daniel812 Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 We had a customer bring in her 1998 STS today with 155k. She was told it needed a water pump (by a friend) and went to buy the parts; she dropped the car off by me to do the work. We opened the hood to see a broken camshaft, belt, and tensioner. Water pump turns by hand and after a pressure check is not leaking. I am wondering what other damage might have been done with a broken camshaft and if I should sell her a new/rebuilt motor? About a year ago we noticed her headgasket leaking (about a gallon/month) Looking for decent options and not sure if the car is worth the repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 The cam and its lifters can be changed if necessary, and is not too expensive -- particularly if a Timesert job is being done. But, cams don't break themselves. Sombody broke the cam trying to get the pulley off or some such. I would call the woman and have her with you to look at the car before I touched it. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 It is very easy to bend/break or otherwise ruin the cam if someone attemps to beat the pulley off rather than using the puller. The cam is easily replaced without touching anything else but if the headgasket is leaking, I would recommend Timeserting the existing engine. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 It's good luck to change the lifters that were in contact with the cam when the cam is changed. The cam lobes and the lifter surfaces wear in together and changing the cam without changing the lifters may work out just fine, or you may have a high-wear-rate situation of some duration on both the cam lobe and the lifter. That's just me; others with more experience in changing cams on DOHC engines may differ. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Nunnally Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 Are we talking about one of the engine camshafts here? Would you be able to open the hood and 'see' a broken camshaft? Also, "We opened the hood to see a broken camshaft, belt, and tensioner" -- the engine in the 98STS does not use a cam belt, but has chains for the cams. I am confused. If you mean when you opened the hood you could see that the water pump belt was broken and the tensioner shot that makes sense, and the water pump turns by hand, so needs a new belt and water pump tensioner pulley. But how do you see that a camshaft is broken? Wouldn't that cause catastrophic problems in the way the engine runs? Assuming one of the 4 cams is broken, what caused the break? In what way was it broken? If the cam was broken cleanly, so that no parts of the cam might be loose in the engine, it may be that you can replace just the cam. If the cam is in pieces and some are likely flowing through the engine then it is a good time to replace the engine. Bruce 2016 Cadillac ATS-V gray/black Follow me on: Twitter Instagram Youtube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted May 14, 2008 Report Share Posted May 14, 2008 I think that the water pump cover was off, and the water pump belt drive pulley on the exhaust cam on the front bank was laying loose, with the stub of the camshaft showing. If so, the location of the water pump cover and screws is an item we haven't mentioned. If this isn't accurate, perhaps we need to know more. Digital photo put up on Photobucket? -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daniel812 Posted May 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2008 The woman drove the car to our shop and told us she has been using it this way for a few days, "but dont drive far it will overheat" yes the water pump belt was off - someone removed the tensioner and told her the water pump was leaking. She went out to buy the parts and came to me to do the work. Once I saw the car I knew what happened (since I have a 98 SLS) You can actually take the camshaft end (by the w/p) and move it up,down,left and right - clearly broken. I know these will not break by themselves and have to assume this other person had no idea what to do and tried to force it for some reason. I removed the 3 bolts to the cam cover and the broken piece came right out. I then recommended to her to have the engine rebuilt, explaining there might be metal shavings in the motor, and she also had a leaking head gasket. She picked up the car last night and is debating what to do. It has 155k, and looks like it was abused which is sad to see. I'll keep you updated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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