zoom zoom BOOM - Carnage pics added!

[fowljesse]

Man, I feel bad for you. I get easily discouraged, though. When my GS lost the timing belt, I got my other MX-3, and let it sit. Alot has to do with having no shelter from the rain. They say that Portland, and Ireland are very similar in weather, and landscape. Anyway, I don't know which cam is which.

[davmac]

I agree that fwd cars make knowing which cam is which a little harder. The broken camshaft in this case is the right intake camshaft. You have to imagine the engine mounted as it would be if rwd - the front = accessory belts; the back connects to the transmission. The intake camshaft obviously operates the intake valves so closest to the intake manifold - the exhaust camshaft nearest the exhaust manifold.

[marcdh]

Ok the one I need is the rear intake cam. So first find the two cams that have threaded ends for the cam sprocket bolt.
Now your down to two, One will have the slot for the disty key. The other one is the one I need with a threaded end but no disty slot yea man it's going to rain for the next week here, cracks me up! The gazebo is in place, I refuse to be beaten!

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Holy f*ck!!! That's crazy! How the hell can something like that happen??? Ryan or someone else predicted it perfectly, I guess then the 2 pistons weren't operating properly cause the valves weren't moving?

[fowljesse]

Thanks for the explanation. I was going to figure it out one day, or open a manual, but when it comes to thinking, it's easier to have someone else do it. My brain is better suited for watching shiny objects.
I'll take a look.

[Ryan]

Anyone have ideas on the oil on the valves? That puzzles me as well. Only way it could really get in is through the top... valve seals/sleeves.... crud

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Well, this is pure speculation, but, when the camshaft broke it must have jerked/swung pretty badly in there...
Maybe the head got cracked around that part, and oil seeped in?

Other than that, the only reasonable guess would be the seals/guides getting damaged...

[wytbishop]

Head gasket doesn't explain the oil above the combustion chamber.

Is the oil only in the one intake runner? Or are they all wet with oil? What does the inside of the IM look like? Could it be blow by causing oil to accumulate in the IM? But that wouldn't explain on the rear cylinders being wet.

I think if the head was cracked badly enough to allow that much oil in it would be noticeable.

I can tell you one thing for sure...your brake master cylinder is on the wrong side of the car. I'd get that looked at.

[jmdearras]

That crack looks old, the driven side has only a little bright metal from a fresh break, the rest is dark.

[vansolrick]

Also, as an option, I have a full set of KL101 cams that I can sell cheap. Sorry, I don't mean to be 'selling' here but I'm offering it as help.

[wytbishop]

That crack looks old, the driven side has only a little bright metal from a fresh break, the rest is dark.

I disagree. There are very small rusted bits in that picture, but the dark stuff is just wet with oil. There would be rust on any iron that had been exposed for more than a day or so. That rusted bit on the one side is where the crack started probably a day or two before the failure.

My gut feeling is that either the cap was loose or the shaft was slightly out of shape and the cap was holding it straight. Can you tell if the cap looks hammered out at all? I would bet at this point that the shaft was not straight and the cap was placing constant pressure on the bend until a crack formed and then it failed soon after.