Broken camshaft

[travelling man]

My 12 plate connect broke it's camshaft last Friday.....on the autovista heading north out of Sevilla in southern Spain.

Camcover removed by the garage I was recovered to revealed that the camshaft had broken just inside the cambox and again by the support bearing after number one cylinder.

Van is still in Spain but is being recovered back to my home thanks to breakdown insurance, perhaps the best £89 I have spent this year!

What further damage am I likely to find. please?

My rough plan is to remove the rest of the cam and see if all valves close....

[metalworker0]

You either have a stripped or broken cambelt .....or a stripped or broken lower wetbelt. or both

what to expect ..
well you have one - broken camshaft
bent rods
damaged pistons
damaged valve guides

a whole lot of expensive parts to replace - wet belt or cambelt, seals, special crush-able steel gaskets. head-gasket , shims,

and a load of special tools needed

that's if its a diesel ..you don't say!!!!!!

[travelling man]

Thanks for your reply.....

I thought that all 12 plate era Connects were diesel, I have not, yet, seen a petrol or electric one!

So in essence, my engine is buggered?

[metalworker0]

sorry about that .
still - pull it to bits and show pictures of the damage here .
people can learn from the results

all the best.mark

[travelling man]

Still negotiating the return, it's full of my 'stuff', tools, clothing and all the other junk that you and your wife ;must have, for several weeks living on the Algarve.

As this is the second Connect to eat it's engine in Spain, I'm getting just a little pissed off!

If it ever arrives, I'll remove the camshaft and see if all the valves lift up to their seats first!

I assume that a 12 plate will have the wet belt?

From what I saw with the camcover off and the upper belt cover off, that looks most likely to me.

[metalworker0]

Wet belt after October 2007 - I think.

all the best.mark

[travelling man]

Thanks, Mark.

Frankly, I was suprised to see the broken cam, have you seen many?

[metalworker0]

Not me ..no ..
Soon as i heard about wetbelts ..i got worried in case i had one

So looked up every bit of info about them

Yes, there are tails of cam shafts snapping, conrods bending and piston damage -- not here though ../this is from ford forums - Mondeo and Focus
and they are still installing them in their latest engines ...the ecoblue engine in the transit has a recall on the belts .

all the best.mark

[travelling man]

I'm puzzled regarding this cam breaking!

Bought the van at 108k miles with a good service history.

I've never exceeded 2,5k revs, cruised it at 65mph, so no abuse...

At the point of failure, just a little 'tinkle' followed by complete loss of engine....on a viaduct with no shoulder....decided to evacuate with hi/vis and warning triangle and sit on the barrier, the approach of two plod motorbikes with lots of flashing lights was a very real relief!
One plod biker pushed the van with his BMW bike, and knocked off the n.s bumper corner, but he got me to a safer place.

I'll update when the thing is back on my drive and I can get the spanners onto it.

[metalworker0]

Yes, i heard the cam shaft breaks because they are strait vertical valves ..most engines these days have valves that lean...when the cambelt busts on them the valves bend with the impact ..with the 1.8 design they get hit by the pistons and carry the force up to the camshaft ..so it busts.

I've heard some of fords later engines not necessarily diesel have separate cam-lobes on the camshafts...shrink fit / interference fit ..when belts break on these the lobes rotate from their set position - they take the impact - but once this has happened they reckon the cam carrier has to be replaced complete with the camshafts...but no piston or conrod damage.

[travelling man]

Still no sign of my van being returned, but it is only 10 days since I flew home and it is best part of 1400 miles from Sevilla!

Internet research leads me to expect that a replacement engine will be my best bet, anyone know a mobile mechanic in Norfolk who would be able to help?
I can provide a carport to work in, engine crane and axle stands....but at 71 with two or three health issues I'm no longer fit enough for this type of spannering.

[metalworker0]

That changes things, if you cant fit it yourself - the costs of the used iffy engine, plus parts to make it reliable and future proof (cambelt, wetbelt,. aux belt, water pump, clutch, oil and filter the labour,) maybe consider spending a bit extra on a low mileage replacement connect or other make of van.--- as the cost (guess) may be close to or heading for £2000.

You'll probably get £200 for it as scrap.

At 71, with health conditions and winter approaching (what mobile mech wants to work outside doing a job like that never mind you)- yes you should be taking it easy.

all the best.mark

[travelling man]

That changes things, if you cant fit it yourself - the costs of the used iffy engine, plus parts to make it reliable and future proof (cambelt, wetbelt,. aux belt, water pump, clutch, oil and filter the labour,) maybe consider spending a bit extra on a low mileage replacement connect or other make of van.--- as the cost (guess) may be close to or heading for £2000.

You'll probably get £200 for it as scrap.

At 71, with health conditions and winter approaching (what mobile mech wants to work outside doing a job like that never mind you)- yes you should be taking it easy.

all the best.mark

Sound advice, I feel.

But a new clutch and four new tyres before the last trip does annoy me!

[Altransit]

Playing devils advocate here, but with used vans commanding very high prices at the moment, it could be worth spending 2 grand on a van that you know to be otherwise sound.

Paul2012 on here may be able to help you, but unfortunately, he doesn't seem to log on very often. You could try with a private message or email maybe

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=58713

[travelling man]

Van has finally arrived home this morning.

Good news, all of my stock of hooch was still loaded.
Bad news, my Bosch cordless screwdriver has vanished.

Local garage shows little interest in swapping the engine, but I have emailed a couple of Ebay advertisers to see if they can collect, fit a refurbed engine for me.

My back up plan is to use my Haynes manual as bedtime reading....