Camshaft journal damage. How?

[Dfeeds]

This keeps bugging me. Some of you already know that I got a factory longblock replacement on my 2019 GT. The damage that was found was on one camshaft, and on the exhaust side for one valve. One of the journals was scored down pretty bad, and there was also some associating damage. They also mentioned, I think it was the guide? I can't remember right now, but it was pitted so bad your finger would just dip down when running across it.

How does this happen? I thought things like this only really occur due to oil starvation, but the other cam was apparently fine. Caps torqued too tight from the factory, camshaft was cut wrong, oil starvation, dirt, lack of lube from factory for dry start? Unfortunately I think I may never know, and just hope it doesn't happen again. It at least explains the inconsistent power I felt on the low end, and the occasional rough (and I mean very rough) idle.

Maybe someone with more knowledge than me can chime in and maybe help my itching curiosity. Although, without pics or seeing the damage in person, I understand how hard that is.

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[Blown86GT]

Not sure how applicable my story is as I'm not sure what process Ford uses to hardened camshaft surfaces. However, I had a camshaft failure with a comp cam in my 408. I noticed a gradual drop in oil pressure and tore into the engine to investigate. What I found was the comp cam on two separate lobes had wear grooves from the roller lifter. The resulting metal managed to find its way into the main bearings hence the oil pressure problem. I called their tech department who stated it was likely an flaw in the nitriding process to harden the surface metal on those two lobes. They sent a replacement cam...I still had to go thru the entire motor...ugh,

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Was it the oil fill side? Maybe debris got in there at some point unknowingly.

 

[CB18]

Occam's razor. The sumbitch that made the cam didn't want to be late for break and shoved it in the delivery box, It's good enough.

 

[Dfeeds]

Not sure how applicable my story is as I'm not sure what process Ford uses to hardened camshaft surfaces. However, I had a camshaft failure with a comp cam in my 408. I noticed a gradual drop in oil pressure and tore into the engine to investigate. What I found was the comp cam on two separate lobes had wear grooves from the roller lifter. The resulting metal managed to find its way into the main bearings hence the oil pressure problem. I called their tech department who stated it was likely an flaw in the nitriding process to harden the surface metal on those two lobes. They sent a replacement cam...I still had to go thru the entire motor...ugh,

Was there any damage to the rest of the engine from the debris? But yikes, no idea what Ford uses either but I'd think if it was a flaw in the process then a whole batch would be messed up.

Was it the oil fill side? Maybe debris got in there at some point unknowingly.

I honestly don't even know which side is the oil side on this engine, nor do I know which side it was on.

Occam's razor. The sumbitch that made the cam didn't want to be late for break and shoved it in the delivery box, It's good enough.

I know it's the easiest solution but it doesn't satisfy my curiosity! Lol. Although I'd much prefer this answer over something like the a design flaw with oil pump or something.

 

[engineermike]

You say it was the journal but you mention it was for an exhaust valve. Was it the journal or lobe?

 

[Hack]

Probably either debris or a machining defect - or a machining defect that caused debris. Scoring is going to be from a foreign object somewhere in the system. Now where exactly did that object come from? That's the million dollar question.

 

[pro 5.0]

These coyote blocks are machined very poorly, there is aluminum slag everywhere and over time it can come loose and circulate through the oil and cause scoring of bearings, cam cap etc.

 

[Fatguy]

These coyote blocks are machined very poorly, there is aluminum slag everywhere and over time it can come loose and circulate through the oil and cause scoring of bearings, cam cap etc.

Happened at GM too. No car maker is immune.

 

[pro 5.0]

Fully understand it would take Ford probably 2 hrs to completely de bur each block and they aren't going to do that.

 

[Shifting_Gears]

Fully understand it would take Ford probably 2 hrs to completely de bur each block and they aren't going to do that.

Yeah. In reality they’ll replace a minimal amount of engines due to the off chance some of that material comes loose and wrecks an engine. The cost of a replacement is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of adding the additional machinery or people power to deburr each block.

 

[Dfeeds]

Yeah. In reality they’ll replace a minimal amount of engines due to the off chance some of that material comes loose and wrecks an engine. The cost of a replacement is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of adding the additional machinery or people power to deburr each block.

If this is the cause (seems likely) then even frequent oil changes isn't enough to prevent it. I changed my oil and filter at 250 miles. Then it was changed again at 700 miles by the dealer, where I drove it up to 1050 miles. The problems seemed to start around 500 miles.

 

[ihc95]

If this is the cause (seems likely) then even frequent oil changes isn't enough to prevent it. I changed my oil and filter at 250 miles. Then it was changed again at 700 miles by the dealer, where I drove it up to 1050 miles. The problems seemed to start around 500 miles.

There's a study where they prove that oil changes done too frequently actually cause more wear on an engine than just using the factory recommend intervals. I'm not saying we should wait until 10k miles like Ford says, especially for the first change, but I think that study has some merit.

 

[engineermike]

That’s true; I believe the anti-wear additives are activated by heat and load. So, it takes time to activate the fresh additives.

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