240 General: Camshaft seizure

[CACTUSTWO]

Hi everyone

Sadly, ten months into 240 ownership, my beloved '89 wagon has suffered camshaft seizure. Oddly it was running fine throughout a 60mile drive. Parked it up, all apparently normal. No bangs, clunks or crunches. Five hours later: engine wouldn't turn over. A thorough RAC inspection resulted in suspected oil pump failure and a low-loader piggy-back home.

I'm sending it over to a garage for a proper diagnosis this week. I've read elsewhere on this site that removing the head & camshaft, cleaning the bearings, bearing caps & seats and feed hole with 600 grade wet/dry could get it all turning again.

Engine maintentance is definitely not in my skillset. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?

Also if it's super chewed up inside can anyone advise on my options?

Cheers!

[classicswede]

This used to be common on the old B21 engines where owner were not changing the oil.

A good clean of the oil ways and a wet&dry rub down of the cam and bearing caps would normally have you up and running again.

In very bad cases you would have to change the head.


If it looks like oil pump problems caused it then chances are the main bearings in the block will also need changing to prevent further damage.

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by CACTUSTWO

Hi everyone

Sadly, ten months into 240 ownership, my beloved '89 wagon has suffered camshaft seizure. Oddly it was running fine throughout a 60mile drive. Parked it up, all apparently normal. No bangs, clunks or crunches. Five hours later: engine wouldn't turn over. A thorough RAC inspection resulted in suspected oil pump failure and a low-loader piggy-back home.

I'm sending it over to a garage for a proper diagnosis this week. I've read elsewhere on this site that removing the head & camshaft, cleaning the bearings, bearing caps & seats and feed hole with 600 grade wet/dry could get it all turning again.

Engine maintentance is definitely not in my skillset. Is there anything else I need to be aware of?

Also if it's super chewed up inside can anyone advise on my options?

Cheers!

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you have that problem.

I think you will remain in the dark until there is a further, fuller, inspection. At the moment I'm not aware of what the RAC inspected. They are apparently suspecting the camshaft &/or the oil pump. But being unable to turn the engine over can be a number of things. Will it turn on the starter motor? Or by hand by a socket on the crankshaft pulley bolt? If the cambelt is removed, will the engine turn over by hand? Is the transmission seized? &c. &c.

Good luck.


EDIT: I know little but I am not entirely convinced that a seized camshaft would totally stop the engine from being turned over. If for example a serious breaker bar and a socket were deployed on the crankshaft pulley bolt, then if the camshaft is seized surely the cambelt would begin to move on the notches of the sprockets, the crankshaft would begin to turn and with persistence the pistons would begin to go up and down? If the crankshaft is seized the engine will not turn, that is a major overhaul or engine replacement. If the crankshaft were broken that would probably let the engine run but with a terrible banging noise. I've been there with a Morris Minor. Then again if the transmission is seized probably nothing will turn the engine except rocking/pushing/towing the car. Is the gearbox auto or manual? Your options really depend on obtaining a diagnosis by some fundamental old fashioned checks by an experienced motor engineer/mechanic.

.

[Triple-S]

Assuming you are very concerned re Stephen's suggestions (!) a far quicker and therefore cheaper option would be to employ a mobile mechanic to go to the car and merely whip the cam cover off and look at the belt. If still connected carry out the checks mentioned - especially by rotating the engine by hand. Belts snap, loose teeth so jump a tooth on the pulley, or even jam up. Then again, as happened to my car, the oil feed to the camshaft bearings gets blocked so the camshaft seizes in the head. Cure, as Dai (Classic Swede) said, swap heads as I did.

P

[CACTUSTWO]

Thanks for your helpful replies.

It's a manual 2.0. The cambelt is still connected but stripped and the RAC guy was unable to turn the camshaft manually via the pulley bolt. I don't believe the transmission is seized.

I've only had the car 10 months and not covered many miles so was annoyingly planning a full service incl oil change in June. It had been regularly serviced by the previous owner.

[Stephen Edwin]

Triple.

I don't know if a mobile or other mechanic is most capable or most economical. Usually a person that checks properly is the best in the long run. How to choose that's the thing.

I think you've summed up more clearly than I did that checks start with the simple things. Thanks.

Cactus.

Thanks for the additional information. So is it perhaps that at first the engine would not turn over, held by the cambelt and perhaps the belt then got stripped so now the engine can be turned over? Something like that?

I've never had a seized canshaft so I am in the dark. Classicswede has advised. And you'd need to check somehow about whether oil has been changed OK or not and about the oil pump or whatever.

Good luck, and perhaps enjoy.


.

[classicswede]

The oil ways being blocked is not somthing that we see on B200 engines that you have. Not impossible but less likely than with the older engines and old oil.

It could well be a oil pump problem.

To give us a big clue undo the nuts that hold the cam cover on and take some pics of what you have there. Don't clean anything just show it as it is

[CACTUSTWO]

Stephen -
I'm not entirely sure but I'm guessing the cambelt stripped whilst we were trying to restart the car five hours after we parked it. The cam must have seized whilst parked because it was running apparently fine up until then. The RAC guy initially tried a bunch of different things, asking me to try the ignition every time, before discovering the sheered cambelt. So maybe we sheered it trying to get it started.

Classicswede -
I'll try removing the head when I have time in daylight hours and post a pic on here.

Thanks !

[Stephen Edwin]

Originally Posted by CACTUSTWO

Stephen -
I'm not entirely sure but I'm guessing the cambelt stripped whilst we were trying to restart the car five hours after we parked it. The cam must have seized whilst parked because it was running apparently fine up until then. The RAC guy initially tried a bunch of different things, asking me to try the ignition every time, before discovering the sheered cambelt. So maybe we sheered it trying to get it started.

Thanks. That was the impression I was getting from your updated information that you posted.

It sounds as if all will be well and hopefully not too much bovver.

.

[Clifford Pope]

If it is ascertained that it is indeed the camshaft that is seized, not the crank, wouldn't a simple first step be to remove the camshaft bearing blocks and inspect the cam?

If the journals and bearings can be very lightly emmery-ied and lubricated and the shaft got to turn freely, that might be sufficient?
If successfully run, followed immediately by an oil change.