MAW swap in a better cam. As was posted, I'd definitely check the rest of the valve train for damage/wear. Lifters, upper end, etc. Clean/inspect/rebuild/replace the oil pump. Flush the lines, swab out the cam chest. Put it all together with fresh oil/filter, run it a couple hundred miles, and change the oil. Do an inspection of the oil and oil filter. If all looks good and your oil pressure is back to normal: Pat yourself on the back.
I was okay with most of it, until I saw the last pic. Although, with only 14k on the engine, that cam bushing doesn't look all that great either. Like the experts have posted: something let loose inside. At 14k, your EVO should be just nicely broken in. Not broken.
Not that much work to 'do it once, and do it right'. Since you're going 'in deep', it's time to start racking up the MAW's (might as wells). Make yourself a shopping list: New aftermarket cam, cam bearing, S&S breather, etc. If you don't have a performance air cleaner and/or exhaust, they can be added later. The biggie is the cam. Since you're already 'in there'... MAW swap in a better cam. As was posted, I'd definitely check the rest of the valve train for damage/wear. Lifters, upper end, etc. Clean/inspect/rebuild/replace the oil pump. Flush the lines, swab out the cam chest. Put it all together with fresh oil/filter, run it a couple hundred miles, and change the oil. Do an inspection of the oil and oil filter. If all looks good and your oil pressure is back to normal: Pat yourself on the back.
Last edited by Hackd; Sep 12, 2013 at 01:43 AM.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 7,736
Likes: 1,524
From: Coromandel Peninsula New Zealand
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Thread Starter
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,476
Likes: 5
From: Florida
I don't have any time to wrench on her tonight, I'll get it off tomorrow. I did pull the breather gear and took pics of it and the bore:
Looks pretty rough, huh? I can barely feel the ridges in the bore with my fingernail. I guess some of those metal particles got in between the gear and the bore and scoured it?
Looks pretty rough, huh? I can barely feel the ridges in the bore with my fingernail. I guess some of those metal particles got in between the gear and the bore and scoured it?
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,959
Likes: 2
From: Florida
Mine was 1000 times worse. My bore was chunked out, my breather had long deep grooves the entire length. I replaced it with a steel breather, I didn't do anything to the bore. I haven't been in there since I had the bottom end rebuilt, so I don't know if they cleaned it up or not.