Cam Shaft Wear

[tam girl]

We recently had an odd sound between 1600-2200 revs and have been told that this is caused by cam shaft wear. Does anyone know if this is normal at 27000 miles? We have one of the new after-market factory approved warranties with Auto Protect - should this be covered under the warranty? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

[trackcar]

hmm .. where have you been the last 6 years?

all perfectly normal, in fact you've done well to get that far before needing this doing. (obviously proves your start-up and cold driving routine are very very good )

[tam girl]

Are you saying this is the same as the engine going pop?? Thanks

[trackcar]

Just sounds like another valvetrain / cam / follower issue on the face of it .. make sure it's not just a cam chain resonance tho first. You'd need a bit of an inspection to determine what was exactly causing the noise. How far are you from tvr power? In my experience even seasoned tvr delers are poor at determining the source of noises and it'd be better to get it to an acknowledged sp6 expert like Power first.

[fairclp]

tam girl said:

Are you saying this is the same as the engine going pop?? Thanks

Not in the same way mine did...

Who diagnosed it?

[tam girl]

TVR London...

[fairclp]

Give TVR Power a ring and ask for Dom and explain. He knows his stuff.

Is the noise there from cold or when hot too?

Has it progressively got worse?

When was the last time the tappets were adjusted?

Paul

[chris watton]

Can't the cam shaft simply be replaced, or is it more complicated than that? I ask because I note there are/were a few RV8's which had/have worn camshafts at reletively low mileages.

[maddog-uk]

tam girl said:

We recently had an odd sound between 1600-2200 revs and have been told that this is caused by cam shaft wear. Does anyone know if this is normal at 27000 miles? We have one of the new after-market factory approved warranties with Auto Protect - should this be covered under the warranty? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

How did you get the warranty? Are you using tvr london instead of the TVR centre now?

[T88CAN]

chris watton said:

Can't the cam shaft simply be replaced, or is it more complicated than that? I ask because I note there are/were a few RV8's which had/have worn camshafts at reletively low mileages.

On normal cars that would be the case but we are talking SP6 here If it where mine and well out of warranty i would investigate the possibility of just changing the cams

[chris watton]

T88CAN said:

chris watton said: Can't the cam shaft simply be replaced, or is it more complicated than that? I ask because I note there are/were a few RV8's which had/have worn camshafts at reletively low mileages. On normal cars that would be the case but we are talking SP6 here If it where mine and well out of warranty i would investigate the possibility of just changing the cams

That's what I was thinking - its no prob in any other engine to change worn parts, why do we have to stump up £5K if something wears? The RV8 lads don't! Also, if its known that, say, the finger followers are not up to the correct tollorence, why can't these be simply taken out and replaced, if thats all that's wrong? I'm no engineer, but I find it amazing that we have to accept a seemingly blanket charge of at least £5K, even if, in reality, a couple of worn parts need replacing!

[T88CAN]

I think the more solutions that start coming on to the market the better it will be for all of usand will certainly bring down the costs, I would refuse to pay £5k for a rebuild, i think it would be in a bad accident first

[2 Smokin Barrels]

I wonder how many pages have/will be written on this subject.

[alans]

I know somebody with a pair of new cams, in their garage.

Alan

[fairclp]

T88CAN said:

I think the more solutions that start coming on to the market the better it will be for all of usand will certainly bring down the costs, I would refuse to pay £5k for a rebuild, i think it would be in a bad accident first

Assuming its just wear, surely we're not talking about a full rebuild here? So why would it be 5K?

[tam girl]

fairclp said:

Give TVR Power a ring and ask for Dom and explain. He knows his stuff. Is the noise there from cold or when hot too? Has it progressively got worse? When was the last time the tappets were adjusted? Paul

Noise is there when hot too - doesnt seem to be getting worse.

24k service was at TVR Power and tappets were adjusted then so not long ago at all

[tam girl]

maddog-uk said:

tam girl said: We recently had an odd sound between 1600-2200 revs and have been told that this is caused by cam shaft wear. Does anyone know if this is normal at 27000 miles? We have one of the new after-market factory approved warranties with Auto Protect - should this be covered under the warranty? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks How did you get the warranty? Are you using tvr london instead of the TVR centre now?

Hi Maddog - warranty was through TVRC. Nope - only TVRL provide a courtesy car which we needed as have 2 weddings to go to on Saturday. They also did some accident repairs for us which involved bodywork (we wouldnt take the car to TVRC for bodywork due to their relationship with Hiltons) and we have been very pleased to date.

>> Edited by tam girl on Thursday 8th December 10:30

[stag]

I believe that the finger followers are at the wrong angle to the valve stems and due to this excessive force is required to open the valves causing excessive wear. they have not been modified even on the new speed six engines I am told.

[tam girl]

The diagnosis is now complete - nothing to do with the cam shaft - the noise was caused by a problem with the oil pressure valve. The warranty company is trying to claim wear and tear, and therefore not pay (£800) although having spoken to a number of people/dealers, this should be considered to be a failure of a component and not wear and tear. Fighting it!

[justinbaker]

Sonia,

If you dont mind me asking who is the warranty company? I have just had the long winded route of claiming for an engine repair with Motorplan, who tried the wear and tear route. I set the financial ombudsman promptly onto the case, and the next day a cheque arrived!!!!